Interview with Royal Izakaya’s Jesse Ito about the power of apprenticeship, following in his father’s footsteps, and creating a unique restaurant vibe.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Welcome to Restaurant Influencers
00:13 presented by Entrepreneur.
00:14 I am your host, Sean Walchef.
00:16 This is a Cali BBQ Media production in life,
00:20 in the restaurant business,
00:21 and in the new creator economy.
00:23 We learn through lessons and stories.
00:25 I wanna give a special shout out to Toast,
00:27 our primary technology partner at our barbecue restaurants
00:30 here in San Diego, for believing in storytelling,
00:34 for giving us the hospitality and the opportunity,
00:36 the stage to connect with incredible storytellers,
00:40 hospitality professionals, and chefs all over the world.
00:44 I'm really fired up for today's episode
00:46 because as part of my due diligence,
00:49 I've got to do a digital deep dive on each of the guests
00:52 that we bring on the show to make sure
00:54 that they're top of their game.
00:55 And Chef Jesse Ito, he is on top of his game,
01:00 and he's here to share all the secrets.
01:02 Jesse, what's going on, man?
01:03 Welcome to the show.
01:04 - Hey, Sean, thanks for having me on.
01:06 - I appreciate you being here.
01:08 I can't wait to get into your story.
01:10 I wanna know where in the world is your favorite stadium,
01:13 stage, or venue?
01:15 - I mean, it all has to be Philadelphia.
01:19 I don't have much time to go see any of those things,
01:21 but you know, huge Eagles fan, there's a big game tonight.
01:24 I don't know if I have the nerves to watch it,
01:27 but yeah, everything in Philly.
01:30 I'm a huge Philadelphia fan.
01:32 I'm always rooting for our city.
01:34 - What's the stadium where the Eagles play?
01:36 Who's the title sponsor, do we know?
01:39 - Lincoln Financial.
01:42 - Lincoln Financial, okay.
01:43 We're gonna go to Lincoln Financial.
01:44 I'll talk to Entrepreneur Toast.
01:46 We'll get some sponsors involved,
01:48 but I wanna bring the people that play the game
01:50 within the game, so the people,
01:51 you that listen to this show.
01:53 If you're listening to this, if you're watching this,
01:56 we're gonna do a TEDx style presentation,
01:59 and I'm gonna give Jesse the mic on the 50-yard line,
02:02 and I want him to mic drop this entire crowd.
02:04 60,000, 70,000, I'm not sure how many fit in that stadium,
02:08 but they're gonna all be chefs.
02:10 They're all gonna be hospitality professionals,
02:12 content creators, and I wanna know who are you,
02:15 and what do you believe in?
02:17 - Ooh, that's tough to summarize in one line, but--
02:21 - No, I don't want a one line.
02:22 I don't want a one line.
02:23 You got a mic drop.
02:24 You don't need a monologue, but just give me,
02:27 get us, get the crowd fired up.
02:30 Let us know who you are.
02:31 - I mean, I'm a Japanese-Korean-American chef.
02:36 I am a lot of my heritage,
02:38 and I'm a lot of who I've become given my circumstances.
02:42 I would say I grew up in a very traditional household.
02:46 My parents, like, my father owned a restaurant
02:49 for 37 years.
02:50 He's from Japan.
02:51 He's a chef, but being very American,
02:54 I wanted to pursue my own way, my own dreams,
02:57 but my dad still works with me,
03:00 so it's been a huge part of who I am,
03:02 and to carry that along and support my family
03:06 is a huge part of what I've created,
03:09 but I'm the chef/owner of Royal Izakaya.
03:12 I've had it for seven years.
03:14 It's here in Philadelphia, Queen Village,
03:16 a great neighborhood, and yeah,
03:20 the Izakaya is a bump-in, like, Japanese bar setting.
03:24 We seat about 70 people in there,
03:26 and then I have an omakase that I do personally
03:29 five nights a week, 16 people, eight seats.
03:33 - So as an omakase chef, you never take days off.
03:39 You told me before we started recording,
03:43 this is your day off, and yet here you are
03:46 telling your story to an entrepreneur.
03:49 - I mean, it's hard to summarize exactly
03:51 what a sous chef does, 'cause there's so much work.
03:53 I did just do a Bon Appetit video
03:55 that kind of outlines the whole day from,
03:57 maybe you saw it, but like getting the--
03:58 - Oh, we're putting a link into the show notes.
04:01 That Bon Appetit, whoever's on the media team,
04:04 content team, that was fire.
04:06 It dropped 12 days ago.
04:07 It already has 1.2 million views, one of them including me,
04:10 so you brought us into the story,
04:12 and we want the listeners to check out that video.
04:15 It was amazing, man.
04:16 - I'm so happy I did it.
04:18 I'm a bit hesitant to do video stuff.
04:22 I don't love, I still haven't even watched it.
04:24 I don't love watching myself on video.
04:26 I don't like listening to myself on podcasts.
04:29 I just do what I do, but I did it because it's good
04:32 for everyone to see what goes into a day,
04:35 because the omakase experience, it is a show in itself.
04:39 I'm there performing in front of you,
04:41 making your food, talking to you, engaging,
04:43 but that's just a very small element.
04:45 I mean, most of restaurant in general is all prep.
04:49 It's 80% prep, and then kind of service is just executing.
04:53 And if you've ever been to a restaurant
04:55 where there's a lack of service,
04:57 or there's a case where you forget your food,
04:59 or there's a problem, it's probably because of the prep.
05:01 There was a gap in the prep time.
05:03 You can't expect to cook all that food
05:06 exactly from scratch as soon as you open up.
05:08 A lot of the work is done prior.
05:11 With sushi, as you'll see in the video,
05:14 I mean, it starts for me at 8 a.m.,
05:17 receiving the fish from Japan.
05:18 We get three deliveries from Japan.
05:20 So I'm really glad we did the video.
05:22 I hope the viewers get to see it
05:25 to kind of go into depth what my day is.
05:28 - Walk us through, for the people
05:29 that haven't seen the video.
05:31 We're going to put a link in here,
05:32 because it was bon appetit, straight shout out.
05:34 I mean, it was beautiful, but explain to us
05:38 behind the scenes kind of the day in the life.
05:41 - Yeah, so the video takes place
05:44 on the first day of service, first day of the week.
05:46 That is the first shipment from Japan,
05:48 from Toyosu Market in Tokyo.
05:52 So the fish essentially goes through a time loop,
05:55 because it takes 14 hours to get here.
05:57 And it arrives here almost like back in time,
06:01 because of the time difference.
06:02 It leaves Monday, and it arrives Monday night
06:08 here in Philadelphia.
06:10 Or it actually arrives in JFK, New York,
06:12 and then it gets picked up by land vendors.
06:14 It arrives to me in Philadelphia on Tuesday morning.
06:17 So that's the first shipment available to us
06:20 in the week from Japan.
06:22 So the fish was like, they were swimming
06:24 Monday morning in Japanese waters,
06:27 a lot of these fish, super fresh.
06:30 I have to receive them Tuesday,
06:32 and my menu is 17 courses, so I have to have
06:37 at least 17 different varieties of fish on hand.
06:41 So also you'll see the bill, they do a little invoice.
06:45 - I saw that.
06:46 - The Tuesday one is about $12,000.
06:49 That's only one of three deliveries.
06:51 - Yeah.
06:52 - It's crazy if you think about it.
06:54 Tuesdays I always receive 150 pound tuna loin
06:59 from a 500 pound Spanish fish, bluefin.
07:02 That has to get broken down.
07:04 I also have been dry aging recently.
07:07 I'm a brand ambassador for Dry Ager.
07:09 They make these amazing products that help chefs
07:14 and home consumers kind of dry age meat and fish
07:16 at home or at a restaurant.
07:18 So I dry age a lot of my fish.
07:20 I dry age portions of the bluefin tuna.
07:23 And yeah, from eight o'clock a.m.
07:26 I get to the restaurant, I start receiving the product.
07:29 My team starts breaking down immediately.
07:31 I have to start doing the rice, all the mise en place,
07:34 sauces, go over the menu.
07:37 I also have to put the order in for the following week
07:41 'cause all the fish, if you don't put it in by that day,
07:44 the Japanese office won't accept it.
07:47 So all your fish has to be outlined for it.
07:49 Tuesday delivery, Thursday delivery, Friday delivery,
07:52 where's the fish from, how much weight is the fish,
07:54 each one.
07:55 - Really?
07:56 - You get to pick that and that kind of dictates
07:57 the price of the fish.
07:59 - Are these digital orders?
08:01 - I just text my, yeah.
08:03 I text my sales rep.
08:06 She's in New York.
08:08 - They don't have online ordering yet?
08:10 - I'm sure there is a way, but a lot of this is,
08:13 I mean, the text is really easy.
08:15 - Yeah, for sure.
08:16 - And then I call her and we talk.
08:19 - Does she text you a pricing sheet?
08:20 - So every month there is a pricing sheet
08:24 of the general list of what's available in Japan.
08:28 But my salesperson doesn't say,
08:31 she doesn't give me recommendations.
08:32 It's not like, hey, this is the best right now.
08:35 As a chef, I need to know what's in season.
08:37 I need to know what's best.
08:38 And you can't completely just trust your salesperson.
08:42 As I get weekly deliveries,
08:44 I look at the fish and how it's trending.
08:47 So you can see if a fish is starting to feel like,
08:49 maybe the gut's starting to get a little soft,
08:51 there's not as fatty.
08:52 So you have to change it out and you respond to that.
08:55 So it's always up to me to kind of choose it.
09:00 - How do you learn what information to get?
09:03 What sources do you use?
09:05 - I mean, you only learn through experience.
09:08 I've been, so to backtrack,
09:11 my father opened a restaurant in 1979
09:13 and I started working there when I was 14 years old.
09:18 I'm almost 35.
09:20 I started working as a dishwasher
09:22 and he kind of put me in the sushi bar,
09:24 threw me in there when I was 15, one day a week.
09:27 I would have like rice all over, stuck all over my hands.
09:30 It would be so embarrassing.
09:31 I didn't know what the fuck I was doing.
09:33 But yeah, I started that long ago.
09:37 So the best way to learn is through apprenticeship.
09:40 You have to apprentice and work at places
09:42 and work with the product.
09:44 You can read books and nowadays,
09:46 I mean, you can just watch YouTube and learn a lot,
09:48 but the only way is to learn through a chef,
09:52 working with the product.
09:53 And it's a day-to-day grind that is like,
09:56 Japanese food in general, especially sushi,
09:58 is just execution at the highest level.
10:01 Traditionally, if you go to a lot of omakase,
10:03 they're all very similar because they're just trying
10:06 to execute at the best they can on the techniques.
10:09 The way they cut the fish, the way they age it,
10:11 their sauces.
10:12 So that in itself is amazing.
10:15 Any traditional omakase is amazing.
10:17 But as I'm an American chef,
10:20 I like to also incorporate other influences.
10:25 I like to just change it.
10:26 I don't feel bound to those,
10:27 so it's fun to play around a bit and not be so traditional.
10:32 But I still pay huge respect to that.
10:36 - Now, when your father owned the restaurant
10:38 that you were working in,
10:38 was he buying fish from Japan as well?
10:41 - Yeah, he was.
10:42 And I use a company that he also used for decades.
10:47 - Really?
10:48 Which company is that?
10:49 - Yeah.
10:50 I use Yama Seafood.
10:52 They distribute to some of the best sushi restaurants
10:56 in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey.
10:59 They're amazing.
11:00 It's just, I do have to say,
11:03 I have used multiple vendors through the years.
11:05 The thing with them I do have to speak highly of
11:08 is just their organization and the way they pack things.
11:11 You don't think about this.
11:12 The fish, when it's flying over,
11:15 if it's not wrapped a certain way,
11:17 if it's touching the dry ice a certain way,
11:19 it's gonna freeze and ruin the product.
11:21 You can't constrict it in a bag,
11:23 otherwise it's gonna suffocate in its own juices.
11:25 It's so pristinely packed and organized
11:28 and the way they work with the invoicing
11:31 and showing me what my order was the day before,
11:33 just I'm ready.
11:35 It's very organized.
11:35 Not all companies are like that.
11:37 So I can only speak highly of them.
11:39 But they are expensive.
11:40 All this fish is super crazy expensive.
11:43 And the thing with them is if there is ever a problem,
11:48 there's not many questions asked, I get my money back.
11:51 This is rarely a problem.
11:53 But for the audience out there,
11:55 these fish range from between 15 to $150 a pound head on.
12:00 So it's expensive.
12:05 - How do you manage your food costs?
12:07 Is there any tech that you use to do that
12:09 or is it old school?
12:10 - So I would have to, we don't use tech.
12:16 - We don't use tech.
12:16 You guys use toast.
12:17 - Oh yeah, we do use toast.
12:20 - You do use toast.
12:21 I saw that.
12:23 The thing with Royal between the Izakaya and the Omakase
12:26 is because we're so busy, we don't have any waste
12:28 and our prices are where they need to be,
12:32 food costs always falls in line.
12:33 - Yep.
12:34 For you, when you think about the work that you're doing now
12:41 and your father working with you,
12:43 what does it mean to have him back in your kitchen now?
12:49 - I mean, it's a huge honor to have him there.
12:54 He's 71 and I think it's really great for him
12:59 to still be in the kitchen a little bit.
13:02 He doesn't work much anymore.
13:03 He was a badass chef in his heyday.
13:07 I mean, I feel bad for him that social media
13:10 and the internet just wasn't where it is today
13:14 'cause he was known amongst all the great chefs in Philly
13:18 as the guy to go to.
13:20 George Perrier, who you saw on my back of Finn,
13:22 he had a staff party there multiple times.
13:25 Mark Vetri from Vetri had his staff party there
13:28 and that's how I met Solomonoff
13:30 and all these amazing chefs
13:32 who are a generation ahead of me
13:35 because they used to go to my dad
13:36 who was known as the spot to go to
13:37 and he kind of built this foundation.
13:39 He was part of building the Japanese culture food scene
13:42 in this tri-state area.
13:46 So it was big shoes to fill
13:48 and having him there is really great.
13:52 He's helped me through this whole journey.
13:54 I opened Royal Izakaya when I was 27
13:56 and my parents, my mom and dad sold their restaurant
13:58 to come on board with me.
13:59 It was huge.
14:02 It was like the burden, if you could imagine,
14:06 of that was there was no option but to succeed
14:11 because failure would mean not only for me, I would fail,
14:16 but they wouldn't have nothing
14:19 'cause they trusted me in this.
14:21 That's just not acceptable
14:23 'cause I could rebound at 27, 28, 29, whatever.
14:27 I will be fine, but not my parents.
14:29 I couldn't have done it without them.
14:34 So I'm so glad that they've been part of this journey.
14:37 - How did you know you were ready?
14:39 - I mean, are you ever ready?
14:42 I don't know, honestly.
14:43 - You're not open to getting in this business.
14:45 (laughing)
14:46 - Dude, when I--
14:47 - The restaurant business, no.
14:48 (laughing)
14:49 - Looking back now, I kinda, I was,
14:54 I mean, I was so bullish back then.
14:57 I was, I love it.
14:58 I think you kinda need that tenacity, right?
15:01 - You do.
15:01 - But I kinda think I was also an idiot in some ways,
15:04 but like, it was like, oh my God, the risk.
15:06 But my business partners believed in me,
15:10 my parents believed in me, I believed in myself.
15:12 I mean, we strongly believed in this concept
15:14 of what we were doing, where we were gonna go
15:17 from the get-go.
15:18 I mean, it was very, we identified exactly
15:21 what we were gonna do.
15:22 You know, I wrote my vision statement way back when,
15:24 and it's exactly what it is.
15:26 - What is the vision statement?
15:28 - I mean, I'll have to pull it up
15:29 so I can read it.
15:30 I could if you want.
15:32 I mean, it's essentially saying,
15:33 Iizakaya is gonna be this neighborhood,
15:36 Japanese restaurant, Japanese bar
15:37 that's gonna knock down the walls and barriers
15:40 to Japanese cuisine and be super approachable.
15:42 And that's what it is.
15:43 Like, you come in, it's very Philadelphia.
15:46 It doesn't seem, a lot of Japanese restaurants,
15:49 just when you go in, just look so Asian, right?
15:52 There's nothing wrong with that.
15:54 But then when you come into our place,
15:56 it looks like turn of the century,
15:57 kind of Victorian, Philadelphia,
15:59 tin ceilings, tin walls, old floor.
16:03 We have this like 100-year-old bar
16:05 that we brought in from middle America.
16:07 And it looks like Japanese people
16:10 maybe just inhabited this old bar.
16:13 We just have like posters of period signs
16:16 and like little Japanese trinkets all over.
16:18 And that just makes it super comfy.
16:22 I mean, it's a great vibe.
16:23 And then you walk in a little more
16:26 and there's a Nora and you walk past that,
16:28 then you come into my omakase room,
16:30 which has a bit of a different vibe.
16:33 It is definitely more like contemporary Japanese-esque.
16:38 But it fits and the dichotomy of the two rooms
16:41 really plays into it.
16:42 So like it plays into the experience
16:44 because a lot of omakase experiences
16:48 are almost like a temple, quiet,
16:52 maybe music with no lyrics or no music, right?
16:57 It's very intense.
16:58 Mine, I have my playlist going.
17:01 We have like old school hip hop, funk,
17:03 you know, like David Bowie going on.
17:06 And there's no speakers in the omakase room,
17:08 but all the sound is emanating in.
17:11 All the humming of a busy restaurant is coming in.
17:14 So all my guests feel super comfortable to talk,
17:17 talk to each other, talk to other guests, talk to me.
17:20 It doesn't feel pretentious where you feel so stuffy
17:23 where you're like, okay, I can't just let loose
17:25 and have fun here.
17:27 So I really love that.
17:29 - Do you have an oh shit story of somebody crazy
17:31 that came to your restaurant that you couldn't believe
17:34 that you were serving?
17:36 That you're able to share?
17:37 - I don't know if I should.
17:43 - I don't know if I should share it.
17:45 - Yeah, I mean, look,
17:50 I've had some amazing chefs come through.
17:52 I've had some really cool influencers, you could say,
17:56 or like, you know, famous people.
17:58 Like some Eagles players come in,
18:01 some people from LA.
18:04 I don't wanna go too in a deep,
18:05 I don't wanna name drop, but yeah.
18:07 - No name dropping?
18:08 - No name dropping today.
18:10 - As far as social media goes,
18:12 let's talk about Instagram photography.
18:16 I know that you do a phenomenal job.
18:18 The content that you guys put out, not just on your page,
18:21 but on the restaurant page is straight fire.
18:24 We're gonna put links into the show notes
18:25 so you guys can give them a follow.
18:27 Bring me through the journey of,
18:29 were you doing social for your family restaurant
18:32 before you opened yours?
18:35 - I was, so.
18:35 - You were doing Facebook back in the day?
18:38 - I was doing Facebook, constant contact, eye contact.
18:41 - Oh, that's what I'm talking about.
18:42 There we go.
18:43 - Oh my God.
18:45 So in high school, I was not good at math
18:50 and I was not good at science.
18:51 My mom forced me to take all the AP courses
18:53 and I was a straight C student in them.
18:55 But I love art and I love photography.
18:59 I love ceramics, 3D art.
19:01 I would double up on photography every year.
19:05 I would take two courses.
19:06 I wouldn't even take a lunch.
19:08 I love photography.
19:09 - Awesome.
19:10 - I love it.
19:11 I love marketing and I love entrepreneurship.
19:14 I went to school for business marketing
19:16 while working at my parents' restaurant.
19:17 They wouldn't let me go to culinary school.
19:19 - Really, what business school did you go to?
19:22 - I went to Rutgers.
19:23 I commuted, I had to commute.
19:24 I got a good scholarship there.
19:27 Yeah, and I learned a lot.
19:30 I mean, I kind of, I almost flunked out the first year
19:32 'cause I never went to class,
19:33 but after that, I learned my lesson and I learned a lot.
19:36 So in 2008, 2009, I graduated high school in 2007.
19:44 I was applying all these principles I was learning
19:46 at school with branding and like pricing
19:49 and all this stuff and operations in my restaurant,
19:52 in my parents' restaurant,
19:54 because my dad's a phenomenal chef
19:56 and my mom is such a hard worker.
19:58 She was running the front of the house
20:00 and doing all the bookkeeping,
20:02 but they had no idea about just kind of streamlining things
20:07 and how to reach their market,
20:09 how to create some noise.
20:11 And yeah, I got to, I got,
20:15 and also 2009 is when the economy kind of was collapsing
20:18 and the restaurant was dead.
20:21 It was so scary.
20:23 So I had a lot of downtime
20:24 and when I had downtime working in the restaurant,
20:26 I would just go to my dad's office
20:27 and type in contacts.
20:29 I created these, I used my graphic design skills in Adobe.
20:32 I created these like cards
20:34 that collect people's information as they came in.
20:36 I would input info on constant contact,
20:38 eventually eye contact.
20:40 And yeah, I'd do weekly email blasts and I'd take photos.
20:45 I'd showcase what the special is.
20:46 I'd take a picture, I'd write a little message.
20:49 And even if you had only brought in 10 people,
20:52 that's still money.
20:55 And that's the thing about marketing is like the ROI.
20:57 What is the ROI?
20:58 Like, I don't want to just create noise.
20:59 I want, I need customers to walk through the door.
21:02 - Yeah. - Facebook, Facebook ads.
21:03 I didn't really spend Facebook ads
21:05 'cause that was kind of expensive
21:06 and it was a little harder to track.
21:08 Like, did that create an actual customer?
21:12 But the email marketing at the time is,
21:16 yeah, I was using that.
21:17 And Instagram was just coming around.
21:19 - Did you guys do any old school advertising?
21:23 - We did and it sucked.
21:25 I mean, oh my God.
21:28 - What were you doing?
21:30 I'm only laughing because I did it all.
21:34 We opened in 2008 and we did,
21:36 we made every marketing mistake in the handbook.
21:38 We actually advertised in yellow pages.
21:40 That's how long ago, 2008 was.
21:42 - Yes, we did. - Yeah.
21:43 - We did yellow pages, ridiculous, right?
21:47 I mean, look, where do you find?
21:52 - And then, absurd.
21:54 And then like the local town, my dad's restaurant
21:57 and like pitch us on their like magazine thing.
22:01 - Yep.
22:02 - You know, like marketing numbers are so crazy.
22:05 Like anyone can throw around distribution, like exposure.
22:08 Like, yeah, this reaches like a hundred thousand people.
22:12 - Sure. - Yeah.
22:13 You just drop it off at their door.
22:14 You can say it reaches them,
22:16 but that doesn't mean they read it.
22:17 - Correct.
22:18 - Like the way I approach marketing is always,
22:21 it's like through, what do I do?
22:23 Do I ever open these things?
22:25 No, I never open like, I never open these brochures.
22:28 I just toss them out and they just drop it off.
22:30 So coupons, oh man, coupons were a thing
22:33 also back then.
22:34 - I still remember.
22:35 - It was Groupon.
22:37 We didn't do it.
22:38 I refused to do it.
22:39 I was like, hell no, we are not doing Groupon.
22:42 It just, but no, we didn't do those,
22:45 but we did like, yeah, yellow pages
22:47 and kind of stuff like that,
22:48 which you can't even track that
22:51 unless you put a coupon in.
22:52 - So in, since 2012, I've been on my own journey
22:58 of sobriety and I've read recently
23:03 that you've shared that you've been sober as well.
23:07 And I only bring it up in this space
23:11 knowing that there's restaurateurs,
23:14 hospitality professionals that listen to this show.
23:16 And I know that it can be a lonely place
23:20 that you think that nobody knows what's going on,
23:24 but for how hard we work as entrepreneurs
23:26 to try to run these businesses,
23:28 I got into a dark place.
23:31 And I'm just grateful that I'm here now
23:34 able to build a media company
23:36 on top of our restaurant company
23:37 to have conversations like this,
23:39 that hopefully one person that listens to this
23:42 knows that there are places to reach out to.
23:45 Like you're not alone.
23:46 Like you do not have to burn the candle on both ends
23:50 for you, why was it important for you to share your journey?
23:54 - First of all, congrats to you on your sobriety.
23:57 - Thank you.
23:58 - It's huge.
23:59 Sorry, what was the question you just said?
24:03 - Well, the question is, I mean, we both serve alcohol.
24:07 We both are in the alcohol business
24:10 yet we've chosen to be sober,
24:12 but not only be sober to share our sobriety with others.
24:17 Why do you share your sobriety with others?
24:21 - Yeah, there's two reasons.
24:25 One, I only shared it publicly after a year
24:30 because I wanted to make sure
24:32 I wasn't gonna relapse in that first year.
24:35 And then after I shared,
24:37 it was one kind of holding myself accountable
24:40 in a crazy way.
24:42 'Cause I'm like, if I publicize this,
24:44 I really can't go back.
24:46 I can't lie to everyone, I can't lie to myself.
24:50 That was one.
24:51 And two, it's as you said, it can be a lonely place.
24:55 It can be a place of, you know,
24:58 you don't feel great about yourself, you're embarrassed.
25:01 There's a lot of negativity around it.
25:04 I just, I wanted it to be public
25:06 so that any chefs who are people in the restaurant industry
25:09 who may be going through something can see like,
25:14 you know, people go through this
25:19 and it's okay to admit that you have a problem if you do.
25:23 I wouldn't advise everyone out there
25:27 who does go through this to publicize it.
25:30 You know, there's a reason why it's somewhat anonymous.
25:34 But I wanted to be out there for people
25:37 to reach out to if they need to.
25:38 And I, you know, a lot of cooks have reached out to me
25:41 and tried to help them
25:46 because I know that that route will lead to destruction.
25:51 It's either destruction or death
25:54 for people who have an issue with substance abuse,
25:59 whether it's alcohol or drugs or whatever.
26:02 But as you know, it's only the beginning
26:06 once you stop that.
26:07 Then we have to figure out how to deal with life in general.
26:12 It's, you know, stopping those things is not the end of it.
26:16 It's only the beginning.
26:17 And it's, I hope, you know,
26:19 you've probably experienced the same thing.
26:21 It's a beautiful awakening to what could be.
26:26 - Yeah, yeah.
26:27 It's, you know, I'm always reminded
26:28 of the Friday Night Lights quote of,
26:30 "Clear eyes, full hearts can't lose."
26:33 And I used to pretend and bullshit my way
26:35 through pretending that people didn't know
26:37 that, you know, I was struggling
26:39 or I was having a difficult time.
26:41 And now, you know, sober, it's much easier.
26:44 It's much easier to work on the higher calling
26:47 and the higher things that we want to do
26:49 and we want to accomplish.
26:50 When you take time away for you, you know,
26:55 it's hard to do being an entrepreneur,
26:57 being a chef, running your business.
27:00 Is there anything that you do specifically?
27:02 Jesse time?
27:06 - Yeah, I mean, Jesse time.
27:08 - Laughing about it.
27:09 - Laughing.
27:10 (laughing)
27:11 - Because I mean, my days to myself,
27:14 like today was a day to myself, right?
27:15 I just had a bunch of meetings with people I like
27:17 and business stuff, but for me,
27:21 it's about human connection.
27:23 - Yeah.
27:24 - I mean, like real genuine human connection.
27:27 That speaks to me and that's worthwhile to me.
27:32 So grabbing a coffee with someone I just love,
27:36 like I respect and I love and I like hanging out with,
27:40 that to me just, you know, reinvigorates me.
27:44 Otherwise, I like traveling, I like working out,
27:47 I like doing yoga.
27:49 I always say it's really important for entrepreneurs
27:52 and people who are all about the grind
27:53 to kind of also appreciate the downtime and build it in
27:58 because I have to be honest with you,
28:00 the times that I've just been doing nothing
28:03 where I just take a week off
28:04 and I'm laying around at the beach
28:06 are the times where I've had the most significant
28:10 kind of epiphanies of what I need to do in business
28:15 and what I need to do for myself
28:16 and what I need to do for the team.
28:18 It's because the day-to-day people like us,
28:23 like it's just nonstop, it's just executing, right?
28:26 It's just like, I'm doing this, I'm doing this,
28:28 I'm doing this, I'm doing this.
28:29 There's not much time to really reflect
28:31 on what needs to change.
28:33 So I feel like taking serious downtime
28:36 where you're not doing anything
28:38 is actually the time where you might find the most growth
28:41 because that silence kind of,
28:44 and not doing your day-to-day
28:46 is where you can kind of see in and look at it,
28:49 look at your life from step back and just be like,
28:51 okay, that needs to change.
28:53 That's not healthy.
28:55 I need to do that.
28:56 This has to happen.
28:58 And then when you get back, you're fired up to execute,
29:01 fired up to go.
29:02 - Is there anything recently
29:04 that you've changed your mind on?
29:07 That you had a strong belief before
29:08 that now you've changed your mind?
29:10 - That's a tough one.
29:13 Maybe doing podcasts and videos like Bon Appetit
29:17 (laughing)
29:19 the past year.
29:20 - You definitely need to do more content, man.
29:25 Everything you're doing is fire.
29:26 And just the video alone that you did
29:29 and the stuff that you've shared,
29:31 I mean, you're impacting people all over the globe.
29:33 And we're living through a crazy time
29:35 where if you have internet access,
29:37 if you have Instagram, YouTube, podcasts,
29:40 you can connect with people all over the world.
29:42 And the world needs more of what you're doing.
29:45 It's so impressive.
29:47 - I appreciate it.
29:47 Thank you.
29:48 In terms of your other question,
29:52 I'll get back to it.
29:53 I have to think.
29:54 - You have to think about it.
29:55 Fair enough.
29:56 Is there anything you haven't done because of fear?
29:59 - Oof.
30:02 (silence)
30:05 I mean, I haven't opened more restaurants.
30:07 I haven't.
30:08 - How do you scale an Omikase concept?
30:11 - Well, the best way is through your apprentices.
30:17 Eventually they run the next one
30:19 and they run your current one.
30:20 I do have apprentices and they're amazing.
30:24 We're not there yet.
30:26 Also, to me, everyone kind of expands.
30:32 And I have a fear of not working
30:36 with the people I love working.
30:39 And a natural part of expansion is kind of diluting, right?
30:43 'Cause you are spreading your best talent
30:46 to run the new places.
30:48 And right now just having one restaurant,
30:52 and about 30 staff,
30:55 and a lot of these people have been there
30:58 for at least two years,
30:59 some of them seven years.
31:01 There's nothing more fulfilling to me
31:07 than working with people I enjoy and I respect.
31:11 I would say that is a fear of losing that.
31:16 But I know inevitably that's something
31:19 I'll have to come to terms with
31:20 'cause it's probably,
31:21 it's part of the process.
31:24 It's part of growth.
31:26 - Why is the magic in the rice?
31:29 (laughs)
31:31 - Ooh, rice is everything.
31:33 Sushi means sour and it refers to the rice.
31:37 It doesn't refer to the fish.
31:38 It doesn't mean raw fish.
31:39 The rice is what gives it all the complexity.
31:44 The rice is what differentiates good sushi from great sushi
31:48 because you can't just buy good rice.
31:52 You have to make it.
31:53 I mean, I buy really nice rice.
31:57 It's Hitome-gore Koshikare,
32:01 which is phenomenal grain.
32:03 It looks like little gems.
32:04 It's so beautiful.
32:05 And it comes out, the texture is so amazing.
32:07 But technically, you have to know how to wash it.
32:10 You have to know the strain.
32:11 You have to know the time on it.
32:12 You have to know how just based on the crop.
32:14 Is it a new crop?
32:15 Is it old crop?
32:16 Does it need more time, more water?
32:17 As the season changes,
32:19 you have to have your vinegar mixture
32:22 to kind of give it the flavor.
32:23 It gives it acidity and umami and salinity.
32:27 It gives your sushi texture.
32:28 I mean, rice, I mentioned earlier,
32:31 I loved pottery work, right, growing up.
32:34 And my teacher, my 3D arts teacher, Mr. Ferenzi,
32:36 so talented, he was always pushing me to go into art.
32:41 I was like, you know, Jesse, you're amazing at this.
32:43 Why don't you like do this for a living?
32:45 Rice to me is just an extension of clay.
32:49 I mean, you look at any sushi chef, they're molding.
32:52 I'm molding with my hand the pieces.
32:54 And if you look on Instagram,
32:56 I can just tell if a place is good
32:58 based on the way the sushi looks.
33:00 There's like an air to the rice.
33:01 There's a, it looks different.
33:03 And that's all due to rice.
33:07 And if you don't have good rice, you can't make good sushi.
33:10 And once you have it as a consumer, you can never go back.
33:15 The gummy, hard, cold rice, no.
33:17 - How long does it take to teach someone
33:20 how to make proper rice?
33:24 - Well, I mean, the technical aspect,
33:27 I could probably teach them in a few months
33:31 if I really wanted to hone in,
33:33 but I don't teach the apprentices.
33:36 The rice is, I hold that for much later.
33:39 They start on vegetable work.
33:40 They start on like fish prep, cutting, scaling, cleaning,
33:44 cutting, knife techniques.
33:46 Rice is so critical that it's much later.
33:49 - How much later?
33:50 - At the end.
33:52 (laughing)
33:55 That's my opinion.
33:56 - At the end.
33:57 - I also, I do it, I do it for my,
33:59 I make the rice every day for my own sake.
34:02 And then my other chef does it for the Uzakaya.
34:03 He's been a chef for decades, so he knows how to do it.
34:08 But the rice is critical.
34:11 And as I said, it's what separates good from great.
34:14 - So every single week on LinkedIn,
34:19 we connect with the community.
34:20 So if you're listening to this,
34:22 if you're watching this, we wanna hear from you.
34:24 We wanna hear about your restaurant.
34:25 If you're a content creator, we wanna hear from you.
34:28 You can DM me on LinkedIn @SeanPWolcheff.
34:31 I'll send you the link to the live podcast.
34:33 You can join us on stage.
34:35 We also do a social shout out.
34:37 This week's social shout out goes to Media Beast,
34:41 Media Beast underscore editor.
34:43 His name's JC.
34:44 He does phenomenal short form video editing work,
34:46 and he has been showing up, been doing all the work.
34:50 Jesse, I wanna give you a chance.
34:51 One person.
34:53 I know you have a whole team, but I need one person
34:55 that's been a shining star for your restaurant.
34:58 Who can you shout out for entrepreneur?
35:00 - My chef who runs the Uzakaya, Justin Bacarach.
35:05 He's worked with me for three years now since the pandemic
35:09 and since we reopened.
35:11 And prior to COVID, I was doing all the Uzakaya
35:18 hiring, firing, management, food ordering,
35:21 as well as on the cause.
35:22 And we were open seven days a week and late night.
35:25 And one of the, so one of the epiphanies I had actually
35:28 after sobering up was that it doesn't have to be this way.
35:33 It's crazy to have those realizations
35:37 where it doesn't have to be this way.
35:39 You know, this can change.
35:41 So I decided to hire a chef to run the Uzakaya and help.
35:48 And he's like one of a kind.
35:49 He's a shining star.
35:50 He's become a great friend of mine.
35:52 We actually just got coffee today and caught up.
35:55 Such a hard worker, so talented.
35:58 She was amazing.
35:59 And overall, and the most important thing is he's nice
36:02 and empathetic.
36:03 And as a leader, that's so important because, you know,
36:06 we want to cultivate good culture, good people,
36:09 take care of everyone.
36:10 And he certainly does that.
36:13 - Yeah, it's amazing.
36:14 It reminds me of a Tim Ferriss quote.
36:16 What would this look like if it was easy?
36:18 And we are the antithesis of easy
36:23 in the restaurant business.
36:24 We make things as hard as possible.
36:28 - Of course, once you get a system down
36:31 and it becomes easy, we got to make it harder.
36:35 - We find a way, or we open up more restaurants.
36:38 - Yeah.
36:38 - So before I let you go,
36:42 I want to ask you about your smartphone usage.
36:45 We believe in smartphone storytelling.
36:47 We believe everybody that's listening to this,
36:49 you have a voice, you have a story,
36:50 you have the opportunity to share your voice
36:53 with the world on Instagram, on TikTok, on YouTube.
36:56 Jesse, which phone do you use, iPhone or an Android?
37:00 - iPhone.
37:01 - iPhone, which version?
37:02 - I think I have a 13.
37:06 I only buy it when my battery dies.
37:08 - Okay, when your battery dies is when you upgrade.
37:10 - Yeah.
37:11 - Do you always upgrade your software?
37:14 - When it tells me to.
37:16 - Do you prefer emails or texts?
37:18 - Texts.
37:20 - Do you prefer texts or phone calls?
37:22 - Ooh, depends.
37:26 Depends on what we need to talk about.
37:27 - Depends on who's selling.
37:29 Somebody's selling you something.
37:31 How many emails do you get a day?
37:33 - I get like 50.
37:36 - How many do you enjoy reading?
37:38 - Maybe two.
37:44 - What is your favorite app on your iPhone?
37:46 - Instagram, it's what I use the most.
37:52 - What is your least favorite?
37:52 - Or the camera, the camera.
37:54 - Camera app, there you go.
37:56 - Camera app is amazing.
37:56 - Do you take more photos with your phone
37:58 or with your camera?
37:59 - Everything you see on Instagram,
38:02 most of it is my actual DSL.
38:06 But I do take a lot of pictures on my phone
38:09 because the iPhones are amazing.
38:11 - Yeah, for sure.
38:13 Where do you listen to music?
38:15 Which app?
38:16 - Spotify.
38:17 - Spotify.
38:18 How often do you listen to music?
38:21 - All day, every day.
38:22 - All day, every day.
38:23 What's your least favorite app?
38:24 - Like Facebook.
38:29 - And as far as something a mentor has taught you,
38:37 what is a lesson or a quote that a mentor has taught you
38:40 that you can share with our audience?
38:42 Something that, a mantra.
38:43 - It's better to be everything to someone
38:48 rather than something to everyone.
38:50 - It's amazing.
38:53 Best way for people to find you is on Instagram?
38:56 - Yes, Instagram's the best way.
38:58 I'm not really on anything else.
39:00 - And how long does it take
39:02 to get a reservation at your restaurant?
39:04 How many months in advance are we at currently?
39:08 - Well, someone just came in on Saturday
39:12 and he said it took him two years to get in.
39:15 - Took him two years to get in?
39:17 - Yeah.
39:18 You have to catch a cancellation.
39:22 - Really?
39:23 How far out is it?
39:24 What's your reservation platform you use?
39:27 - Resi.
39:28 - You use Resi?
39:28 And how far out does Resi book?
39:30 - Well, we book 90 days out.
39:33 - So after, so 90 days,
39:35 how did you get into a lottery or how does it work?
39:38 - You just have to sign up every day for a notification.
39:41 - Every day for a notification?
39:43 - If there's a cancellation.
39:45 - That's amazing.
39:46 You're like a rockstar.
39:47 - No, I mean, so the thing is--
39:53 - Is there a secondary market for reservations?
39:55 Not yet?
39:57 - No, I actually, I try to keep on tab on that.
40:00 I don't want people selling it.
40:02 But I, most of them, 80% of my clientele are repeats.
40:06 It's not more.
40:07 Because when you're in, you can rebook.
40:09 That's the thing.
40:10 Because I think it's important to foster that,
40:13 especially as a sushi chef.
40:15 I spend more time with my customers than I do with my friends.
40:18 I see some of these people, we spend two hours together.
40:21 Like I have had customers that I'm feeding,
40:25 that I've been feeding for like 17 years.
40:29 And a lot of these regulars who are there now,
40:32 yeah, years.
40:33 Once you're in, they just, I get to know them for years.
40:36 I mean, it's a thing.
40:37 We grow together.
40:38 I see them get married, have kids.
40:41 Their kids eventually start coming.
40:43 It's really rewarding to see that
40:46 and have that relationship.
40:48 - Since the restaurant's been open,
40:49 have you ever missed a service?
40:51 - I've been sick a couple times.
40:54 But if I'm not feeling well, we cancel.
40:57 We rebook everyone.
40:58 It's like a show.
41:00 - Wow.
41:01 - Like if Taylor Swift is sick.
41:03 I'm not comparing myself to Taylor Swift.
41:04 I'm not that sick.
41:05 But you know, the show doesn't go on.
41:07 - You're going to have to see.
41:08 I love it.
41:09 - No, let's not start.
41:12 - Let's not start that.
41:13 Chef Jesse Ito, thank you so much for your time.
41:17 I appreciate it.
41:18 I will hopefully one day be lucky enough
41:21 with me and my wife to sit in front of you
41:23 and enjoy that amazing rice.
41:26 - I would love to have you.
41:28 - That would be phenomenal.
41:29 And if for whatever reason,
41:30 you make a quick trip to San Diego,
41:32 please come and sit at our barbecue.
41:35 It's not a barbecue omakase,
41:36 but one day maybe barbecue omakase.
41:39 Come have some barbecue at our spot.
41:41 - I would love that.
41:42 Thank you, Sean.
41:43 Thanks for having me on.
41:44 - We appreciate you guys.
41:45 As always, stay curious, get involved,
41:47 and don't be afraid to ask for help.
41:48 We will catch you guys all next week.
41:50 Thank you.
41:51 (upbeat music)
41:53 (upbeat music)