Kosuke Tada, chef of Mijoté in San Francisco, hails from Osaka, Japan. He attended the city’s Tsuji Culinary Institute, founded in 1960 by influential culinary educator Shizuo Tsuji. The school’s longstanding connection to French cuisine, cultivated through Tsuji’s relationships with chefs such as Paul Bocuse, provided the foundation for Tada’s study of French cooking and technique.
After graduating, Tada cooked at Le Mange-Tout, a Michelin-starred French bistro in Tokyo. He later returned to Osaka to work at a small bistro before moving to France. There, he cooked at three-Michelin-starred Le Petit Nice in Marseille and one-Michelin-starred Maison Decoret in Auvergne. He eventually settled in Paris, working at Le 6 Paul Bert and two-Michelin-starred Restaurant David Toutain.
“When you start cooking [in fine dining], it’s all very systematized,” recalls Tada. “It’s a more organized way of cooking, with positions like commis and chef de partie. It’s like a military. I learned a lot.”
Tada met his wife in Paris. She had also attended culinary school and worked in restaurants but left the industry to enroll in a program at UC Berkeley. Her studies eventually brought the couple to California.
Tada opened Mijoté in San Francisco’s Mission District in April 2022. Instead of pursuing white-tablecloth fine dining, he opted for a casual bistro built around a four-course menu that changes daily.
“I feel more connected to bistro cooking than when I worked at Michelin-starred restaurants,” says Tada. “I touched more ingredients. I use my head more. I know it’s not always perfect, but I prefer this style. It’s a challenge to make new recipes every day.”
