Inside the Kitchen: Seven Questions with Chef Shingo Akikuni of Shingo

I think most of my best food memories involve my grandfather. When I was a kid, he would always come back from trips with a Wagyu cutlet sandwich for me. It would have this demi-gloss sauce that was so good.

My grandfather was a restaurant owner, and I always loved seeing how respected he was in the neighborhood. He was always recognized, and people would call him Taisho—which in Japanese basically means “Boss.” He was really looked up to as someone who was prominent in the community because of the restaurant he owned, and that was something I’ve always wanted to live up to.

Fine dining for me is all about the feeling I get. I always go into the experience with butterflies in my stomach in anticipation of what’s to come. I love the feeling I get when I’m about to enjoy a really good meal. It's the same feeling I have when I’m serving my own dishes to our guests. I go into each service with that same butterfly-in-the-stomach feeling because I want to make the meal personal and extremely special for every single guest.

Having only 14 seats at Shingo means we really can make the experience something that’s personalized for each guest. It’s all about looking at the little details and really putting your best self forward with the service element.

My goal for the restaurant is to really make it the best sushi restaurant in the United States. And as far as my personal goals as a chef, I just want to keep learning and growing—to keep pushing myself, learning new things, and improving my techniques. The result of that is pushing the restaurant forward as well.