Discrimination in the Sushi World

I don't think you are viewing this topic in the correct light. The sushi itself will taste the way it's going to taste no matter who serves it....whether they be a tattoed freak or a native Japanese person. The point is that having a Japanese server adds to the atmosphere and the overall experience of eating sushi. It's the same reason you will have a better time at an Italian restaurant if the server is Italian....there is more to an eating experience than just the food...it's a culture that you want to absorb...that means the food and the people. Now, with that said, it doesn't mean that sushi will taste any better with a Japanese waiter.....I think this goes without saying.

I don't think you are viewing this topic in the correct light. The sushi itself will taste the way it's going to taste no matter who serves it....whether they be a tattoed freak or a native Japanese person. The point is that having a Japanese server adds to the atmosphere and the overall experience of eating sushi. It's the same reason you will have a better time at an Italian restaurant if the server is Italian....there is more to an eating experience than just the food...it's a culture that you want to absorb...that means the food and the people. Now, with that said, it doesn't mean that sushi will taste any better with a Japanese waiter.....I think this goes without saying.

I nevre have a problem with having a hakujin (white person) make my sushi. I never understood why having a Japanese person cutting the fish would make any difference[quote][/quote] hmm.... this is like the question i had on my mind when i first came to america. " what is the different between Mcdonald and burgerking's burger? seems like burgerking's burger are BIGGER. i can't taste the different......

I think that although you have the whole "just because he's white and at a sushi bar doesn't make a difference" thing down pat and you seem to be open minded and opinionated on the subject, I 'll say this, I am Texan born and am Italian from my dad side (C. Romeo). *NO we are not related to the resturant* When we went to ROMEO's to eat my brother and father felt more at home because the chefs and such were Italian. This was like 3 or four years ago, so it probably changed over time, but they were speaking Italian and I really felt like I was in my home country, Italy. So I think a little bit of both, it doesn't matter if you're asian, white, black, mexican, anything because it won't change the food indefinitely yet it adds some kind of homy-ness and a feeling like you are quote "absorbing another country's culture." feedback for me, please?

OK, this is a two-sided argument. Now, on one side, we have the "gaijin (foreigner) sushi chef." Chances are that the sushi will taste pretty much the same as if a Japanese sushi chef had prepared it, given that he had the right kind of training on what to do with assembling the pieces of fish with the rice and so on. I would imagine that they are pretty methodical in training sushi chefs to preserve consistency and quality of the product. Otherwise, you wouldn't see him working there if he made bad sushi. On the other side, I can also see why the Japanese chef would be preferred over the "gaijin sushi chef." It is because sushi is a delicacy from the country of Japan. Therefore, Japanese people likely know what "good" sushi is supposed to taste like. If the Japanese chef prepared his own sushi and ate it, he knows whether it's good or bad judging by his own personal taste and can compare it to the stuff he has eaten in Japan. This brings about an interesting point. The actuality is that in Japan, presentation of the meal is just as important as the quality of the food itself. If you go to a restaurant in Japan, you will find that food items are nicely arranged in a proper fashion for presentation to the customer. Part of this presentation is the smiling sushi chef standing behind the counter, which adds to the ambience of the restaurant. In Japan, it is somewhat rare to have a "sushi bar" with a separate dining area like the restaurants here. It's either one or the other for the most part. As far as comparing the Italian restaurant scenario and the sushi restaurant scenario, in the Italian restaurant (unless you're at Macaroni Grill or something), you usually can't see the people preparing your food. However, this isn't the case for the sushi chefs standing behind the counter in a very conspicuous area of the restaurant. Hence, people are probably more reluctant to trust the gaijin sushi chef's sushi than the Italian food coming out of the kitchen. In addition, Italian food has become mainstream in America and we often accept that people of different ethnicities can cook Italian food well, whereas Japanese food in many areas is still a bit exotic and uncommon, so some of us might associate the lack of commonness with the required expertise of a Japanese chef. Furthermore, in the Italian restaurant, we could propose that the chef could really be Italian, but in the sushi restaurant, it's blatantly obvious that the chef isn't Japanese, and thus comes forth the attitude of "I'm not getting something real for my money." To conclude: It's authenticity of the environment, not authenticity of the food, that's at stake here.

I personally think that there's no problem with a white sushi chef, provided that he/she tries to do it right... Usually, the white chefs have to work harder to be taken seriously by "traditional" japanese chefs, so, they end up having better sushi sometimes than the chinese guy or korean guy back there making your sushi (a lot of chefs are chinese in austin). Also, I know that two of the white chefs in Austin (Pike and Mike -- both used to work at Tokyo Steakhouse, Pike moved to Sushi Japon, Mike got a job as a translator) speak japanese fluently, and also know a ton about sushi, japan, etc. Maybe it's because they worked with "master" Frank Shibasaki-san but who knows. The atmosphere does make it more relaxing, but I know I hate going to sushi bars and getting frustated when I can't communicate with the chef (I speak japanese and english) He may be asian, but, not japanese and ruins the mood; whereas with a white person who speaks japanese natively, you can almost forget that they're white if they serve good sushi, have a nice uniform, and are knowledgeable about sushi.

dood I a m white but I don't want some honky making my sushi. its all about personal preference.

[quote="sushifreak"]dood I a m white but I don't want some honky making my sushi. its all about personal preference.[/quote] I second that, its like when you walk in a chinese restaurant you see a african-american chef making you some traditional chinese dish!?!? or you walk in to a franch restaurant you see a asian dude standing in the kitchen, you'll just hope taht he is the dishwasher, not your chef. I'm not saying that white sushi chef are bad, but most of them are! except that dude at ochi. now I mean in the sushi bar. as of white kitchen chef in fusion restaurant, I've seen alot of goood one that's white. my #1 pick in austin would be that dude at kenichi. he is really good. I've spoke with him before, his from Culinary institude of America. he is really good.

anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant will tell you that mexicans are the best cooks to hire for any type of restaurant. so yeah-- it does mattter-- when I see an all white kitchen staff, I get a bad feeling about the quality of the food and the efficiency of the kitchen. White people make decent excutive chefs, waiters or dishwashers, but for the most part they have no place in food preparation.

I am a sushi chef in training, and I am white. Honky roundeyed infidel gaijin paleface I may be, but rice is rice, and it doesn't care if you're white, black, or purple. Years spent cutting yourself and burning your fingers and losing your soy dishes and saying very patiently 'yes, sir/ma'am, *raw* fish', make you a sushi chef, not race. And on the ambience issue, sure, shallow people will get put out if you don't have an epicanthic fold, but just as many people will be less intimidated by someone whose first language is English, and therefore mor elikely to frequent your place. (Also, side note, how do you know that the whitey behind the fish case *isn't* Japanese? I mean, you get racially Asian people born and raised in the heart of Texas. There are white people who were born in Japan, grew up speaking Japanese, and are as Japanese as any Hiro.)

get a clue people! watch the food channel. iron chef battles are between japanese chefs of different culinary backgrounds!( italian food by japanese, chinese food by japanese, french food by japanese). malto mario , great chef , american making italian food. if you want authenticity, im sure all sushi chefs would love to never make another california roll, lazy susan, or any other crappy roll that has mayo slathered all over it. as far as soaking up all the experience of having a waitperson of descent, thats bull. its a business and if the business requires that people are purple are needed to serve you to make it work so be it. as far as wanting a traditional sushi bar any person that is not japanese would probably not be allowed or at least served the old fish since most would  not be able to taste the difference. oh yeah traditional japanese chefs smile so much because its in their culture to be friendly outgoing personable people. NOT!

Haha, wow......... I hope the moment I can't enjoy good food of any stripe because the ethnicity of the chef took away from it's ambiance that someone will just shoot me. That is the problem with sushi I suppose, it is so rarely about the food and so much about appearance and notions. In fact, some of you will argue I can't even truly appreciate sushi with that view because I don't "get" what it is really all about. But wait, if you aren't Japanese, do you even have the required background to judge what is authentic and what is not? Under your own logic, I would say no. Food is food. It is good or it isn't. You feel relaxed as you eat or you don't. Everything else is just bs posturing. So while some of you shudder at the thought of a gaijin serving you before you even taste the food, I'll be enjoying my sushi. I bet 90% of you couldn't tell the difference between a Korean and a Japanese anyway, lol.

I'm a white guy, a sushi lover, and I make damn good sushi as well. I like to try the local Japanese restaurants and never before have I ever even thought about the race of the person making my sushi. I spend time in Japan every year, and I can tell you that Japanese people are every bit as capable of making terrible sushi as any North American. In my home city of Toronto there are a large number of fantastic Japanese restaurants that rival the best I have eaten at in Japan, and the chefs these restaurants are virtually all from places other than Japan. The fact that they aren't Japanese is far less important than the fact that their skills with a knife and a block of top qaulity raw fish are first class. I suggest that you taste your food first and then judge the skill of the person behind the counter. If you want Japanese ambiance you should go to Japan and try the real thing. In North America you are more likely to get Korean or Chinese ambiance anyway.

Wow...some people just don't get it...either that or they are lying to themselves - attempting to be "above" everyone else on the planet... The statement, "as far as soaking up all the experience of having a waitperson of descent, thats bull" is so far off base that it makes me laugh. Ever been to an "authentic" Irish pub just to be served by another Texan?  Now, ever been to an Irish pub, like Mother Egan's or Bull Mcabes, and be served by someone from Ireland...not only do you find the experience better, you enjoy the beer more. Someone convince me that anyone would go to Hooter's if they started allowing guys to wait tables... Eating out is more about experience and atmosphere than food (not true in all situations, but true most of the time).  Any person that took a few classes can cook at home most of what is served in restaurants in Austin...so why go to Saba?  You go there for the pretty people and cool atmosphere.  Why go to Andiamo Restaurante instead of Vespiao?  Both have equally great food...but at Andiamo you are greeted by the Italian owner and offered a glass of wine if the wait is long...doesn't make the food taste better, but you enjoy it more. This is a basic human trait...if you go to a specialized restaurant, you want to be somehow transported to the land/culture of that restaurant.  Why do you think they call Fado the "Irish Disneyland?"  The more a business can do to provide that, the more successful they will be...assuming their food is not terrible...even if that means having an English person work at an Irish pub, or a Chinese person work at a sushi bar.  The closer you get -- the better for business. Anyone who says that atmosphere doesn't matter in a restaurant is either trying to be morally elitist (i.e. "I don't see color in people") or they are one of the very rare individuals that truly cares nothing about how a restaurant looks or feels.

[quote="Nicolia"] This is a basic human trait...if you go to a specialized restaurant, you want to be somehow transported to the land/culture of that restaurant. [/quote] Um, for me personally, if I go to a "specialized restaurant", the only thing I care about is that the food is good. One does not need to have an italian/japanese/spanish person cook their italian/japanese/spanish food, as long as the person who is cooking it is cooking it well. It hurts your argument that you are willing to excuse and English waiter at Fado or a Chinese worker at a sushi place. For the record, the last time I went to Fado, my waiter was not Irish (not even English, Welsh, or Scottish, I think he was a *gasp* Texan), and the service was excellent, the beer tasted just as it always did, and my experience was not sullied in any way. :roll:

"It hurts your argument that you are willing to excuse and English waiter at Fado or a Chinese worker at a sushi place." Actually if you read my post correctly, I'm saying that the CLOSER you get to providing native atmosphere, the better.  I'm not saying that an English waiter at Fado is as good as an Irish waiter.  I'm not even saying that an Irish waiter is better than a Texan waiter...you are missing the point (one is not inherently a better waiter - it's all about providing atmosphere).  There is a reason that when Fado first opened, they only hired people from Great Britian...they wanted to create an atmosphere that would generate the most business from the most people. You personally may not feel the same, but the majority will have more fun with an Irish waiter at Fado and so forth.

Ah, my mistake. I did not realize you were the spokesperson for the majority.

Yes.  And I get paid amazingly well for the position.