(relaxed music) - How many of us in these food-obsessed times have dreamed of opening our own restaurant?

Maybe we team up with a few friends and spend our days sharing with our lucky customers the dishes that bring us joy.

In this episode, we'll meet chef entrepreneurs from across the Asian Pacific diaspora who have done just that.

These risk takers braved the pandemic and the fierce competition, going deep into their Indian, Korean, Japanese, Malaysian, and Thai heritages to create not just dazzling new menus, but standing room-only Manhattan dining experiences.

(relaxed music fading) (exciting music) (relaxed music) As veterans of Masa, where they met, the sushi chefs Jihan Lee and Taka Sakaeda, know a thing or two about the fine art of raw fish.

With another former Masa colleague, Lisa Limb, they struck out on their own and opened a restaurant focusing on tamaki, or Japanese hand rolls.

Their modern, Instagram-friendly take on the traditional handmade sushi rolls was an immediate success, and spawned a second location in Brooklyn, where I got a sneak peek.

(relaxed music) Nami Nori incorporates non-traditional ingredients with top of the line, fresh seafood, and adds touches like gojuchang for heat, crispy shallots for crunch, and lemon zest for tang.

Lisa, who is the restaurant's director of operations, came up with a name Nami Nori after the Hawaiian word for waves, channeling the joys of island life and surf culture.

(relaxed music) I sat down with the trio to find out how they made their restaurant dreams come true.

(relaxed music) What was your original idea behind Nami Nori?

- When I was at Masa, I met somebody who wanted to open a Korean restaurant, kimbap, and so, you know-- - Yes.

- I was trying to figure out ways how to do kimbap, and, you know, try to make it sexy 'cause you know, kimbap is really like, your mom makes for picnics or road trips and you know, it's easy to, it has all the ingredients in there.

- Exactly, it's just like a big... - Yeah.

- Seaweed roll.

- Yeah.

- [Danielle] With eggs and all the vegetables.

- Everything.

All the good, like, vegetables and protein.

Everything's in there.

Carbs, and you know, vitamin C. Everything's in there.

(Danielle chuckles) And, you know, I was trying to make it new.

(upbeat electronic music) We had a partner Lisa, who was also at Masa, who had suggested that, why don't we just do it in a hand roll form?

- Hmm.

- And make it, you know, beautiful like, that aesthetically, there's all these colors in there.

(upbeat electronic music) And then, you know, we decided to team up with Taka and do a Japanese hand roll.

And so that's kind of how it's all started.

(groovy music) - [Danielle] I also got a hands-on lesson in hand rolls, Nami Nori style.

All right, Jihan, what are we making today?

- Well, we can, we'll probably do like, five later, but we can start with one or two.

Everything is pre-measured out.

So these... (metal clanging) - [Danielle] Balls.

- Rice balls here.

And basically, what you want to do is you kind of want to make it like, look like this, but a little bit flatter, and more spread out.

Just like that.

(groovy music) - Got it.

- Yeah.

(groovy music) This is our wasabi that we keep, you know, all the stations have it.

- Mm-hmm.

- You can just take a little like, kind of make like a J-shape with your finger.

- Yeah.

- Just wanna kind of, roll it on there.

This is our tuna poke that we're just gonna grab, like just a spoonful, and slide it right on top like that.

- [Danielle] Uh-huh.

What's in your tuna poke?

- There's red onions, myoga, which is a type of ginger, the flower of a ginger.

- Oh!

- There's also ginger in there.

Scallions, tuna.

And after you put it in, you can just kind of spread it out a little bit.

Make it like, you know, nice.

Just the shape.

- Uh-huh.

- And then, this is our poke sauce that we can just drizzle on.

So, after that's done, we have the crispy shallots here that we can just kind of sprinkle on, and this adds a little bit of texture, some crunch.

You just put this on the center here.

- [Danielle] Mm-hmm.

- [Jihan] And then just grab it like this.

And normally that's when I put it up here, and-- - Mmm!

- [Jihan] Then the guests can enjoy from here, yeah.

- What an amazing bite.

- Exactly.

Yeah.

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

(groovy music) (seafood crunching) So many different textures, and... - Mm-hmm!

- And you get the water from the red onions, and then with the nuttiness, and... - Very tasty.

- Everything looks pretty because we're in a, we live in the age where social media is so important, and the first thing people do when they see this is take a picture of it.

So we want to make sure, make it look good, make it look colorful, sexy, and you're really eating, or the camera eats first.

- Mm-hmm.

- As they say.

- Always.

For example, XO, this is like a Chinese-influenced roll.

This coconut shrimp is, you know, Thai.

And so we all have different backgrounds, and you know, Chef Jihan is Korean.

- Mm-hmm.

- Lisa happens to be half-Korean, half-Japanese.

I'm Japanese.

And so, but you know, and obviously, in the United States, we have a global audience.

- Yeah.

- And so we're trying to, you know, some way, in some form, have some representation there as well.

And so, that was kind of important to us.

- Yeah, that's why I think, you know, for us, it's really our modern take on Japanese cuisine.

We wanted to take that and just kind of riff on it, and make it a little bit younger, more fun, more modern.

And I think that's, you know, one of our values is about spreading joy.

I think that's really what essentially is driving us in doing this.

And that's what, at the end of the day, what we're passionate about.

- Yes.

(bright music) - [Jihan] Some people that come dine with us, they can eat anywhere in the world, but they choose to come to our restaurant every week, or, you know, and support us, you know?

So it feels like we're doing something right.

(bright music) (peaceful music) - Walking across Manhattan to the outskirts of Chinatown, I trade the elegant minimalism of Nami Nori's hand rolls for the down home street food at Kopitiam.

This storefront restaurant is Chef Kyo Pang's love letter to the traditional Malaysian coffee shop, and to the Nyonya cuisine she grew up with: a comforting but spicy blend of Malaysian, Chinese, Indonesian, Indian, and European influences.

If you're an all-day snack food addict, a kopitiam will be your happy place.

(peaceful music) - Nyonyas came from basically, you know, because back then, there was like, Portuguese were in Malaysia for a little bit.

And then that's the name that is called, like grandma.

- Mmm.

- Like, Nyuni.

- Hmm.

- So it's like, and then it's pronounced like as Nyonya.

So when we refer, Baba means the man.

- Okay.

- Nyonyas means the women.

- I see.

- So we're Baba-Nyonyas.

So it's not a race.

It's a very particular, a...

Very particular... Culture.

- This is kaya toast, right?

- Yes.

- With the pandan.

- Yes, the pandan jam.

Coconut milk, palm sugar.

- Mm-hmm.

- Eggs and the pandan leaves.

- I feel like that's one of the most famous, you know, kind of Malaysian sweets or Malaysian snacks that people are familiar with.

- Yes, like, usually a lot of, a lot of like, coconut and all that.

So people would assume that.

So the bread actually was prepared in the Hainanese style.

So it's crispy on the outside, fluffy right in the middle.

And some places, they like to cut it in a very thin and crusty.

So everything we serve here is more like, how I like it.

So in Malaysia, we don't really have a thing that we define as breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

So no one judge you, especially from where I was from, I'm from Penang.

- Mm-hmm.

- So Penang people just snack all day.

Kopitiams means coffee shop in our language.

Kopi means coffee, tiams mean shop.

And every kopitiams has different cuisine.

- What is this delicious nugget that I'm eating?

(chuckles) (Kyo chuckles) - So this is the pandan chicken.

- Ah!

- So it's another thing that we also use the pandan leaf.

- Oh, this is the leaf.

- So, yes.

- [Danielle] The famous leaf, huh?

- So no one actually wraps it in that way anymore.

It looks triangles, but it's actually a octagon.

The pandan leaves will give the fragrance to the meat.

So when we steam it, it will exhaust the flavors.

So this is the Belachan chicken wings.

So Belachan is a shrimp paste.

- And then this is a sweet glutenous rice ball with sesame and peanut?

- Yes.

- [Kyo] Sesames, peanut and sugar.

- Mmm.

- So this one is best serving pot.

- Mmm.

- For, this one is Loba.

- Ah!

- Loba is marinated minced pork.

This is the oh chien.

Oh chien is the oyster omelet.

It's one of my favorite dish, the street food that I eat in when I was in Penang.

- And this is the famous half-sweet half-salty pandan.

- Yes, the kuih talam.

- Kuih?

- [Kyu] Kuih talam.

- [Danielle] Okay.

- [Kyu] That's kuih talam.

So it's the salty on the top and the sweet on the bottom.

Mm-hmm.

- This is delicious.

And I think that the saltiness... - Mm-hmm?

- Um... Really mellows out the creaminess.

- Yes.

- And, I love the grassy flavors.

- [Kyu] Yes.

It's from the pandan.

- That's from the pandan.

- [Unison] Yes.

- Because we don't use the-- - It's so fresh.

- Yes.

We don't use the extract.

We use the actual leaf.

- Mmm!

- To get the color.

- And what is this?

- This is the pulut inti, which is the blue sticky rice with the grated coconut.

It's one of my mom's favorite too.

(Danielle chuckles) She shipped the... - Oh, it's gorgeous!

- [Kyo] She shipped the butterfly pea, which is the flowers.

- Uh-huh.

- [Kyo] All the way from Malaysia every six months.

- Really?

- So... - [Danielle] That's love.

- Simple, you know?

- Mmm.

just grated coconut on top, and the blue sticky rice on the bottom.

During that time when I opened up kopitiam, it's never the case that I want to see myself as in, like, I want to open the restaurant that will make me richer, or I want to open the restaurant that will influence people.

It's more like, I want to preserve what my family have given to me.

- That's really beautiful.

(Kyo chuckles) No, it really is.

- So.

I think part of it is also because of what I believe, because like we Nyonya, we believe things comes in circle.

- Mmm.

- And we believe where we start, we always come back to where we from.

(exotic music) - Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya named their restaurant group Unapologetic Foods.

And that's their approach to bringing heritage Southern Indian cuisine to America.

At Semma in Manhattan's West Village, Chef Vijay Kumar who grew up in Tamil, Nadu, brings ancestral flavors of the Indian countryside to New York City diners.

(exotic music) I get a taste of this deeply personal and perfectionist approach in a dosa-making tutorial.

(exotic music) So what goes into making the dosa?

- So you soak the lentil and rice overnight, and then you blend them, and then they'll ferment overnight again, naturally.

It depends on the temperature.

Sometimes you get fermented so fast within six hours in case we have right temperature.

- Mmm.

- During cold season, it may take more than like, 12 hours or something like that.

- Oh, okay.

- So.

then once it's fermented, then you have to make the dosas, yeah.

- So, you have to get the griddle really hot.

- Yeah.

(stammers) - And oiled.

- The most important thing, as I always say, to season the griddle is most important.

As you can see-- - Uh-huh.

- I've been doing it for the last 20 minutes.

Still not ready yet.

So you need to make sure-- - Uh-huh.

- The temperature is right, and then it's been seasoned properly.

Otherwise, those are gonna stick on the grill.

- Ah!

- So we have to make sure it's been seasoned perfectly.

- So do you, what do you want diners to take away from being at Semma?

- I just want them to understand, taste what authentic Indian food is.

- Uh-huh.

- What Southern Indian food is, like, Indian food is not just about, like, Southern Indian food is just not only about dosas and idli.

- Uh-huh.

- There's a lot more than dosa and idli too.

- Yes.

- So I just want them to understand there's a lot more in India than just idli and dosas.

- Yes.

- Something like that, yeah.

- Absolutely.

(griddle sizzling) (meditative music) (griddle sizzling) (meditative music) - [Danielle] Okay, that looks really, pretty simple.

You made it look really easy.

(laughs) (meditative music) So this is generally eaten for breakfast, or just as a snack food?

- Generally breakfast, you can eat them like that.

I eat them three times a day sometimes.

- What is in that gun powder chili?

- So there's a lot of spices and lentils and chilies.

- Okay.

- So we roast everything.

We just ground them in the house.

- Ah!

- [Vijay] Add some more ghee to that.

(meditative music) So we get a little nice and crunchy and crispy.

- Delicious.

Yes.

- Little potatoes.

- And what's in the potatoes?

- That's again, that's turmeric, there's lentils.

Chilies and onions, cilantros.

All right, now, see, you then just sit for like, at least a minute or so.

See the little golden colors coming on the side?

- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

- [Vijay] That means it's almost ready.

Then you can just flip it.

- [Danielle] Ooh.

- Or you can just fold it.

- Like?

(meditative music) - There you go.

- Aha!

- Then you just do this.

(meditative music) - Very beautiful.

- Thank you.

- [Danielle] It's like a crepe.

I see your French mastery coming into play here.

- So, this is it.

(exotic music) - Wow, gorgeous!

- Yeah.

- It's like a gift, a present.

Thank you.

(Vijay laughs) - You can have it, it's yours.

(exotic music) - Wow.

It's really good.

- [Vijay] Thank you.

All right, so you're gonna-- - Best dosa ever.

- And now it's your turn.

You're gonna make it.

(Vijay laughs) - No, I'm gonna make the worst dosa ever.

- No, no, you're gonna be fine.

You're gonna be fine.

(device spraying) I'm gonna teach you this.

(Danielle chuckles) There you go!

I can hold this for you.

(Danielle chuckles) - And then start in the middle?

- Yeah, just go clockwise or anti-clockwise, whatever, however you prefer.

(meditative music) (knives chopping) Yeah, keep going, keep going.

Keep, keep, keep going.

You gotta keep spreading.

(meditative music) There you go.

You got it, you got it.

Awesome.

- All right.

- We're almost there.

I would say 70%, 70% is there.

(Danielle laughs) (Danielle chuckles) (exotic music) - Is that enough?

- Yeah.

- So.

Actually.

(exotic music) (Danielle chuckles) - That's great.

(Danielle chuckles) (exotic music) - Your dosa!

(laughs) - Awesome.

That's great.

- Semma is a word used for slang, which is for excellence or dope.

You know how we say rad or a dope thing?

- Oh!

- So Semma is a slang for that.

So like, if you see something, "Oh my God, that car is semma."

- The premise of Unapologetic Foods is that as we look back in time, we realize that we've all been apologizing, specifically with Indian food to the rest of the world.

"I'm sorry, our food has a little more spice."

"Sorry, our food has a little extra layer of oil."

It has the kind of temperate, the flavor profile's a little bit different.

The way it's cooked is totally different.

So all of these things are distinctly different, which is the most amazing part of our cuisine.

But somewhere in our effort to fit into the rest of the world cuisine, we have been compromising.

We've been toning things down and we've been, not just us.

It has happened with every possible ethnic food in this country.

In the UK, we formed chicken tikka masala.

In this country, we have General Tso's chicken, and red Curry and green curry has happened across the board.

But somewhere as a group, we realize that it is time now to really put our food in the way that we actually grew up, that's cooked for our palate, and for the very people who has given birth to that food.

- So where did you guys grow up?

- I grew up in Calcutta, which is the Eastern part of the country.

- Uh-huh.

- He grew up in Mumbai.

- Mumbai.

- And when did you guys become tied to the hip?

- (laughs) We're still not tied to the hip.

- 2017.

(everyone laughs) 2017.

Whatever you do, you have to believe in it.

- It doesn't matter, like, you are cooking that food.

You have to believe in it.

- Mm-hmm.

- If I don't believe in something that I'm cooking, I don't want to do it.

And somebody cooking and serving a chicken tikka masala is their vision.

There's nothing wrong in it.

- Yeah.

- You understand, everybody needs to have a vision.

Everybody needs to have that purpose in our life, and our purpose in life or vision that we have as individuals and as a company is to get you that real, authentic, unapologetic version of Indian food.

- Mmm.

- And that's what we are working towards.

It's about expression.

- Right.

- So nobody's doing right.

Nobody's doing wrong.

We have to cover that part of India which nobody ever talks about.

There are regions which nobody actually wants to talk about, or they feel like, "Oh, that cuisine is not important."

So it was our responsibility to work with those regions and cuisines and culture to get those recipes out.

- Unapologetic Foods isn't this overarching grandiose idea.

It's a combination or cluster of many tiny, tiny ideas put together into one larger vision.

(bright music) - [Danielle] Phuket, the island off the west coast of Thailand, is best known today as a seaside resort featuring some of the country's most beautiful beaches.

Lesser known is that the island was once home to Hokkien Chinese immigrants who were instrumental in building the tin industry, as well as the Old Town, which served as their unofficial Chinatown and still thrives today.

We wanted to find out why Erika Chou a fashion designer turned restaurant entrepreneur who runs a handful of regionally inspired cuisines, is turning to Phuket for her newest project, and how this cuisine is different from what we know about Thai food.

(relaxed music) - [Erika] Okay, so these noodles are the mee Hokkien.

It's like a really Chinese-style noodle.

This one is the muu hong.

It's a braised marinated spare rib with soy and ginger.

So it's a shrimp and pork wanton with a whole shrimp in there, and then this one is hae gune, and it's like a fritter with pork and crab.

- What are you hoping people sort of get from your restaurants, and what are you hoping to kind of, teach people about Thai food?

- I think that our restaurants do a good job showcasing lesser seen dishes.

I feel like... You know, our team really cooks what they love, what they grew up eating, or what they want to eat day to day.

And I think there's something about taking that route when you're like, creating your menu that really feels very authentic.

And there's just something more special about that, and the whole experience comes together in a different way.

- What do you think are some common misconceptions about Thai food?

- I think maybe just like, how limited the menus are, maybe?

I think that people just don't really understand the range.

I think they think Thai food should just be spicy, like, across the board.

It's like this weird torture game, like the spicier you can eat the more authentic it is, but I don't think that's true at all.

- How do you feel the palate for Asian food and Thai food has changed over the years?

- I think as people have become more familiar with the ingredients, and also, more open to learning about it, people have just started to fine tune their palates.

When I first started out with my first restaurant, which was over 10 years ago, Yunnan Kitchen, that was one of New York's first regional Chinese restaurant.

So I think that I've always felt very strongly about, you know, creating a platform for lesser known foods, and introducing things to people.

That's very important for me.

- What do you hope people get out of dining at Wan Wan?

I really hope they can see the diversity and the breadth that Thai food has to offer.

And then, maybe even spark their interest in going beyond the food to learn more about the culture and seeing why is there so much Chinese influence, and how all of our people groups sort of, you know, used to do so much trade together and mix together to create something so new and so wonderful.

(meditative music) - [Danielle] Next, we head Uptown to meet Simon Kim, a creative culinary entrepreneur who is the founder of Cote, a Michelin-starred restaurant that combines the flavor and fun of Korean barbecue with the luxurious ambiance of some of America's greatest steakhouses.

Simon credits his father for fostering his passion for hospitality.

As a young boy, his father took him to many of Korea's finest restaurants and hotels, giving him his first taste of gracious hospitality.

This early experience continues to shape Simon's vision.

For him, Cote is more than just a barbecue restaurant.

It is a testament to Asian excellence.

- Asia was developing Asians, you know.

All the good things, you know.

Great restaurants, the gyms, spa, sports, all those kind of many-- - Design.

- Design, art.

- Yeah.

- You know, all those things all kind of belonged in these, you know, five-star hotels.

- Yes.

- And my dad had, you know, my dad would take the family to those kind of fine places.

So I had that vivid memory of those finer things in life is associated with the hotel.

So I said, you know what?

Let's channel that, you know?

Let's go become the hotelier that I wanted to, you know, always dreamt of.

So I'm gonna start grilling.

- Yeah.

- So this is our butcher's feast.

So this is USDA prime American beef hangar steak, super kind of that livery, awesome, irony, rich leanness.

And then we're going into American USDA prime dry age ribeye.

This is the, we call it the shrimp cut, the deckel.

(stammers) The cap.

And then, this is the eye.

And then we're going into American Wagyu.

It's a crossbred between Japanese Wagyu and American Black Angus, kind of best of both worlds.

So we call it Cote steak.

And of course, we're gonna finish with Korean kalbi.

Kalbi is marinated short rib.

So we're celebrating.

This is dry aged beef fat to just basically coat.

It's a blend of three different salts: large crystal British Maldon salt.

- Mm-hmm.

- As well as a pink Himalayan salt, and Korean thousand day sea salt.

(relaxed music) And William, this is my favorite way of enjoying a meal.

Two friends, meat grilling.

You hear the sound, there's a fire, you smell it.

You have glass of wine and bunch of vegetables to nibble on-- - Yeah.

- While you wait to steak.

- How would you describe your approach to this type of food?

- My father would take me to all these fine dining restaurants, but they were kind of boring, you know?

I'm a young guy, you know.

I like to have fun, and Korean barbecue is always so much fun.

So, alright, vivid memory of something that's super fun and communal where you can get a little rambunctious and be yourself.

You know, to throw it down.

Have fun.

- Right.

- Because life is so serious otherwise.

I did Korean barbecue, which was super casual, super convivial, and fun.

And I married it with my second favorite, which is Peter Luger.

When I came to America, went to Peter Luger for the first time, best freaking experience, right?

The porterhouse.

You know, the filet mignon on one side, short loin on the other side.

It was just New York strip on the other side.

How do I marry the two?

Because I am that, you know?

I am Korean barbecue looking guy.

(chuckles) - [William] Right.

- But grew up in American steak house environment.

- [William] Right.

- So I feel like we have, you know, Cote's root is in Korean.

- [William] Yes.

- Whereas, but its ambiance and experience, it's very New York.

We opened it in July of 2019.

And we got our Michelin star in like, four months.

- That's incredible.

- Right.

You know, my mission was to create kind of, the best of both worlds.

You know, 'cause Asian food, people love.

- Yeah.

- I love going to Chinatown.

I love going, like, all the food and culture is so appreciated, but I feel like it was lacking that kind of, you know, the panache.

- Yes.

- You know?

- [William] What was the reaction from the Asian community?

- Asian Americans are the hardest crowd to please because they ask questions such as, you know, "Is this authentic?"

You know, we can't be our own enemy.

You know, we can't be our own dead weight.

We can't be our own reason why we can never be what we owe to be, you know?

And I'm extremely grateful as time goes by, you know, many amazing Asian restaurants open.

Fine dining, multiple Michelin star, you know.

And our culture really kind of really blossomed, and together, just part of that bigger movement, I feel like Cote was also able to really kind of push to the next level.

(gentle piano music) 'Cause for so long, I struggled, you know?

Who am I, you know?

'Cause if I go to Korea, they're like, you're not really Korean.

You're like, anything.

You don't speak Korean, you have an accent.

- Yeah, yeah.

- You're an American.

- Yeah.

- And I come to America and my American friends are like, not my friends, but Americans are like, "Simon, you're not American."

Yes, you know, you speak the language, but you're really Korean.

- Right.

- So for so long, I think that my identity was like, I'm not authentically, really anything, you know?

So there was this kind of identity crisis, but I came to conclusion that I don't belong in A or B, which makes me A and B.

- Cheers!

- Boom!

- Boom!

(gentle music) - Life is full of possibilities, but opening a successful restaurant that showcases the flavors of your culture seems to be one of the most popular variations of the Asian American dream.

And as long as there are talented young chefs and entrepreneurs who don't make apologies for the food they grew up with.

all of us who get to share their creations will be living our best culinary lives as well.

(upbeat music) (bright piano music)