If you ask Chef Takuma Seki if the world of culinary arts was his first choice of vocation after high school in 1993, this affable son of Niigata would tell you that if not for his acrophobia(fear of heights), he may have remained a building contractor till this day. It is perhaps a good fortune for avid lovers of contemporary Japanese food that Chef Seki delved into the depth of culinary arts after his short stint in construction.His love of cooking and meeting new people brought him from the kitchens of Japan to a sushi bar in Washington D.C. in 1999, where he made a name for himself after winning an award for a Sushi Competition 2000-2001 in the US. He was subsequently hired by The Beverly Hills Hotel and Beverly Hilton Hotel as the Sous Chef and worked in this fashionable residential area for four years.
2010年8月にHide Yamamotoがシンガポールに最初のレストランをオープンしたとき、シェフは招待され、スーシェフとして加わりました。シェフは、日本食があらゆるレベルで尊敬され、楽しんでいる活気に満ちたシンガポールで、再びアジアに戻ることを決意しました。温かく親しみやすく陽気な気質で愛されているシェフは、料理の芸術における誇りとプロ意識でも尊敬されています。彼の料理は、本質的に、新たな発見ができる古典的な日本料理です。
シンガポールには2012年に来星。Hide Yamamotoのマネージメントとメニュー開発責任者として勤務、IKYUで総料理長、Shangrila Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spaの料理長として勤務。
So when opportunity came in 2012 from local investor Newbreed Pte Ltd to conceptualize and open a new Japanese restaurant that thwarts mundane expectations, and showcases food that is unpretentious, meticulously sourced, exquisitely prepared and humbly offered to make people happy, Chef Seki took up the offer and became the Executive Chef of IKYU. From its concept to its cuisine to its edgy post-apocalyptic décor, IKYU is anything but typical. Rooted in age-old artisanal traditions, IKYU is at the same time avant garde and cosmopolitan. At IKYU, Chef Seki aptly demonstrates his East-meets-West sensibility that is most clearly seen in the use of ingredient, technique and presentation in often avant-garde combinations with maximum intensity of flavor.
シェフは提唱しています。「料理は誠実でシンプルなものでなければなりません。そして、お客様は常に幸せでなければなりません!」
その後、2018年アゼルバイジャン、バクーのファインダイニングCHiNARにメニュー開発と、和食普及の為に渡航。 2019年、再度、シンガポールに活躍の場を移し、現在新コンセプトの和食店の準備中。