About Us
Chef John Sugimura, a distinguished master sushi chef in Minneapolis, whose family originates from Kumamoto and Nagoya, Japan, celebrated for his unique culinary style and high-quality multi-generational cooking. Trained in Kyoto, Japan, and Little Tokyo, he emerged in Minneapolis in 2011, immediately resetting the standards for Japanese cooking blending yesterday’s favorites to today’s pallet to build a loyal following. Best known for his PinKU restaurants in Minneapolis, featured chef for the best cookbook for eaters, “The Immigrant Cookbook: Recipes that Make America Great," feeding students across America Japanese favorites, and The ROKU Channel's Morimoto Sushi Master cast fan favorite. His Japanese culinary perspective celebrates beloved street food.
Background
As a Japanese American Chef John endured the unbearable with patience and grace. He didn’t look Japanese and didn’t act Japanese. For many years, he had a sense of cultural limbo that characterized his life. Food was the one thing that outed him as AAPI. Now a fully trained Japanese chef, he began to see his world open up. As more and more stories started to rise to the surface, his chef grandmother’s memories and the war deeply intertwined with food. At the end of the day, Chef John gets pleasure from seeing the support he has gained from challenging stereotypes through cuisine. People in the world want to eat food that has deep meaning!
