I went to have a chat to head chef, Jason Yong at Wagyu Ya Teppenyaki at The Glen. Now I hadn't been to The Glen before, so rookie mistake, I followed Google Maps which led me to a carpark that ended up being at the polar opposite end of the mall and I did spend quite a bit of time trying to find the restaurant. But it is actually not that hard at all. Come in off Springvale Road, and it is up on the top level near David Jones. The fit out is all beautiful timber and lovely lighting. I absolutely hit the jackpot because, not only did I get to speak to Jason, I also sat down with acclaimed sushi chef, Wataru Sato, who had Bistro Goemon in Elsternwick and has worked at Nobu, as well assaucier Hori Shinshuke, who has a 15-year-plus career specialising in Japanese, French, and Italian cookery. Jason runs the teppan section and if you want culinary theatrics, this is the place to come. There is fire and super sharp knife and cooking over coals skills as well as smoky cocktails and all round lovely conversation.The restaurant has been split into four spaces with counter seating at the grill, booth seating, a private dining room, and a sushi bar, and extensive menu options. This chat was an absolute delight.
Oh, I've got three people to talk to. That's amazing: Jason Yong,Wataru Satoand Hori Shinsuke.Maybe let's just explain your roles. Jason, you are the head chef. Wataru is the sushi chef and Hori Shinsuke is in the kitchen, and is the saucier and dessert chef. How long have you been open?
Jason: Almost three weeks.
That's great. I've seen some really amazing photos, even videos on Instagram with lots of flames. So exciting.I've been to Yakikami before and had an amazing meal there and had a chat to Soichi, so I'm aware of the Wagyu Ya group, but what's different about what you're doing here?
Jason: At Yakikami, we do yakatori and the Josper Room does the Josper steak and bow changing to Sushi Omakase, a Sushi Chefs table. What we do here is Teppanyaki, the hibachi grill teppanyaki.
With sushi as well?
Jason: Yes. Sushi and a la carte.
Where were you before here?
Jason: I was at Yakikami as well. I was the head chef there, overseeing all the different rooms there.
Great. And where were you, Sato?
Sato: I just joined this company a month ago. Before that I was running my own business for 11 years.
Was that sushi?
Sato: Everything. It was a small restaurant.
Great. Where did you do your training, Jason?
Jason: I'm Malaysian. I did my training in Malaysia, doing some fine dining restaurants. I also worked at The Shangri-La as a chef. I've been in Australia for almost eight years. I have always worked in teppanyaki restaurants. I joined the Wagyu Group around four years ago.
Did you always think you'd like to be a chef? Did you grow up knowing you wanted to work with food?
Jason: Yes, because my whole family, my parents all opened F & B businesses, so it made me want to be a chef, to cook and I have always wanted to be more creative with food all my life.
Sato, did you always work with food as well, or know you wanted to be a chef?
Sato: Actually, for me, when I was in Japan after I graduated Uni, I just worked in another company. I wasnt a chef. I started cooking at 30 years old start and when I was 35 years old, I came to Australia and start working at Nobu and then when I got permanent residency, I opened my business.
And what is it that you enjoy about being a chef?
Sato: I enjoy cooking in front of the customer in an open kitchen. I enjoy cooking the food and the customer is happy. I feel successful for myself. When they try the food and it tastes good and then they talk with me and then I am happy.
You're very close to the customers here aren't you?
Sato: Yes, face-to-face.
Exactly. So that thing with the fire.
Jason: The fire is for the steak. I use brandy to make the flame. The flame is high temperature and so can seal in the meat juices.
And you know how to control it.
Jason: Yes. It depends on your experience and your skill.
When customers come in and they sit up at that counter, what's the experience that they have?
Jason: When you sit in front of the chef, it's omakase.
When I was at Yakikami, they talked about the meat and where things came from and stories.
Jason: Yes. We all do the same.
How many courses can you have here?
Jason: We have three set menus, but one set menu has around 13 to 14 courses, including dessert.
How many does the restaurant seat?
70 to 80 customers.
Your hand can feel the heat and your ear can hear the sizzling sound and you understand the level of heat. When you add oil and then you put the meat on, there can be a louder sizzling sound or medium or low sizzling sound. For steak, you need high temperature to caramelise the meat and then outside is crunchy, but inside is juicy. You need to listen, but you need to listen with the customer talking and while you are preparing other ingredients. It is a bit hard. You cannot concentrate on one thing. Your mind needs to multitask. And smile. ~ Jason Yong, Wagyu Ya Teppanyaki
When you work in Teppanyaki or this style of restaurant, do you keep learning or do you already know everything there is to know about the kind of food you're doing?
Jason: We know about everything, but we need to create more sauces for the food, so there are more ingredients we need to learn.
What's an example of some sauces?
The example is French sauce. We need to cook our mother base, like the chicken stock or beef braise. For a chef, it's important and the hardest thing to make the sauce.
I know in French kitchens they have a person who's just in charge of sauces.
Jason: Yes. The saucier. But for us everyone needs to know how to make everything, not just the saucier. We need to know how to process the sauce and we need to know about the ingredients very clearly. We need to know what each ingredient will add, the taste and how to balance it. So, the sour and sweetness and saltiness, spices, we need to balance it.
How many different sauces are there?
Jason: Too many. More than 50. Different sauces for different kinds of meat. And we need to be seasonal. We have four seasons here and every season we will change the menu to follow the season.
And in terms of the sushi, Sato do you have your own separate area or is the sushi part of the 13 courses.
Jason: No, it is separate, but it is one restaurant, so we include every section item to the set menu.
Is it hard to produce sushi here? I feel as though some people have said recently that it's difficult to get hold of really good fish, a variety of different fish.
Jason: We order fish every day. Even the teppanyaki, they use salmon or other fish. The way I control the freshness is daily delivery. I just order enough for today's service. We want to treat our customer well and use very good quality food. We are always checking the booking and doing the ordering. Let's say today, we have 60 customers, so we just prepare for 70to 80 maximum. After that, if we run out, we tell the manager, "Today this item has sold out." This is how we control the food quality.
And that's why it's annoying if diners don't arrive.
Jason: That's why always on the booking side, we grab the deposit and if you dont show up, we will straight away deduct it.
Well, it's fair enough, you're working with expensive quality ingredients. For sushi, what's the most important skill you need? Is it knife skills or is it rice making or?
Sato: Everything. But fortunately our head chef orders fresh fish every day, so I can have good quality fish. And knife skills of course.
Jason: You need to have skill because you are in front of the customer and it is an open kitchen, the customer can see everything. As a customer, I pay this much money and then if I see the chef is not that professional at cutting, I will think, oh, do I need to eat this food or pay this money? Is that worth it?
Exactly right. I imagine it can be quite stressful on some nights and you are in front of the customer. How do you maintain your composure and not get annoyed?
Jason: As a professional chef, you need to take care of your attitude. You need to be calm, no matter what the customer says; "Yes, no worries. We will make a new one for you." If we make a mistake, they can let me know and I can do it better. When you are in front of the customer, you need to have a conversation with the customer.
Sato: Especially in Melbourne, the customers want to talk to the chef and watch them cooking.
That must be hard though because the things you're doing, you need concentration. You need to keep an eye on timings and that kind of thing. And then you have to also think about talking. That's a lot.
Sato: Yes. But that's why that this company hires good chefs.
Jason: The chef must know how to manage the timing. When you get smashed by orders, you need to manage the time gap; which one to cook first, which one will be quicker? For teppanyaki, it's a bit hard. You always need to check the fire temperature. From your own knowledge and not by using the machine machine. If you use the machine, the customer will think, well this chef is unprofessional, always using the machine to check the temperature.
How do you check the temperature without the machine?
Jason: Your hand can feel the heat and your ear can hear the sizzling sound and you understand the level of heat. When you add oil and then you put the meat on, there can be a louder sizzling sound or medium or low sizzling sound. For steak, you need high temperature to caramelise the meat and then outside is crunchy, but inside is juicy. You need to listen, but you need to listen with the customer talking and while you are preparing other ingredients.It is a bit hard. You cannot concentrate on one thing. Your mind needs to multitask.
Sato: And smile.
Jason: Yes. And smile. Of coure.
Sato: He is always smiling.
I can imagine that.
Jason: If the customer is happy, I am happy.
And how long have you been in the kitchen, Hori?
Jason: He has been there a long time. He does a bit of everything. He is good on the sauces and the dessert, everything.
Sato: He is the pastry chef.
What desserts do you have here?
Jason: We have green tea tiramisu and then the Blondie and the Kuromitsu, the brown sugar dessert. And now we have a new one, a mango coconut ice cake and another hazelnut chocolate.
Delicious. Do people have to come at certain times?
Jason: The first round is 5.30pm to 7.30pm. And then there is the second round at 7.30pm. We also have the private room bit there is a minimum spend because I need to arrange a chef to go inside the private room and cook directly. You can order the a la carte menu or you can order the set menu there.
So, tell me, tonight when people come, what will they start off with?
Jason: First is the cocktail, then you can look at the menu. Most people order the a la carte menu; some sushi, sashimi and some hot dishes and some entrees.
Do you have a favourite item on the menu?
Jason: For me, I like everything. [laughter] Mostly I like the sake, Japanese water [laughter].
Sato: Kind of water.
Jason: And steak; the M9+. I like the marble line. Japanese wagyu is better, of course. It has a more creamy texture.
What do you use?
Jason: We use the Yamakata beef and the Kobe beef, the most high end beef. And then I like the foie gras steak with truffle and red wine sauce to serve.
Oh my goodness. That's so rich and decadent. How delicious. I also love foie gras, but I do feel bad about eating it. Well, I hope that lots of people come and eat here. Have you got people booked in tonight?
Jason: Yes. Today maybe 60.
That's big. It's a Tuesday night.And you are open for lunch as well?
Jason: Yes, lunch as well. Lunch is busier than dinner because we have a lot of business people coming in their lunch hour as well as families. So there are always tables of 10 people.
Wow. That's fun. It looks really beautiful too. Such lovely lighting.
Jason: Yes. They spent a lot money.
I loved my dinner at Yakikami, so, thank you. I imagine that it will be delicious here as well. Thank you so much for your time. hope tonight goes really well and that you continue to go really well.
Wagyu Ya Teppenyaki, The Glen Shopping Centre