Yūji Wakiya (脇屋 友詞, Wakiya Yūji, born 20 March 1958) is a
Japanese chef famous for cooking
Chinese cuisine.[1]
Biography
Wakiya was born in
Sapporo,
Hokkaidō.[1] He began his career as a chef in 1973, at the age of 15, when he got a job in a Chinese restaurant in
Ōsaka; he opened his own restaurant, Turandot, in the
Yokohama branch of the
Pan Pacific Hotel in 1995.[2][3] He appeared on
Fuji Television's
Iron Chef two times during its original broadcast run, losing to Iron Chef French
Hiroyuki Sakai in the
Sea Urchin battle in 1994, before winning in 1997 against Iron Chef Chinese
Chen Kenichi with
Papaya as the theme.[4][5][6] and was named Iron Chef Chinese for the 2012 revival of the series.[7] He opened a restaurant in
New York City's
Gramercy Park Hotel in July 2007, garnering a mixed review from the New York Times.[2] Now Chef at KOA Restaurant, 12 West Twenty First Street, New York.
Publications
Wakiya, Yūji (November 1996), 脇屋友詞の上海料理―家庭でできる達人秘伝の味 [Yūji Wakiya's Shanghai Cuisine - Secrets Flavours of the Master You Can Make at Home], Jitsugyō No Nihonsha,
ISBN4-408-62447-0
Wakiya, Yūji (August 1997), 新しい中華のおかず [New Chinese Side-Dishes], Shufu-to-seikatsusha,
ISBN4-391-12058-5