Jason Morimoto, executive chef of Mequon’s Screaming Tuna Sushi, is screaming with joy. After over 14 months keeping secret the news that he competed on – and won! – “Morimoto’s Sushi Master,” season 2, the cat is out of the bag.
As of April 25, the full season (six episodes) is available to stream for free on the Roku Channel. Screaming Tuna’s chef Morimoto happens to share the same last name as the person for which the show is named – Masaharu Morimoto, the celebrated “Iron Chef” from Japan. He is the show’s lead judge, host and executive producer. A cooking competition format, the show focuses completely on sushi. Each of the eight chef contestants has a cooking station and is given a pantry of ingredients to prepare whatever challenge they are given. The winner takes home $25,000 and the title of sushi master.
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Milwaukee’s chef Morimoto has had over a year to get used to his new title – in private, at least. But he says it hasn’t totally sunk in. “It’s still dream-like,” he says. “I can’t believe it happened. I’ve always wanted to meet [Iron Chef] Morimoto. But never in my wildest dreams would this be the way that it happened.”
And the way it happened is quite a story. The show’s casting director, scouting for chefs to apply, reached out to Screaming Tuna co-owner Cristian Vega. Vega was dubious – “I was like, this is a scam. There’s no way that [Iron Chef] Morimoto or a rep of his is reaching out to us. But you know, it’s not the kind of thing you pass up,” he says. Vega shared the info with his chef, and together they did a Zoom interview with the cooking show people. That led Morimoto deeper into the application process.
When they finally heard back, it was to learn that all eight chef-contestants had been selected for season 2. But the Milwaukee chef was not one of the eight. Instead, Vega says, they told him Morimoto was the “ninth chef chosen” and they wanted to fly him down to Atlanta, where the show is filmed, as a standby contestant. Which he did. From standby, he was unexpectedly bumped up to contestant. “I immediately lost my mind,” says Morimoto. “I thought, ‘I’m not ready for this.’”
Winning the title was a confidence boost for Morimoto, who says he’s particularly proud of how he executed the Tamagoyaki Challenge. For that part of the competition, the chefs were asked to create a tamagoyaki (a Japanese omelet) and feature it in a bento box. “It makes me more confident of my skills… [and] it’s nice that people will see that there’s a lot of heart and soul put into what I make,” he says.
With Morimoto’s news finally out in the open, Screaming Tuna Mequon is celebrating. They’re hosting watch parties on Sunday nights through May. Each week, they’ll screen one episode and offer an open bar and buffet spread. Reservations are required; the cost is $50 per person. (Mequon Public Market, 6300 W. Mequon Rd.)
In June, Morimoto plans to offer his Omakase Dinner Series on Friday and Saturday nights only at the Mequon restaurant. It’ll be by reservation; two seatings of 12 each night. “We’re going to make the dining area more private,” he says of the vibe. “Omakase” – a Japanese phrase that means, “I’ll leave it up to you” – is a surprise tasting menu curated by the chef.
