Interview with Taiji Maruyama, head chef & Co-owner of Sushi Restaurant Maru
I’m on my way to meet Taiji Maruyama, third generation Sushi Chef & Co-owner of Maru. I navigate through the narrow streets on a sweltering Friday in June. Already the streets are filling up with locals & visitors enjoying an afternoon pre-weekend pint outside in Ye Grapes. I walk past the pub into the narrow alleyway until I reach 18 Shepherd Market, home of Maru. It’s a relief to enter the small air-conditioned restaurant. Before me are ten rows of chairs with a long table & counter.
Taiji arrives from their downstairs kitchen, where he & his team are busy prepping for tonight’s two sittings.
After a brief introductory chat, I click on my voice recorder & we start the interview
I usually ask how you started to be a chef; however, as a 3rd generation sushi chef,
I’m guessing your father & grandfather had a big influence on your career.
Unfortunately, my grandfather died when I was young. My father had a restaurant & we lived
above the restaurant, so I grew up in a restaurant environment. I used to love to watch my
father cook. In the summer & holidays, I used to love going to the market. It was a vegetable
& fish market. There was a fantastic Ramen noodle bar in the market, which was a big treat
for me.
Did you work with your father?
No, it would not have worked, me and my father has a different mentality in life. He comes
from more of a country background & for me, I’m more of a city person. I started training in
Tokyo.
I was on a flight back from the US recently & I watched a great documentary about the
legendary sushi chef Jiro Ono and how he trained his two sons. How long did you
train to be a sushi chef?
You never stop training & learning. I started when I was 18 & I’m 42 now. So 24 years I’
worked in this industry. I will continue to learn all my professional career.
You worked in Tokyo for two 3-star restaurants. How was that as an experience?
Good but very tough, 16-hour days, starting at 8 am & finishing at 12 pm six days a week, it
was very hard
I understand again from your bio that you worked in Norway & Barcelona before
moving to the UK and working at Nobu & the Beaverbrook Hotel. What made you
move to Europe?
An ex-girlfriend (Taiji laughs).
What are the differences between working in Japan & Europe?
In Japan, you work on one section but are expected to work & know about everything in the
kitchen. In Europe, you work on one section for six months & then move to another section.
This gives you time to master one section before moving on.
What was the backstory that led to the opening Maru?
I was working in Nobu & a customer regularly asked me to produce an Omakase menu, at
the time, I was 26, and this was a challenge for me, which I enjoyed. Years later, I worked as
Executive chef at Taka, which my current business partner owned, we were talking one day
& it turned out that the customer at Nobu was his father, which was a coincidence. After a
while, we decided to open a new restaurant as partners, so Maru was born.
You opened two years ago. How was it opening during a pandemic & how has your
has the restaurant been received?
At first, the pandemic made it difficult to complete the renovation work because many
building trades were not working & a shortage of materials. It took a long time before we
could complete the work & open the restaurant.
Once open, the restaurant has been very busy, but the biggest challenge for us was getting
staff. However, we have built a great loyal team.
What can new diners expect when visiting your restaurant?
We offer an Omakase experience for our guests and offer a 20-course menu. We have 8-10
seats and run two evening sittings five days a week, usually for 8-9 guests. We serve
courses in front of our guests.
Do you have any tips for guests visiting your restaurant for the first time?
Yes, but can I recommend any new guests ask as many questions as possible? Sometimes
our guests can be shy and not ask questions.
I read that you also have a Sake sommelier also to assist diners.
Yes, much like wine Sake comes in many different flavours & like grapes, and rice grown
from different regions can vary in taste. Our sommelier is happy to assist in providing the
perfect Sake to complement any dish.
You mention you offer an Omakase experience for your guest. Is there a journey you
look to take the diner through with your 20-course menu?
Yes, you should take our guest’s taste buds on a rollercoaster ride, a strong-flavoured
course followed by milder, more subtle flavours for the next course, All the time changing the
taste & balancing flavours.
How far ahead do you plan each day’s menu & are there dishes that are always
included on the menu?
About 70% of the dishes are on the menu daily, and returning guests like to see their
favourite courses. The rest we change along with the season & what is available on any day.
By 7 am, we know what will be on the menu that day.
However, we are always experimenting with enhancing the flavours of all our dishes, and we
are always looking to improve our most popular dishes with subtle changes to ingredients.
At the restaurant specialise in ageing fish using refrigeration techniques We aim to
enhance the umami flavour by allowing the ingredients to mature, which draws out
their inherent taste and intensifies the presence of amino acids.
I worked out 20 courses per person, eight diners per sitting, with two sittings, thats a massive
360 dishes. How long does it take to prep the day’s dishes per day?
We start at 10 am and are finished by 5 pm for the first sitting to start by 5.30 pm. We have
five chefs (including myself)
What do you hope your guests take away from their dining experience at Maru?
Our philosophy we want our guests to be happy when they leave. We try to engage & chat
with our guests as much as possible to understand What is Maru is and more that well come
to get question as much as possible to enjoy chat with us.
Sorry one final question, and the hardest to answer, where do you see yourself in ten years’ time?
Thats is difficult to answer, but still here & looking at new dining concepts. I want to support
my staff to grow & run a restaurant. This would give me great pleasure to see their career
progress. I love my staff and look to make their future better.
Thank you so much for your time Taiji; I better let you carry on with prep for tonights service
You can find Maru at18 Shepherd Market; booking is essential (please book well in advance)
It was great to meet Taiji, and he made me feel very at home & I enjoyed hearing about his career & his passion for producing exceptional food for his guests.
Please forward any questions for Taiji to me.
If you are interested in more news on Japanese food take a look at our review of Ginza St James’s.
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