KENJIRO “HATCH” HASHIDA –
Chef, storyteller, artist, idealist

Ever wondered what happens when traditional discipline, electric curiosity, and an artist’s madness collide? Hatch is your answer.

With an approach to Japanese cuisine that plays hide-and-seek with convention, Hatch is the cool, worldly kid on the culinary playground with stories to tell. Scratch beneath a surface of flamboyance and cheek to reveal a marshmallow core of introspection and sentimentality, which explains his guiding philosophies of shu ha ri (守破離), shōmi hakkei (賞味八景), and ryuu ryuu shin ku (粒々辛苦).

He is the boy who translated slicing dried glue off his knee with a box cutter into knife skills for the kitchen, the young adult who jetted off to L.A. with a dream of achieving fluency in English to converse with Johnny Depp, and the man who not only designs his own clothes and doodles on menus — he lives and breathes a fiery passion for perfection, and endless ideas for heights of innovation; in the hopes of democratising his art for all.

“YOU CAN CREATE YOUR OWN STAGE, THE AUDIENCE IS WAITING.”

From Hatch’s first fortune cookie, now nestled in a frame for sentimental safekeeping and proud display.

With honed fundamentals and meaningful experimentation, Hatch ascertains his how.

Why is answered by an innate curiosity, an irrepressible zeal for life, and the thoughtful appraisal of past experience; encompassing heart and an adventurous, open mind.

And in the Hashida universe, imbued fully with his philosophies, artistic flair, and meticulous ethic, he at once embraces and transcends tradition with progressive Japanese gastronomy that asks: why not?