about the chef

kenji nakamura

I came to cooking through ceramics. My grandmother was a potter in Mashiko, and I spent childhood summers in her workshop watching clay become vessels for food. The vessel led me to what it held.

After training at Tsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka and stages in Lyon and Copenhagen, I found myself drawn not to restaurants but to teaching. There is something about watching someone's hands learn a new skill — the moment the knife finds its rhythm, the first time dough feels right.

I opened Shun because I believe cooking should be seasonal, intentional, and shared. Every class begins with what the market offers that morning. We don't follow recipes — we follow ingredients.