Hiroyuki Sakai
Hiroyuki Sakai (
Sakai Hiroyuki; 坂井 宏行) (born
April 2,
1942 in
Kagoshima Prefecture,
Japan) is a well-known Japanese
chef who specializes in
French cuisine. Sakai is most famous for being the second, and last, Iron Chef French on the
Japanese television show
Iron Chef, first appearing at the beginning of
1994 (after
Yutaka Ishinabe retired) and continued his appearance in shows over nine seasons. Sakai has the second best winning percentage of the Iron Chefs, slightly worse than his predecessor. His stature as the top chef on the show was formalized when he was named the "King of Iron Chefs" after emerging victorious from the show's grand finale, a tournament involving all the active Iron Chefs.
Over the course of the series, Sakai became famous for being a womanizer; his smooth personality and friendly attitude certainly help in this regard. His television trademark is a red French chef's costume; he rises into
Kitchen Stadium holding a pear in his hand. He is often described as the "
Delacroix of
French cuisine" because of the presentation of his dishes.
When he was a young boy, Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai wanted to become a chef so that he would never go hungry. Born in Kagoshima, he began learning his craft in
Osaka at a restaurant in the Shin Osaka Hotel when he was 17.
Sakai began to rebel against the culinary world's feudalistic system of apprenticeship. At 19, he traveled alone to
Perth, Australia, to build his skills at the Hotel Oriental. After a year and a half in Australia he returned to Japan, spending three years studying at Ginza Shiki with the late
Fujio Shito, his predecessor as the leader of French cooking in Japan. He later worked as a chef at the restaurants Coco Palms in Aoyama and John Kanaya in Roppongi. When he was 38, Sakai opened his own restaurant,
La Rochelle, in Aoyama. Several years later he moved the restaurant to Shibuya, where it remains today.
Sakai was originally asked to be on
Iron Chef by the producer
Toshihiko Matsuo following the recommendation from hotel restauranteur
Kihachi Kumagai. Sakai agreed after being convinced by his staff, believing the impression that the show would air for another six months, giving him two or three appearances. The six-month tenure, as it turned out, turned into six years. The early era of
Iron Chef saw Sakai being the "middle Iron Chef" along with
Rokusaburo Michiba, a chef twelve years his senior, and
Chen Kenichi, the youngest and least experienced of the three Iron Chefs at the time. It is often viewed by fans as the period when
Iron Chef had the strongest Iron Chefs.
Reactions to Sakai's appointment to Iron Chef were largely negative amongst chefs circles, largely because of the low stature of
Iron Chef among chefs at the time which led many believe would ruin their reputations as chefs, but others also believing that there was no possibility that any French dish would take less than one hour to prepare. However, as the show became more popular, chefs, judges, and fans became more supportive. It was said that Sakai's son's employer had his employees frequent the restaurant as a show of support.
Like many chefs, Sakai did not take to losing very well. Upon his first loss, he had tried to be cheerful in explaining his loss to a younger chef who also owned his own restaurant, but his entire staff was mortified upon hearing the news. His daughter was teased in school whenever Sakai had lost - although this was a fairly rare occurrence. In an effort to learn from others, Sakai often tasted food opponents had prepared, or grabbed assistants and asked them questions after the battle was over.
Outside of
Iron Chef, Sakai is the owner and head chef of the
restaurant La Rochelle, originally in
Aoyama but now in
Shibuya. The restaurant was named after
La Rochelle, a city in France where Sakai had spent some time as an apprentice. Sakai is a member of the
Club des Trente, an organization of French chefs in Japan.
While retaining the essence of traditional French cuisine, Sakai's groundbreaking Japanese-French style incorporates Japan's finest cooking techniques. His dishes fuse the flavors of Japan's four seasons with a French "esprit." Sakai's imagination is often sparked by something he glimpses in the kitchen that day.
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Iron Chef Battle Database (in English)
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Bio At FoodNetwork.com
