Masako Morishita is a Japanese executive chef based in Washington, D.C..[1] She was named as the James Beard Foundation's 2024 Emerging Chef.[2]
Morishita was born in Kobe, Japan. Her family has worked in the restaurant business for a century. Her family's restaurant, Morishita Liquor and Bar, is run by her mother and father.[3] Morishita's grandmother previous ran and was a cooked at Morishita Liquor and Bar.
In 2013, she traveled to the United States as an exchange student in Poplar, Wisconsin.[4]
In 2013, Morishita moved to Washington, D.C. She joined the Washington Commanders cheer squad and stayed for five years, retiring in 2018.[5] She was the team's first cheer squad captain who was born overseas
In 2018, it was reported that Morishita and Andrew Chiou - her then boyfriend and business partner - opened the a Japanese restaurant Momo Yakitori. In 2019, Morishita filed a lawsuit against her then ex-boyfriend chef Andrew Chiou and the business Momo Yakitori, which is an LLC legally under Chiou's name, for $66,000.[6] Morishita's attorney stated Morishita was entitled to damages regarding the salary she was allegedly owed; however, Chiou claims that Morishita was never actually an employee at the restaurant. Also in 2019, Morishita opened her first solo pop-up, Otabe.[7] In 2021, Maxwell Park, a Washington, D.C. wine bar, commissioned Morishita for several dishes for tastings and eventually hired her as executive chef. She worked at Maxwell Park until 2022.[8]
After leaving Maxwell Park in 2022, she started working as executive chef at Perry's, a forty-year old sushi restaurant located in the Adams Morgan neighborhood.[9] [10] At Perry's, she started a new Japanese breakfast service.[11] She is also the first Japanese woman to hold the executive chef position in Perry's history.
In 2023, Morishita was named at "Chef of the Year" by D.C. Eater.[12]
In 2024, she was named as the James Beard Foundation's Emerging Chef.[13] She was also nominated as a finalist by the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) in its "Rising Culinary Star of the Year" category.[14]
She is also a member of the United States Department of State's American Culinary Corps.[15]