Salvatore Shigeta (born Salvatore Cuomo) is an Italian-born Japanese celebrity chef,

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspec ...

and media personality, known for his food-focused television shows and cookbooks, and his restaurants across Asia. He is known in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

as "The Pizza Man" and "The Grand Chef". He owns and operates Ystable Corporation, ownedtogether with Seizaburo Kanayama.

Early life

Salvatore Cuomo was born in Naples, Italy, in 1972, the son of an Italian father and Japanese mother. Cuomo was first inspired by his father who also was an Italian Chef in Naples. He began at the young age of 11, where he trained himself in the kitchen and traveled frequently between Italy and Japan. He gradually learned how to blend the traditional Italian art of cooking with the Japanese art of perfection. A few years later he travelled to Japan with his father who opened an Italian restaurant in Chiba in 1984. About those early years Salvatore told the press that it wasn't a good starting experience: "I didn’t like Japan at all, so after one year, I went back to Italy and spent 2–3 years studying at a culinary school. When I was 18, I returned to Japan after my father became terminally ill and I have been here ever since." Cuomo said that Italian Cuisine was just starting to get popular in those days. He and his two brothers decided that in order to succeed in the restaurant business in Japan they would have to understand the Japanese food mentality. They spent a couple of years researching the market before opening a new restaurant in Tokyo with what Cuomo calls "Original Neapolitan pizza." Since that time, Cuomo has been credited with catapulting Neapolitan pizza to fame in Japan, and today in all Asia.

Career

His first job was as a pizzaiolo in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, where he first gained experience with preparing pizzas and Italian dishes, and developed a relationship with his mentor, his father. Cuomo has been credited with catapulting Neapolitan pizza to fame in Japan, and today he operates and supervises more than 77 Pizza Salvatore restaurants, and five The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo restaurants (in Kyoto, Nagoya and Shanghai, Seoul Korea), as well as Salvatore Cuomo Bros (under the umbrella of XEX), BOTTEGA casual dining, Café al Grazie, and Italiaichiba Bar establishments. Cuomo has made numerous guest appearances on TV programs such as ''

Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, was a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle bui ...

'' and ''Buona Sera'', an Italian cooking program on WOWOW. He has written three books: ''Welcome to Neapolitan Dining Table'' (1995), ''Happy Pasta'' (1997), ''Sun’s Dining Table'' (1999), ''One Life'' (2010), ''#PIZZAUNESCO 2016'' (2016), ''#PIZZAUNESCO 2017'' (2017) In 2010, the ''Yucasee Newspaper'' reported Salvatore Cuomo collaborating with 辻口博啓氏 Tsujikuchi Hiroshi Akira, Japanese chef patissier-chocolatier. In March 2014, ANA (

All Nippon Airways , also known as ANA (''Ē-enu-ē'') or is an airline in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area of Minato ward of Tokyo. It operates services to both domestic and international destinations and had mo ...

) joins Salvatore Cuomo Chef Cuomo said numerous times to be very careful that all his outside activities do not take him out of the kitchen for too long. "It's very important to stay in my chef's uniform. I may be a CEO but the kitchen is my second home. You can only understand the feelings of your customers by being there, not just by asking staff." In December 2013, Tsujikuchi Hiroshi chef at Le Chocolat de H (Japan), owned by Salvatore Cuomo, wins the highest award for a

Pastry Chef A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...

at the Salon Du Chocolat, International Pastry Competition held in Paris. In February 2014, Salvatore Cuomo opened his first restaurant in Taiwan. TVBS reported that the chef's move would help the country with an injection of $70 million in the economy. Paul Huaug, pizzaiolo working for Chef Cuomo won the Caputo Cup (Taipei) in May 2014. Paul Huang is the first officially recognised

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...

pizzaiolo by the Italian Neapolitan Pizzaiolo Association). Always the same month Salvatore Cuomo appears on Vogue Taiwan and Taiwanese Television storm the restaurant for the weeks after the competition as first Taiwanese Pizza Maker wins an international competition for the first time in the history of the country. In June 2014, Taiwanese magazine ''Bazar'' named Cuomo the best thing that landed in Taiwan in 2014.

TV and media

Salvatore started doing TV in Japan, hosting a TV cooking program on major television and smaller channels. Every new opening is still today carefully followed by the Japanese Media In June 2010, Chinese Magazine Sina Fashion calls Salvatore "a gift from Naples" after the success of the first VPN Accredited Neapolitan Restaurant in mainland China. In February 2013 South Korean editor Ju Younguk describes the moment Pizza first arrived in the country in 1985 as if history repeated itself with the first Salvatore Cuomo Restaurant opening in Korea. The food critic talks about Salvatore visiting local artisans in order to reproduce the authentic wood oven to bake pizza in Korea too, titleing him "a treat Precious in taste" In 2013 XEX Tokyo Restaurant owned by Salvatore Cuomo was described by

Anthony Bourdain Anthony Michael Bourdain (; June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian who starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition. Bourdai ...

during his show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Tokyo,Antony Bourdain – No Reservation Tokyo XEX Restaurant
/ref> on the Travel Channel as the final destination for the Japanese elite. In 201
Arirang TV Documentary about Chef Salvatore Cuomo
In Busan Korea Travel Channel

Awards and honours

In June 2004 awarded by the ICF Worldwide Italian Cuisine Ambassador. A proponent of fresh

italian cuisine Italian cuisine (, ) is a Mediterranean cuisine#CITEREFDavid1988, David 1988, Introduction, pp.101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes and List of cooking techniques, cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and late ...

, Cuomo was named the most influential Italian person in Japan. In 2006, 2007 and 2008, Chef Cuomo placed in the first 3 positions at the International Pizza Festival held in Naples

World Pizza Championship The World Pizza Championship is an event held annually for three days in April since 1991 in Salsomaggiore Terme (Parma), Italy, although several other cities likewise claim to be the home of the ultimate international pizza games including Naple ...

. In 2009, he was honored Chevallier by the ORDRE DES COTEAUX DE CHAMPAGNE in recognition to his economic help to the wine industry and expansion of Italian and French products in Asia. In 2010, he was named World Wide 1st. Ambassador of Mozzarella Bufala Campana. In 2013 was awarded Parma Ham Specialist by the Parma Ham Prosciutto for his high quality restaurants where Parma Ham is used and his contribution to the industry. In 2017 UNESCO Committee Member of the Neapolitan Pizza Association: Listing of the Art of Neapolitan Pizza Making on UNESCO'S Intangible Cultural

Other

* 2017 UNESCO'S Committee Member of the Neapolitan Pizza Association: Listing of the Art of Neapolitan Pizza Making on UNESCO'S Intangible Cultural Heritage Loist in Cheju Iland Korea * 2016 Asia Team Leader - Longest Pizza in the World in Naples, Italy, Guinness World Records 2014 Parma Ham Specialist * 2013 APN Ambassador in Asia
2012 Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne (Officier)
2010 Shanghai EXPO EXECUTIVE CHEF Casa Italia * 2009 Verace Pizza Napoletana Ambassador in the world. Pizza World Championship 3rd Classified PIZZA FEST NAPLES * 2008 Pizza World Championship 2nd. Classified PIZZA FEST NAPLES * 2007 Pizza World Championship 1st. Classified PIZZA FEST NAPLES

Books

* ''Welcome to Neapolitan Dining Table'' (1995) * ''Happy Pasta'' (1997) – Japanese Only * ''Sun’s Dining Table'' (1999) * ''One Life'' (2010) * ''#PizzaUnesco'' (2016-2017)

References

2019 feb. Arirang TV Korea Documentary aout Chef Salvatore Cuomo in Busan

External links

*
Biography
at Tokyo Families, February 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuomo, Salvatore Italian chefs Italian bloggers Male bloggers Italian food writers Italian people of Japanese descent Living people Businesspeople from Naples 1972 births Japanese television chefs Expatriate television personalities in Japan