Sushi Master: Chef Junya Yamasaki

Chef Junya Yamasaki is a renowned, self-taught chef and fisherman celebrated for his inventive take on Japanese cuisine. As the visionary behind YESS, a restaurant that merges traditional Japanese culinary techniques paired with modern, innovative flavors and locally foraged ingredients, Chef Yamasaki brings a fresh perspective to the dining scene; formerly of London's acclaimed Japanese noodle bar Koya, he has also been deeply influenced by Zen practices and the slow seafood movement he has championed in Los Angeles.

Flamingo Estate
Sushi in a Farm Box?!

Not quite, you won't be getting any raw fish in this week’s box. Chef Junya Yamasaki is as deeply devoted to vegetables and produce as he is to fish. In fact, his love for non-sushi ingredients is one of the most defining shifts of his career and the reason his current cooking stands apart from traditional Edomae sushi. He believes that produce should be treated with the same rigor as top-grade seafood featuring extreme seasonality, precision cutting and handling, minimal manipulation, and the utmost respect for each ingredient.

Flamingo Estate

Say Yess to This Week’s Freshly Foraged Produce

This week, Chef Junya Yamasaki is personally foraging these chanterelles for our farm box, selecting each mushroom by hand at peak ripeness. By harvesting at the perfect moment, he ensures they arrived at their most fragrant and flavorful. It is a rare opportunity to experience an ingredient that traveled from forest to table with almost no delay.

Last week, Junya Yamasaki personally foraged these chanterelles for our farm box, selecting each mushroom by hand at peak ripeness. By harvesting at the perfect moment, he ensured they arrived at their most fragrant and flavorful. It was a rare opportunity to experience an ingredient that traveled from forest to table with almost no delay. We guarantee these will be the freshest chanterelles you’ve ever tasted!

2025 Flavor of the Year: Yuzu

Our partners at Foragery Foraged Foods hand-picked all of the fresh yuzu in this week’s box at peak ripeness. Yuzu is a rare, highly aromatic Japanese citrus that tastes like a vivid blend of lemon, mandarin, and grapefruit with soft floral and piney notes. Its intensely fragrant peel and bright, complex juice are prized in Japanese cooking as well as in high-end cocktails and desserts.

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