Shota Nakajima Biography
Shota Nakajima is a Japanese-American chef who won the eighth season of Top Chef in Portland, Oregon. In 2017, Nakajima competed on Food Network’s Iron Chef Gauntlet, where he was the fourth chef to be eliminated.
How old is Shota Nakajima? – Age
He is 33 years old as of 24 August 2022. He was born in 1989 in Tokyo, Japan.
Shota Nakajima Family – Education
Nakajima was born in Japan and reared in the United States. He moved to Osaka at the age of 18 to attend the Tsuji Culinary Arts School.
Shota Nakajima Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $1 million.
Shota Nakajima Iron Chef
In 2017, Nakajima was the fourth chef removed from Food Network’s Iron Chef Gauntlet. Iron Chef Gauntlet is a Food Network television series that premiered on April 16, 2017 as a relaunch of the renowned Iron Chef and Iron Chef America franchises. The series, hosted by Alton Brown, follows seven chefs from throughout the country as they compete in an elimination competition, with the last chef facing a “gauntlet” task to gain the title of Iron Chef. Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto, and Michael Symon were among the stars of the inaugural season. The six-episode second season included Alex Guarnaschelli, season one winner Stephanie Izard, and Michael Symon.
Shota Nakajima Career
He worked as an apprentice under chef Yasuhiko Sakamoto there. He then went back to Seattle and worked at Sushi Kappo Tamura for chef Taichi Kitamura between 2011 and 2012. He appeared in Beat Bobby Flay’s Season 16, Episode 4 in 2018. Tempura, Nakajima’s signature dish, was the winner. Nakajima competed on Top Chef in 2020: was one of three finalists in Portland. He was also selected as the show’s Fan Favorite. Nakajima lost to eventual champion Mei Lin in the quarterfinals of Season 4 of Tournament of Champions.
In 2014, Nakajima opened a cooking business, Kappo Kitchen and later Naka, a kaiseki eatery, in June 2015. Naka Kaiseki rebranded as Adana in February 2017. Nakajima opened his Osakan kushikatsu restaurant Taku in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood in March 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, both Adana and Taku closed, but Taku reopened in May 2021 as a karaage restaurant.
Nakajima started bottling his own teriyaki sauce, dubbed “Make Umami,” toward the end of 2021. He sold it at Taku, Uwajimaya grocery stores, and on Amazon. Nakajima announced in February 2022 that he would open Banzai Teriyaki, a teriyaki restaurant, in Cle Elum, Washington.