Taishi Yamaguchi

Coming Up

Progression in the kitchen often comes from repeated responsibility, and that is how Taishi Yamaguchi’s career reads. At Peace Dining Corporation, he served as Corporate Executive Chef from 2016–2020, a role that placed him in charge of standards at scale and set the base for the leadership that followed. He then moved to EN Japanese Brasserie as Executive Chef from 2020–2021, staying within Japanese cuisine while continuing to work at the level where timing, discipline, and exact execution matter most. The next step was Aman New York, where Taishi Yamaguchi worked as chef from 2021–2022. From there, he took on dual responsibility as Executive Chef and Executive Sushi Chef at Katsuya NYC by SBE from 2022–2025, a post that joined kitchen management with sushi work in a single remit. That combination matters in trade terms: it asks for broad operational command and the close attention to detail that sushi demands. Since 2025, Taishi Yamaguchi has held the same dual title at Akoya at the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City. Executive Chef and Executive Sushi Chef is a narrow brief with a wide reach, and in his case it ties a long run in Japanese cuisine to a role that requires both oversight and precision.

Where They Are Now

At Akoya at the Knickerbocker Hotel in New York City, Taishi Yamaguchi’s current post since 2025 brings executive kitchen leadership and sushi leadership together. The title reflects the shape of his work: built through successive management roles, grounded in Japanese cuisine, and carried by the demands of exacting service.

In Their Words “I have close to 20 years of experience in the culinary/ restaurant business.”