Chef
Tetsuya Nakao
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Los Angeles, California, United States
- Venue
- Asanebo · Restaurant
i. Biography
Coming Up
Tetsuya Nakao arrived in America in 1982 and joined Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills as one of the original chefs who helped start Matsuhisa. That early post mattered because it put him inside a kitchen in formation, where repetition, timing, and discipline were being set from the start. The result was a working foundation built on precision rather than spectacle, and on the habits that hold a kitchen together over time. Today, Tetsuya is chef-owner of Asanebo, and the line from Beverly Hills to Studio City reads as continuity rather than reinvention. The role changed, but the method did not: ownership and cooking stayed linked, and the work continued to rest on the same seriousness established at the beginning. What started in 1982 became a long practice of holding technique steady while building a restaurant around it.
Where They Are Now
Today, Nakao is chef-owner at Asanebo in Studio City, Los Angeles, California. The title places the business and the kitchen under one authority, with Tetsuya Nakao responsible for both the operation and the food. That kind of structure usually produces a clear point of view: decisions move through one hand, and the room reflects it. The craft tied to his name is specific in its terms. Raw preparation, rice, seasoning, order, and the chef-led structure of the meal point to a cuisine built on control and restraint, where exactness matters more than display. In that register, Tetsuya Nakao’s work at Asanebo reads as disciplined kitchen practice: measured, attentive, and anchored in technique. Los Angeles frames the arc as well as the address. Tetsuya Nakao’s career begins in the city’s restaurant world in 1982 and continues in Studio City, keeping the biography rooted in the same region. That continuity gives the work a clear local line: an early start in Beverly Hills, a later role in Studio City, and a career that has stayed close to its own ground.
Signature
Tetsuya Nakao is a creative Japanese chef.
Honors
The key markers in his career are his arrival in America in 1982, his work as one of the original chefs who helped start Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills that same year, and his chef-ownership of Asanebo in Studio City. Taken together, those points show a career built in sequence: entry, establishment, and long-term stewardship of a kitchen shaped by the same standards.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Tetsuya
What is Tetsuya Nakao's current role?
As of 2026, Tetsuya Nakao is Chef-owner.
Where did Tetsuya Nakao work before?
Tetsuya Nakao's earlier career included Matsuhisa.
What is Tetsuya Nakao known for?
Sushi.
