Yoshi Katsumura Yoshi’s Café 3257 N. Halsted St. 773-248-6160 East-West Fusion		Restaurant-goers started becoming health conscious in the mid-80s, says Yoshi Katsumura so he had to change his cooking style. “We used to do a lot of butters and creams. Now you can’t use them because you’re going to kill the people! So we use a lot of olive oils and serve a lot of fish and pasta.” Reared in Ibaraki, Japan, he came to Chicago in 1973, working at such restaurants as Le Bastille and Le Français and then as chef and partner at Jimmy’s Place. In 1982 he opened Yoshi’s, where his wife, Nobuko, runs the dining room. “We have a kind of fusion cooking style,” he says. “I like to mix Oriental and European cuisine. We sear tuna and serve it rare with a garlic red wine sauce. Presentation is also important. People eat with the eyes before tasting. Now, I think Chicago is becoming one of the finest restaurant cities. Our baby boomers, especially, are very educated about food. They’ve been traveling all over and eating European dishes.” In late 1995, Katsumura doubled his space and changed his format from upper-scale to casual, healthier and considerably less expensive dining. “People don’t want to dress up like they used to,” he observes. “They may come in now wearing jeans and a T-shirt and buy $500 worth of wine.”

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