Masa Takayama

(born 1 May 1954) is a Japanese chef and restaurateur. He is the owner of Masa, a two-Michelin-starred Japanese and sushi restaurant in Manhattan, New York City. He is also owner of Bar Masa, with two locations: one adjacent to his New York City restaurant, and one in the Aria Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada.

Early years Takayama was born in Kuroiso, Tochigi, a small town three hours north of Tokyo. His parents owned a fish shop and a catering business. He began cutting fish as a child. His brother and three sisters all helped in the store, loading the fish into the display cases before school. After school, Takayama would get on his bicycle and deliver sashimi his father had made. In the spring, which is wedding season in Japan, the family catered celebrations, typically five-course dinners for 200 guests where he would help all day at the expense of school. As per traditional culinary apprenticeship in Japan, he spent many of those years working on mundane tasks such as dishwasher and bathroom cleaner before rising to the level of sushi chef. A decade later, Takayama decided to try a change of surroundings and sold Ginza Sushiko to his sous-chef, who changed the name to Urasawa. It was one of the few restaurants in New York City to hold a four out of four star rating by The New York Times, but was downgraded to 3 stars in 2011. It has also received five out of five stars in the Forbes Travel Guide (formerly known as the Mobil Guide).

Two a la carte offshoots of the flagship in New York followed, Bar Masa and Kappo Masa. A second Bar Masa opened in the Aria Resort & Casino in CityCenter on the Las Vegas Strip in December 2009. The restaurant also included Shaboo, an upscale omakase-style shabu-shabu dining room that charges approximately $500 per person without drinks.

In 2012 Shaboo was replaced by Tetsu, with a Yakitori-based menu emphasizing grilled fare, and featuring both a la carte and Omakase menus. In November 2017 Masa opened a second branch of Tetsu in New York City's Tribeca neighborhood.

Personal life Takayama married Hisako Ishii, a Japanese native studying English he met at an Orange County sushi bar where he worked, in 1979. Together they had three children before they separated, He plays golf, runs marathons and is also a potter who designed the plates at Masa, along with sake cups of wood and bamboo.