10/15/2025
The Sushi Empress here. We lost a great man - On Oct 5th, Chris Katayama (aka: Tiger) passed away at his home. For over 25 years, I I had the privilege of working Chef Chris - my partner at Tiger Sushi (both MOA and Tiger 2 in uptown). Chris was kind, calm, patient and often unexpectedly witty. He was a natural chef - and often told the story of his recipe for Tosa (our homemade soy sauce) that was inspired by his Japanese grandmother. Chris said - she taught him how to cook by not relying on a recipe but rather using "taste" to tell what is missing. She didn't speak English- so she motioned him to "taste" the sauce after adding each ingredient....and that would inform him as to how it SHOULD taste.
No longer constrained by recipes, Chris used this technique to create so many amazing sauces: Tiger Sauce, Screaming Sauce, Mango Sauce - his version of yum yum sauce that was killer! Remember "Little Guppies" and M**o Asparagus?? That was all Tiger's genius!! After many attempts to create a Kushiyaki sauce -it was just flat and missing that "zing" ingredient. Chris went home and came back the next day with another try. This time it was a "WOW"... with a brightness and tang that was missing before. "What did you add? It's amazing!!" I said.
Chris replied "you won't believe it...I just added ketchup"
Chris was loved by his staff - and his customers too. I can still see him - after a long day's work sitting at "table sipping a "TIGER" b**r ...or in the fall... a Hot Buttered Rum. We have so many fond memories of this gentle, talented man. May your memory be a blessing. I hope you're up there catching lots of fish!!
RIP Tiger!
https://everloved.com/life-of/christopher-katayama/obituary/
