As head chef of Café Atlántico, Chef Katsuya Fukushima’s charming, playful, and highly personal style of cuisine has surprised and delighted the palate of Washingtonians.

With boundless curiosity and a refusal to let conventions about food be an impediment to creativity, Fukushima has managed to turn his kitchen into one of the most inventive in the country, churning out unexpected delights. Diners can find Fukushima’s philosophy in action in the form of the foie gras truffle served at minibar which asks “why does candy have to be sweet?” Or in the innovative “ravioli” his kitchen produces using paper thin slices of pineapple, jicama and mango in the place of conventional pasta.

A comment by his boss and friend, José Andrés, inspired Fukushima’s current project, another typically Willy Wonka-ish quest to develop a meat flavored gum. Andrés stated in an interview that the most interesting part of eating is the first three seconds because that is where all the flavor is, those three seconds have the greatest impact.

Fukushima was named chef of Café Atlántico in 2002 after a stint at Verbena in New York and after working for a season at the famed el Bulli in Roses, Spain. There Fukushima came under the influence of Master Chef Ferran Adria. This relationship was recently spotlighted in a special section on Spanish chefs and their American protégés that ran in a number of food magazines including Gourmet. In addition, Fukushima has worked at Jaleo, Kaz Sushi Bistro and Cashion’s Eat Place.

During his career, Fukushima has had the opportunity to cook for some of the most influential chefs in the world including Adria, Thomas Keller and David Bouley. He has had opportunity to work alongside some of the best in the business including Adria, Andrés, founder of Nuevo Latino cooking Douglas Rodriguez and Sergi Arola of La Broche in Madrid and was part of the team that cooked with Rick Tramonto for a celebration marking TRU’s 5th anniversary. Fukushima has also cooked for a number of dinners at the James Beard House in New York.

Fukushima has appeared in a variety of media outlets including the Washington Post, Washingtonian, Wine Spectator, Food Arts, and on the Fretz Kitchen. Smithsonian Resident Associates also featured Fukushima in their popular “Meet the Chef” series.

Fukushima received his formal training at L’Academie de Cuisine where he will teach a few classes starting this spring. Before deciding on a career in the kitchen, Fukushima attended the University of Maryland where he studied mathematics and art.

Fukushima lives in Washington, DC.