Chef Okura, corporate executive chef for The Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain (170 locations) takes an upscale fish dish, tweaks the recipe and creates a hot seller. Once upon a time chef Robert Okura bit into a miso-marinated Chilean sea bass and started thinking. That was the beginning of the story that tells how miso salmon landed on the menus of The Cheesecake Factory and quickly became one of the brand’s best-selling items. Passionate about cooking, Okura, the chain’s vice president of culinary development and corporate executive chef, says, “We change our menu here twice a year, adding six to eight new items and eliminating some to keep it at around 200.” New ideas come from many sources, including cookbooks and other chefs as well as manufacturers. Recipes also come from tweaking dishes served by other restaurants, which is how miso salmon got its start at The Cheesecake Factory. A few years ago Okura began noticing a trend toward miso-marinated Chilean sea bass at high-end restaurants in major cities. “It was really making a mark on the industry,” he says “I thought it was delicious but not for everybody. First, because miso is fermented soybean paste and, on its own, is an extremely strong flavor. You either love it or don’t want to be near it.” The second factor was price. “Because Chilean sea bass and miso are both expensive, this dish was selling for for a 3- to 4-ounce portion in these restaurants,” he explains. Okura had concerns about the recipe, but …
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