Chef Kazuki "Kaz" Yamamoto is on the cutting edge of cuisine. And by "cutting edge," what I mean is that he cooks rare, occasionally immoral, and sometimes outright illegal, foods for those who are willing to pay for them. Based out of Arizona, he travels to homes of rich and/or famous clients and plies them with previously untasted delicacies from his traveling "restaurant, known as "Le Menu". Because his client list includes government officials and gastronomes alike, Yamamoto says he has had few problems in the past obtaining locations, including restaurants, to hold his dinners. When Stephen Lemons, the Phoenix New Times food critic joined in a dinner, he sampled foods such as Saguaro cactus salad, made from the legally protected succulent; tenderloin of Bichon Frise, endangered pygmy owl, roasted and eaten whole, with entrails and bones intact; and nigiri-style seal sushi.
Other items that Yamamoto is famed for include chimpanzee stew (protected), grilled intestines of brown bear (poached from Yosemite), rhino genitals, gila monster, giraffe tongue, monkey tartare and a dozen variations on penguin meat.
Some exotic animals, including hippos and zebra, can be imported and "consumed under little-known loopholes in the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973," and while Yamamoto takes advantage of this, much of his game is obtained illegally. Not worried about law enforcement that is "too old and stupid" to catch him, he does take a lot of precautions. For example, he ships game that he has hunted (or poached) himself in special containers via FedEx. The rest, he seems to get through bribery and on the black market, as not too many people raise their Bichon Frise puppy on cream and veal for seven months before slaughtering. Apparently, $500 will buy a monkey from a guard at the Phoenix zoo. "Same for sea lion at Sea World."
The article by Mr. Lemons, which is well-worth the read, provides a fascinating glimpse into the life and mind of Chef Yamamoto and what drives him to his passion for cooking, as well as uncovering his borderline-frightening desire to go above and beyond with every meal. I can't say that I'm not disturbed - because I am - by Lemon's willingness to sample these foods, though far less than I am by the methods by which Yamamoto obtained them. Of course, this is because there is one aspect of Yamamoto's cuisine that goes beyond the morality of hunting mother penguins. It is something that Mr. Lemons admits to tasting and that is, in extreme understatement, highly unusual: human flesh.
"'There many Mexican immigrant need money,' confides Yamamoto during [Lemon's] inspection of his Anthem residence.'Sometime they sell me kidney, arm or leg, or just slice of liver. Very, very expenseeve. These Mexican never have to work for year, I tell you. And Mexican liver with onion? Is sooo deleeshus. You must try.'" He says that his clients who have enjoyed the experience of cannibalism include Senator Jon Kyl, Marlon Brando and Phil Gordon. It seems almost beside the point to mention that the chef admits to an "agreement with some local mortuaries to harvest kidneys and other internal organs for him from children and teenagers who have died in car accidents" and that he said, "One day I hope I can cook whole Mexican."
For the moment, this cuisine extremist will continue to cook in the southwest, but, perhaps not surprisingly, Yamamoto is considering a move to Europe, where he feels he can be more adventurous and more open.
If he has ideas about how he can "out-do" what he has already done, I don't think that I want to know what they are.
[Image of Yamamoto in his home freezer with a seal head in his hand from the cover of Phoenix New Times]
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