Today we’d like to introduce you to William Eick.
Hi William, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I began my career at Tomiko Japanese Restaurant in Encinitas CA, and have worked everything from fast food to fine dining. I have studied not just Japanese cuisine but Japanese culture for a majority of my life, and Matsu is my story.
Philosophy:
I could actually sum this up to one simple word if needed, but feel it should be elaborated upon. The word is “Balance”. Balance is what makes a dish great, and it is the overall goal when creating a combination of flavors. If you achieve balance of flavor in each component, they will all come together and balance each other, providing depth. Depth is a huge part in what we look for with Matsu’s food and when I cook in general. Depth can come down to how long you taste the dish when you are done eating, how many flavors you can extract and taste from a single ingredient, and how to stay within a level of balance to retain those flavors. Say we start with a plum, and the plum taste of itself, but also taste of almond and banana (dancing demon plums taste like this). So I would start from there and build the dish around those flavor profiles, but also keeping in mind that other things taste of those flavors as well. Okinawan rum has good banana like flavor, and arugula is nutty. So maybe it’s a salad of arugula, fresh plum blended into a vinaigrette, dried plum rehydrated in rum, banana chips and pecorino (nutty cheese).
Another part of the philosophy is quality. It all ties back to balance by taking the best ingredients you can find, ones that themselves have depth, retaining their depth, and continuing to balance the flavors of them together. True depth will always come from quality ingredients. If an ingredient is one noted and falls flat off the palate quickly, it’s simply not good enough. It shows a much better chef in knowing the difference in quality, having an amazing ingredient, and showing restraint. The best chefs know that they don’t have to do much to an amazing products to create amazing food. Knowing as many techniques as possible is good, however great food can be equally achieved much easier and thoughtfully without having to do too many things to the ingredient itself. One could easily take a carrot, dehydrate it, then rehydrate it in its own juice and garnish it with carrot powder. But if the carrot was perfect to begin with, you can simply roast it with some oil and salt and achieve the same level of flavor with the same depth.
Temperature is another largely focused area of my cooking, especially within Matsu. True depth of umami is cooked off around 160 degrees. We try our best to not go above that temperature when making dashi and sauces in order to retain the subtle depth that each ingredient may have. We buy some of the best ingredients on the planet and do our best to show them in the best way we can without screwing them up.
Matsu:
Matsu is about the connection of Japanese culture, techniques, traditions, and philosophy in food and connecting it to San Diego’s (albeit Southern California in general) terroir. This is how the name came about. Pine is prevalent within Japanese culture, while the pine tree is abundant in our terroir as well (see Torrey Pines). We focus on what grows locally but also what may be used in Japanese food outside of that. Take for example the Sunflower dish. Cuttlefish/ Squid are absolutely available and within San Diego waters, however the quality of the Sumi Ika we get from Aichi Prefecture in Japan just happens to be a more consistent and better quality product, so we use that.
Matsu is minimalist in its design, not just its food. Simple, direct, and nothing to hide behind. We have what we need and nothing more.
We do try to use pine within the food because when harnessed correctly and balanced properly, it is a quite unique flavor. It also happens to be something that was once prevalent in Southern California’s native American cooking, which ties us into the terroir part of Matsu’s food. If you’ve ever been described the flavor of an IPA, somebody has said it to be pine-y, yet very rarely do you see people eating/drinking pine (other than the nuts).
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As with any restaurant opening, it has had its ups and downs. That said, Matsu was hands down the best and easiest restaurant opening I have ever been a part of. The team has performed since day one, and I could not be happier. I have the most amazing team, and they have been beyond supportive along the way. Our only struggles have been growth. We continue to push forward, but every speed-bump has been met with exponential growth, which has only shown the strength and dedication our team has had. We have had zero turnover from opening.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I would say I am most known for limit-pushing food within the San Diego food scene. I specialize in knowing what the terroir is and building upon that, something that is not seen from any other San Diego chef.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@eatmatsu.com
- Website: eatatmatsu.com
- Instagram: eatmatsu
- Facebook: eatmatsu
Image Credits
Leo Cabal Erik Baldwin
