Robert Okura: standardizing recipes beyond measure

Nation's Restaurant News, Sept 23, 2002 by Naomi R. Kooker

Around the age of 9 Robert Okura tasted an Italian roast beef sandwich, with crusty bread and Toasted red pep-Tiers, from a neighborhood shop. "That was a wakeup call that there was something more than hamburgers," says the Japanese-American, California native. He picked up cooking as a hobby, making pasta and casseroles for the family.

In his early 20s, working as a customer service representative for the department of water and power for the city of Los Angeles, he'd bring in dishes for office parties. His colleagues loved his food, and he loved the instant gratification that went with pleasing them. "It was far more satisfying than doing a day's work at a desk," Okura says. He enrolled in culinary classes while he worked the last two years of his day job; he interned with a French chef and Japanese chef before working as a banquet sous chef for a casino hotel. He never dreamed that he'd be a corporate chef. He's been with The Cheesecake Factory for 14 years and a founding board member of the International Corporate Chefs Association. You said you never dreamed of being a corporate chef, yet here you are. How did your decision to be in this position evolve?

We all have dreams of becoming a chef of our own place. So as The Cheesecake Factory grew and things had to be done in a more corporate manner, I had to grow and meet the challenges of maintaining the high level of creativity while teaching others how to prepare and execute recipes and dishes correctly. In other words how do you train staff to prepare miso salmon as though I were preparing it myself in 50 restaurants, served to thousands of people? That was huge; that was an extremely rewarding challenge I never would have anticipated and the thrust of my growth.

What are some practices you've put in place to ensure quality?

One of the things I did immediately was to create a very clear standardized. recipe format, That way if I give one recipe to 10 different people, I would get really similar results. With a menu that has more than 200 choices on it, that was a very challenging task, given the menu and high volume at the same time.

Several times a year all managers at all levels of operations come to our corporate center and spend hours, sometimes several days, with me and the menu development team cooking new items.

What drew you to The Cheesecake Factory to begin with?

when I was first introduced to The Cheesecake Factory, they had only the three restaurants in operation: Beverly Hills, Marina Del Ray and Redondo Beach, Calif., they were privately owned and investor-funded. It was never intended to turn into a nationwide chain.

I went into the Marina Del Ray store, and it was so crowded you couldn't see a square inch of floor. I said, "There's something going on here that a lot of people like and find it worth waiting around for several hours to get a table." They were doing the same numbers the hotels were doing; I was intrigued by that. And I think it was one of the more creative unique menus in the industry at the time.

[Founder, chairman and CEO] David [Overton] asked me outright, "Do you think you can help us to make our food better?" And I said, "Yes, I believe I can." But what really impressed me? Here's the president of this phenomenally successful concept asking for a helping hand, and I thought that was probably one of the most undeniable signs of professionalism and entrepreneurial strength. Here he was already the best but still open to improvement. And I think to this day that is what keeps us all motivated.

How many people do you have working under you?

I would say a dozen or so corporate-level field managers and over 100 restaurant executive kitchen managers.

RELATED ARTICLE: OKURA AT A GLANCE.

TITLE: vice president of culinary development/corporate executive chef, The Cheesecake Factory Calabasas Hills, Calif.

BIRTH DATE: March 21, 1951

HOMETOWN: Los Angeles

EDUCATION: various culinary-arts programs including The Culinary Institute of America, Greystone, Napa, and California Culinaiy Academy in San Francisco; two formal internships in French and Japanese cuisines. He is an American Culinary Federation Certified Executive Chef.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: working side by side with mentors Thomas Keller and Warren LeRugh; recently studying the spice trade through traveling to India, Bali, Indonesia and Turkey: helping create and launch The Cheesecake Factory's new, secondary concept, the Grand Lux Cafe, which has three stores; receiving Nation's Restaurant News' 2002 Menu Master award for miso salmon, salmon marinated in miso and lice wine served with sake butter and miso glaze; being awarded Restaurants & Institutions magazine's "Choice in Chains Food Quality Award 2002."