Japanese Cuisine Concentration Faculty
Rory Brown '06, Associate Professor—Hospitality and Service Management, the Culinary Institute of America | Hyde Park, NY
Sake Level One Certification Course (a part of the Japan as Inspiration Course)
Rory Brown graduated from the CIA in 2006 with a Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts Management and immediately went to work in New Orleans. During his time in New Orleans, Rory also earned a Master's degree in Hospitality & Tourism Management. In 2016, Rory returned to his alma mater working in the Hospitality, Beverage and Restaurant department and during this time he taught 14 classes, developed a liqueur brand and is a key builder of the school's Sake Certification. He is currently collaborating on two books and continues to build content for internal and external industry development.
“The Japanese Concentration is a key opportunity for students to further their understanding of how culture impacts cuisine. Allowing students to experience the culture and cuisine, under direction from content experts, is a key difference of why the CIA students lead the industry.”
- Rory Brown, the Culinary Institute of America
Beth Forrest, Professor, School of Liberal Arts and Food Studies, the Culinary Institute of America | Hyde Park, NY
History and Culture of Japanese Cuisine Course
Beth Forrest, PhD is professor of Liberal Arts and Applied Food Studies at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. She is the former president of the Association of the Study of Food and Society and a principle investigator of an Andrew F. Mellon Foundation grant for the project "Food Studies, Race, and the Humanities." She is co-editor of Food in Memory and Imagination: Place, Space and Taste (Bloomsbury, 2022) and a forthcoming book on sauce and identity (Oxford UP, 2023) and has published on a range of topics, from how Americans have imagined eating in hell, to how Americans have framed Spanish identity through "rancid" olive oil, to how eating chocolate in early modern Spain was tied to Catholic theology and sin. Forrest has been quoted widely in the media, including The Wall Street Journal, Better Homes & Gardens, CNN.com, forbes.com, Chicago Tribune, and The Boston Globe, among others.
Cathy Jörin, Senior Advisor and Asia Liaison, the Culinary Institute of America | Napa, CA
Leader, Cuisine and Culture Tour of Japan
Cathy Jörin is a senior leader in global culinary education with more than 40 years of experience building academic and industry partnerships across Asia, with a long-standing focus on Japan. She serves as Senior Advisor and Asia Liaison for the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), where she supports international collaboration, institutional strategy, and educational exchange.
Ms. Jörin has served as the CIA’s Liaison to Japan since 2016 and leads the CIA’s Japanese Studies Concentration for undergraduate students. She was the founding Senior Director of the CIA’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies, where she led the creation and accreditation of four master’s degree programs in food business, sustainability, wine and beverage management, and culinary arts, with a fifth approved for launch in 2025. Her work bridges academic excellence, cultural understanding, and global industry engagement.
“The Japanese Concentration provides rigorous training in traditional Japanese cuisine—its iconic dishes, techniques, flavors, and ingredients—while reaching far beyond technical instruction. At its core, the program is about cultivating the values that shape Japanese culinary practice: deep respect for ingredients, sensitivity to seasonality, refinement through restraint, and an ethic of thoughtful hospitality.
Students learn to approach cooking with clarity and intention, discipline, and care, developing sensibilities that extend naturally into any cuisine they choose to pursue.
Graduates consistently describe the concentration experience – including the opportunity to experience Japan on the cuisine and culture tour as a part of the program – as life-changing—one that reshapes how they understand food, how they work in the kitchen, and how they envision their future as chefs.”
- Cathy Jörin, the Culinary Institute of America
Sam Lozoff, Japanese Translator/Interpreter
Co-Leader, Cuisine and Culture Tour of Japan
Sam Lozoff is a culinary professional whose expertise bridges Japan’s food culture and American culinary education. His deep connection to Japan began with academic study at Waseda University and was forged through hands-on stages at restaurants and ryokans from Tokyo to Hyogo. After returning to the U.S., he honed his craft at The Culinary Institute of America, earning an AOS in Culinary Arts in 2016. Sam’s unique background made him a foundational part of the CIA’s Japanese Cuisine Bachelor’s Degree Concentration. For over half a decade, he served as an assistant instructor, translator, and key interpreter for the program’s visiting chefs from the Tsuji Culinary Institute. He further helps shape the next generation of chefs as the co-leader of the program's annual Japan Cuisine and Culture Tour, guiding students through immersive culinary experiences.
“Having been an instructor and now a guide for the annual tour of Japan, my long involvement with the CIA’s Japanese Cuisine Bachelor’s concentration has shown me its profound impact. Students consistently call it life-changing and, short of moving to Japan, there is no other environment that offers such breadth and depth of training from true Japanese culinary masters. The quality, patience, and kindness of these instructors are second to none. It’s inspiring to watch students make staggering leaps in skill over six weeks, culminating in a Kaiseki dinner where they are amazed by the dishes they create. The 10-day tour of Japan is where everything synthesizes. In Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo, every technique, ingredient, and lesson from Hyde Park comes vividly to life. This immersion transforms their knowledge into deep understanding. This program doesn’t just train skilled cooks, it forges true ambassadors of Japanese culinary culture.”
- Sam Lozoff
Hiroki Murashima, Suntory Visiting Professor, the Culinary Institute of America | Hyde Park, NY
Advanced Japanese Cuisine (Kaiseki) Course, assisted by Hiroko Shimbo
With over three decades of culinary experience, Hiroki Murashima specializes in the "subtractive art" of Japanese cuisine—a philosophy of refining ingredients to their purest essence. His career is anchored by 32 years at the Tsuji Culinary Institute, complemented by international tenures at New York’s Brushstroke and the 2019 G20 Osaka Summit culinary team. Since 2016, Chef Murashima has served as a lead instructor at the Culinary Institute of America. There, he guides students through the intricate composition of Kaiseki Ryori, emphasizing the "Rule of Five"—five tastes, techniques, and colors—to achieve a perfect harmony between seasonal ingredients and aesthetic presentation.
Hiroko Shimbo, Adjunct Chef-instructor, Japanese Concentration Program, the Culinary Institute of America | Hyde Park, NY
Basic Japanese Cuisine Course, Japan as Inspiration Course, Co-teaches Advanced Japanese Cuisine (Kaiseki) Course with Suntory Visiting Professor Hiroki Murashima
Hiroko Shimbo is an Adjunct Chef-instructor, teaching in the Japanese Concentration Program. Chef Shimbo is widely recognized as an expert and authority on Japanese cuisine. In addition to her role in the CIA's Japanese Concentration Program,she is a consulting chef to the restaurant and food service industries and has taught the cuisine at schools across the USA and internationally. Chef Shimbo has been a cookbook author since being based in the United States from 1999. She has authored three award-winning books: The Japanese Kitchen, the largest selling Japanese cookbook for an American audience, The Sushi Experience, which is recognized as a standard by professionals and avocational cooks and Hiroko’s American Kitchen, which focuses on integrating Japanese flavors, cooking techniques and staples into the North American table. Chef Shimbo is currently writing a fourth book. It is a comprehensive guide to Japanese cuisine with in-depth treatment of the origins and fundamentals of the cuisine that define its place, characteristics, and uniqueness in the world’s culinary traditions and culture.
“One of the characteristics of Japanese cuisine is a deep understanding of ingredients, bringing out their umami while intentionally removing unnecessary elements. This subtractive approach to cooking can be applied to various cuisines and broaden the possibilities of culinary arts.”
- Hiroko Shimbo, the Culinary Institute of America
Willa Zhen, Professor of Liberal Arts and Food Studies, The Culinary Institute of America | Hyde Park, NY
Capstone Course
Willa Zhen is Professor of Liberal Arts and Food Studies at The Culinary Institute of America, where she teaches and develops experiential, interdisciplinary approaches to food and culture. She is the author of Food Studies: A Hands-On Guide (Bloomsbury, 2019), a practical introduction to the field that blends theory with creative classroom activities.
“The Japanese Cuisine Concentration invites students to explore Japan through food. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn from Japanese chefs, to study Japanese culture and history, and to experience the country firsthand through a guided study tour.
The Capstone course is where students do a deep dive into something that excites them about Japanese cuisine and culture. This project encourages curiosity, creativity, and scholarly depth. Past capstones have traced the interplay between anime and food culture, investigated the rise of Japanese winemaking, explored the importance of fermentation in Japanese cuisine, examined the globalization of sake, and researched the history behind wagashi, Japan’s traditional sweets.”
- Willa Zhen, the Culinary Institute of America