Creative + Comforting Japanese Fare in D.C.

Chef Masako Morishita on how her many ventures, including a stint as dance team captain for the Commanders, helps her in Perry’s kitchen. 

Chef Masako Morishita is new in D.C.’s food scene, but she’s already made a name for herself. In October 2022, she became the executive chef at Perry’s, a 40-year-old Adams Morgan staple. This spring, she was nominated for the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s Rising Culinary Star of the Year award.

Morishita describes her style as “modern, Japanese comfort food,” a twist on what she grew up eating. You get it once you taste her food: Her tender garlic edamame dumplings are covered in snowy piles of parmesan. The mochi agedashi is crispy, pillow-soft and chewy all at once, dropped in a rich dashi broth and topped with salmon roe. But her signature dish, the miso butter clams, is the star.

“The idea for this dish is from my dad,” Morishita says. “He puts butter on his rice with soy sauce or a little miso soup — it’s kind of a no-no in Japanese cooking, but he loves it.”

Photo by Scott Suchman.

At Perry’s, she makes a broth of miso, dashi, tamari, mirin and sake, cooks the clams in it and adds butter. The result: deep, refined, fresh flavor.

We spoke with Morishita to hear about her start as a chef, what she learned from being a Commanders dance team captain (really!), cooking at Perry’s and why you should follow your dreams — even if you’re really scared.

District Fray: You cite your mother as your inspiration for your style. Was she creative in the kitchen?
Masako Morishita: She was very creative. My family has had a restaurant in Kobe, Japan for over 100 years now that my grandparents started. My grandma was a chef, and my mother is still cooking in our family restaurant. She really enjoys experimenting, and not just with non-Japanese ingredients — in Japan, there’s different regions with very different food cultures. She’d get ideas from places she’s visited and incorporate them into her cooking. I’m definitely following her path.

You’ve had a fascinating journey. You were the first-ever Commanders dance captain born outside of the United States. Then you worked at the Washington bureau of a Japanese TV station before you opened your first food pop-up in 2019. What did you take from those experiences into your career as a chef?
Absolutely everything I’ve experienced has been a useful tool for me. Leading my team in my kitchen means I have to do a lot of the things I did as a dance captain: I have to step up as a leader, instruct and get to know them. And I took some really basic things from working at the TV station: be on time, set a goal and work for it. I gained planning skills (and I love to plan). And I was an accountant — also good for running a restaurant.

Tell me about how your career as a chef began.
When I was dancing for the Commanders, I got to introduce my background and family to my teammates. I thought, “What can I do after my dancing career to continue to share my culture?” And I thought of cooking as my vessel. When I opened the pop-up, I was still working the corporate job. My family was against me going into cooking, because they know how hard it is, and I’ve seen them struggle at times. I was scared, because it really is a totally different world. But, in 2021, I got my first full-time job as a chef at Maxwell Park. They opened up so many doors for me, and I loved everyone I worked with. Maxwell has a tiny kitchen, and I started having this itch for more equipment, to be able to do more. Perry’s was looking for someone to take over their kitchen, and now here I am.

How did you approach putting your signature on the Perry’s menu?
At first, it was a challenge to put my own food on the menu, as this is such an iconic restaurant in D.C. Being new to this industry, it was a lot of pressure. But something else I learned from my dancing career is to fake it till you make it. Little by little, I gained the trust of the people who work here. I wanted them to love my food first before I put it on the menu. Now when I put out my specials, guests will come just for them — and they’ll call the restaurant to find out when they’re coming back.

What would you say to other people considering making a big career leap, as you did?
You know, I’m an immigrant; my whole family is in Japan. It’s not easy to follow your dreams. I think there’s a lot of women like me who are a little hesitant to go for it because they’re not from here, or don’t have family support. I really want to encourage those women to follow their dreams. If you think hard and work hard, it’s possible.

For menus and reservations, visit perrysam.com. Follow Chef Masako Morishita on Instagram @masako_morishita. 

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Haley McKey

Haley McKey is an artist and friend to the wild living and working in the DMV. As an area native, she has seen DC grow and evolve over the course of her life. She loves writing about art, music, animals and our environment, especially the city's dedication to conserving wildlife habitat. When she's not writing or working, she's painting and drawing. She loves a sour cocktail.