Shota Nakajima

Shota Nakajima LLC - Seattle, WA

Shota Nakajima is a chef, restauranteur, international TV personality, and a three-time James Beard Foundation Awards semi-finalist.

Nakajima began his culinary journey at the age of 16, working for a highly acclaimed sushi restaurant in his hometown of Seattle, WA. At the age of 18, Nakajima moved to Osaka, Japan to learn about the art of Japanese cuisine. There, he had the opportunity to work for Michelin Star rated Chef Yasuhiko Sakamoto, an experience that greatly changed his perspective on cooking and his approach to food.

After returning to Seattle, Nakajima’s dream of applying Chef Sakamoto’s approach to hospitality and Japanese cuisine in the United States, combined with his own perspective and imaginative applications, was realized through his Capitol Hill restaurant Adana. At Adana, Nakajima parlayed his meticulous detail, high-quality and approachable Japanese comfort food, blending his Japanese heritage and his American influences. He went on to operate Taku in Seattle from 2020-2025 featuring karaage, Japanese fried chicken, and ran his Kobo Pizza pop up from 2022-2024, serving rectangular Detroit-style pizzas with Japanese influence.

Shota Nakajima has competed on Iron Chef Gauntlet, Beat Bobby Flay as well as appeared on countless Food Network competition programs as both a judge and competitor. He competed on Season 18 of Bravo’s Top Chef in 2021 placing as a top three finalist. He was awarded Top Chef Season 18 Fan Favorite as voted on by the public. In 2023 he was competitor on the Food Network’s Tournament of Champions season four where he placed in the top eight. He’s been a featured guest on CBS’s The Talk and ABC’s Good Morning America.

He was a semi-finalist for the James Beard Foundation Awards in 2018, 2019 and 2020, received an Eater ‘Young Guns’ award and Zagat’s ’30 Under 30’ chef designation. Adana was the recipient of ‘Best New Restaurant’ in The Seattle Times and a ‘Top 10 Restaurant’ in Seattle Magazine. He was awarded Star Chefs ‘2020 Seattle Rising Star Chef,’ and named one of ‘The Most Influential People of 2021’ in Seattle Met Magazine, among other accolades.