ABOUT US & CREDENTIALS

We grew up in Tokyo and the Bay Area respectively—one with parents from Japan, the other with immigrant parents from India. One of us learned to eat with intention in Tokyo—where Michelin first published a guide outside Europe—with breakfast often a proper washoku spread and weekends at sushi counters and ramen shops where the language of dashi, neta, and umami was as native as the streets of Ginza. The other came up in the Bay Area amid South Asian and Californian food cultures. That foundation gave us a shared palate and vocabulary for precision: shari temperature, knife work, and the difference between technique that performs and technique that serves.

Later, we trained in hospitality and culinary criticism in the U.S. and Europe, and have dined at hundreds of starred restaurants across Asia, North America, and France. We write in both culinary technical language—so chefs and serious diners can trust the critique—and in plain English, so everyone can decide where to book next. Masala & Miso is named for the two flavor worlds we hold closest: the spice and depth of South Asian cooking, and the clarity and fermentation of Japanese cuisine. Both inform how we judge a plate.