Chef Michael Turner - Biography

December 2014

Michael Turner got bitten by the culinary bug early in life. He spent hours after school tuning into PBS and watching the likes of Julia Child and Graham Kerr in action. Turner grew up with his great grandmother and his father, both of whom were serious home cooks. He took that childhood conditioning and pursued a cooking as a career.

When he got a job at minibar in Washington, D.C., he trained under 2006 D.C. Rising Star Katsuya Fukushima, learning the ropes of Japanese cuisine. He then moved to Los Angeles to open The Bazaar by José Andrés, where he worked with several Japanese chefs, bolstering his skills and love for washoku.

Upon Fukushima opening his own restaurant, Daikaya, in the District, Turner brought his imbued Japanese cooking expertise to the table. He worked as the restaurant’s chef de cuisine, bringing fun and originality to its ramen and izakaya menus, while keeping intact the integrity of Japanese cuisine he learned over several years. In 2014, Turner moved on from Daikaya in search of his next culinary chapter.