by Diana Serbe
There is a sense of wonder in the food Tyson Cole creates at Uchi. Nothing is taken for granted, every ingredient is an object of awe. Cole's food dazzles, and it does that because Cole himself is dazzled by food. The possibility of untried combinations of food amazes Tyson Cole and it reflects in the food he creates.
Even Cole's entry to the world of food dazzles. In his late teens, he felt himself drifting. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do, and had worked at "fifty thousand" jobs. Raised on macaroni and cheese, food was something you shoveled down when you were hungry. There was no reason to think about it or even to taste it. Then he found his fifty thousand plus one job as a bus boy in a Japanese restaurant.Sushi awakened him. He saw the detail in the food, the skills that took so long to master. He was intrigued by the colors, the knives, the textures of the food. He looked at an apple in his hand, a carrot, a simple slice of fish and stared with wonder as if he had never seen them before. The sushi chef at the restaurant where Cole worked noticed the young man's awakening and took him under his wing. Finally knowing what he wanted to do, Cole turned amazement into discipline and set his mind to mastering the skills of a chef. Showing native talent, he quickly rose to head sushi chef, but Cole was dedicated and wanted more. He moved to Austin's top sushi restaurant, Musashino where he did an intensive traditional apprenticeship under the owner Takehiko Fuse. Challenged by Fuse to learn Japanese, Cole again proved his dedication by spending time in Japan to experience the food first hand and to learn the language. Cole's sense of amazement at the possibilities of food pushed him further, leading him to experiment with tastes that had never been combined before. By now he had gained the skills and the confidence he needed and was ready to go out on his own. A restaurant of his own meant many things. It meant he could have the creative freedom that only an owner can have in the hierarchy of a restaurant. It meant he could stand at the sushi counter, connecting to customers who were fascinated by the possibilities of food, even as he was exploring it. He liked the connection, the intuitive guess that one person would like one dish while another would like another; he liked being challenged by the person who said they had tried everything and wanted something new. "After work, everyone has an opinion," says Cole. He finds himself the liaison between the opinions that surround him and the food he touches. "I am the filter," he says, "and I somehow know how to take someone's idea and make it work. Everyone is involved," he continues, "a restaurant is as good as the sum of its parts. I have a great staff."
Like most great chefs, Cole cannot still his imagination. Recognizing that there are great ideas and bad ideas, he is never afraid to fail, always willing to experiment. At home, if he's eating an apple -"A Fuji, they're the best," with a slice of cheese, he turns the apple in his hand. He's not dreaming of the Garden of Eden, he's wondering if he can find a way to combine it with sushi. (He can and does!) "I am always learning," says Cole and the sense of wonder creeps into his voice again.
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