self-taught superstar
Chef Ed Lam and Chef Jil Osias experiment with fermentation, to create new flavours which work wonders in their dishes
By Laurie Hughes
After a 20-year, hard-fought quest to perfect his flavour creations, Chef Edward Lam has perfected dishes that lift guests to a higher realm. The visionary chef/owner of Yujiro, Gaijin Izakaya, and Saburo Kitchen epitomizes today’s chef: defined not by formal training but by scrappy determination to follow a dream, battling through failures, and being willing to put in the time—lots of it.
Though Yujiro has won Winnipeggers’ hearts as the top dog of his concepts, with its buttery fresh premium sashimi and luxe omakase extravaganzas, it’s his newest venture, Saburo Kitchen, where something special is bubbling up.
Meeting with Ciao! in the new Hargrave Street Market locale, Chef Edward shows off his latest obsession: fascinating fermentation. A kaleidoscope of jars containing all manner of pickles and preserves that bring the gastronomic funk line the walls of the low-key food court kitchen, which produces dishes for the eatery while doing double duty as a fermentation lab where Saburo’s chefs create novel ingredients.
But how did this mad scientist of gastronomy end up here? Like his kitchen experiments, the process was organic and unexpected.
Edward Lam’s dream was to open a restaurant, not be its chef. In fact, despite his Chinese upbringing, he could not even cook a pot of rice, he jokes. When asked about how and when he started cooking, he laughingly credits local chef Masa Sugita: “He tricked me into it.”
Edward was a customer at Chef Masa’s restaurant when Masa enlisted him to help open Miyabi, a restaurant that would introduce the city to the concept of izakaya—a Japanese-style pub serving light appetizers.
From the outset, Ed was in the deep end, he says. Originally, the cooking neophyte thought chef Masa would be in charge of the kitchen. Instead, he reminisces, Chef Masa had him observe on opening night, then stepped aside on day two while Ed floundered through the service. By day four Edward was on his own, while Chef Masa attended to his other restaurant, Yujiro. A year later, Yujiro required his full attention, and he wanted Edward to buy him out.
Running solo was tough, and introducing a foreign food concept in this city proved to be slow going. Despite the ongoing financial challenges of keeping it running, Edward was committed to seeing the restaurant succeed. “I don’t remember being happy at Miyabi, but Miyabi is where I fell in love with cooking,” he says.
Those best, worst years shaped his culinary path. Edward immersed himself in learning to cook by watching Japanese cooking videos, “Without subtitles,” he adds. These four-hour binge sessions, stopping and replaying parts until he understood the techniques, comprised his culinary training.
Meanwhile, his dishes were getting noticed, and business picked up. Customers were lining up outside the door of the tiny eatery, despite the rough-around-the-edges service. Then, amid the struggle, some validation: Ciao! magazine contacted him to include him in a special editorial feature giving recognition to the city’s top 40 chefs. “At that point I knew I was doing something right,” he attests. Meeting highly regarded chefs at that photoshoot gave him a boost of confidence to feed his drive.
Nine years passed before Edward closed Miyabi, ready to step back but pleased with his accomplishment. After a short stint away from the kitchen, working in the oil fields of Alberta, he returned to Winnipeg and to cooking, intent on widening his range of skills. To learn French and western-style techniques, he joined Lobby on York. He also worked for another sushi spot for a short while, but it wasn’t long before his mentor, Masa, reached out again, telling him Yujiro was where Edward belonged.
This time the two worked side by side, and Edward continued to learn from his friend, expanding his repertoire of Japanese specialties—until Masa offered to sell him the business. Yujiro already had an existing fan base, so he jumped at the chance, confident and prepared.
For the past 10 years, Chef Edward has presided as chef/owner of Yujiro, quietly developing his mastery of the culinary arts, hitting his stride and growing his customer base. In an industry populated by introverted creatives, Edward’s engaging personality is an attractive draw. He keeps company with the new school up-and-comer chefs and the top tier elite, comfortably fitting in with anyone who shares his passion for food.
The city’s most revered chef, Takashi Murakami, is one of his dearest friends. Their mutual friendship with Masa and Murakami’s regular visits to Yujiro as a customer led to a pivotal paradigm shift in chef Edward’s career path. “He taught me French techniques and treated me like his apprentice.”
Chef Edward is established now as a legitimate, sit-up-and-take-notice contributor to the food scene who is making waves among the culinary establishment. He comes out on top in culinary battles with the best, bringing home the gold medal in 2022 for his entry in the prestigious Gold Medal Plates competition. And sharp business moves like a pandemic pivot to ready-to-heat ramen have shown his skill managing eateries extends beyond the kitchen walls, too.
Sitting at his stylish downtown eatery today, his attention comes back to fermentation. It is clear he still loves learning, but has also comfortably assumed the role of teacher and mentor. It was his “right hand” chef, Jil Osias, who sparked an interest in friendly bacteria, having spent two years in a trendy Philippines’ kitchen influenced by Chef Rene Redzepi, the chef-patron of the acclaimed restaurant Noma.
Together Chef Ed and Chef Jil geek out about what’s in the works, excited to spread the word about their umami-imparting creations: an accidental sriracha sauce, created in the process of fermenting miso, which has replaced their store-bought bottles; house made fish sauces that are completely plant-based. These new scratch-made ingredients save money for Edward’s three ventures, essential for the notoriously slim-margined restaurant business.
Chef Edward Lam represents the newest-age chef: a culinary leader, pushing boundaries with ingredients while still being accessible to diners in a food court. His lack of formal training puts him in a burgeoning group of self-taught superstars changing the game in hospitality. While he pushes the envelope with concepts and ingredients, Ed’s restaurants temper spontaneity with business savvy and a desire to create a strong community throughout Winnipeg’s culinary scene.
