Naoko Tamura is a Japanese female chef active in Portland, Oregon, USA. She currently runs her own restaurant in Portland, which will soon celebrate its eighth anniversary.

"Portland is blessed with nature, and being able to consume food grown in the area where you live is important both for your health and for the environment," Tamura says. As such, the ingredients used in her dishes are sourced exclusively from local farms. With a focus on health, she primarily uses organic produce.

As a child, she found the school lunches, which were full of preservatives and additives, unacceptable. Her mother, along with her PTA colleagues, worked to introduce natural foods to schools. This led to the opening of a restaurant serving organic cuisine, a rare sight in Japan at the time. After 20 years of working in her mother's restaurant business, she moved to Portland in 2007 and started her own natural food restaurant, Chef Naoko, with the goal of "passing on safe food and a clean earth to the children of the 21st century." While the menu primarily consists of bento lunches served in tiered boxes, buffets and catering are also available. Tamura's catering has also been well-received at the Portland Japanese Garden in Washington Park, a popular urban park offering beautiful Japanese scenery without leaving the United States. They even hold events featuring a special course called a "Kaiseki Dinner." Tamura's Japanese cuisine is currently available as an in-flight meal on Delta Airlines' direct business class flights from Portland to Narita. The restaurant is located near the Portland Japanese Garden and the Portland State University. Plans for a redesign are underway to expand the restaurant, which has long been considered small. Kengo Sumi, who will also be designing the new building for the Portland Japanese Garden, will be responsible for the project. Naoko Tamura continues to spread the beauty and traditional culture of Japan to Portland, and she is sure to continue to be a beloved local chef.


*This article has been translated and written with permission from (Source: http://www.chefnaoko.com/).