Eat Your Way Around the World: Chef Angel Carrasquillo, Ponce, Puerto Rico

When Chef Angel Carrasquillo applied to be a dishwasher at Sake Japanese Bistro and Bar in Columbia, Mo., after serving for three years in the Army, he didn’t know it would lead to an apprenticeship in New York at Nobu Matsuhisa, one of the most prestigious sushi restaurants in the U.S. His boss saw potential in him, though, and connected him to the chefs in Manhattan.

There, Carrasquillo trained under Chef Tetsu Momokawa. Carrasquillo’s upbringing in Puerto Rico with fishermen, where he learned to use a knife while cutting up fish, allowed him to advance quickly through the ranks of training at Nobu Matsuhisa, moving from washing rice to cooking rice to cutting vegetables to cutting fish to working the sushi bar to drinking sake with the top chefs in only six months. This process takes many chefs anywhere from two to 20 years.

During this experience, he realized his passion for sushi and Japanese culture.

“Everything about the Japanese culture is just so beautiful and so well put together; simplicity can turn into something beautiful, and even though it is traditional, it’s always changing. It just depends on what ingredients you can get,” Carrasquillo says. “That’s what I love about it — its simplicity, yet versatility. It just drives me to be more creative.”

Carrasquillo is currently the team lead head chef at Sedona Bistro in Cape Girardeau and pursuing a degree in hospitality management at Southeast Missouri State University with a plan to graduate in Fall 2022.

His new restaurant, Omakase by Sushi by Angel, will focus on omakase-style sushi, which means “leave it to the chef.” It’s a restaurant concept not currently offered in Southeast Missouri and will draw upon a menu crafted weekly and sometimes even daily, using fresh ingredients and Carrasquillo’s own recipes as he prepares food in front of patrons, entertaining and educating throughout the course of each meal. Located in a newly-renovated historic building at 430 Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau, Carrasquillo will also offer sushi classes, catering and venue rental.

At his restaurant, Carrasquillo will prepare the food in front of customers at the sushi bar. Interacting with customers while he cooks for them is one of the components he is most looking forward to.

“[You] can’t be shy. Can’t be quiet with the customers,” he says. “You’ve got to keep them engaged. You’ve got to keep them entertained with your stories. With your process. And the food has got to be delicious, and it has to look good first, as well.”