Cultural appropriation is a seemingly constant dialogue in the food and restaurant world, precisely because what we eat is so indelibly tied to where we're from. While the line between admiration and exploitation can be tenuous, some cases are so blatantly offensive that you have to wonder how people can be so brazen.
Take the buzzing New York sushi spot Sushi By Bou. The restaurant is run by David Bouhadana, a white man from Florida, who apparently likes to put on a fake Japanese accent while preparing food for customers. According to a story in Eater, Bouhadana is known to describe food to guests as “dericious, dericious,” putting on an age-old, and offensive, stereotypical Japanese accent. When asked why he does this, Bouhadana called the accent “little fun jokes” and said that “maybe in my mind I think I’m Japanese.”
The chef has been heralded as the new face of sushi and received glowing write ups in major food publications, including Eater, which itself raises more questions. GQ's Kevin Nguyen said it best in a tweet. "This reporting is great, but it's also outlets like Eater that prop up chefs like this in the first place."
