JULY 2025 16 with Chef Blake Luecke of Uchi Scottsdale 3821 N. Scottsdale Road • uchi.uchirestaurants.com In the Kitchen C hef Blake Luecke brings a passion for collaboration, creativity, and ice cream (yes, ice cream) to his role as chef de cuisine at Uchi Scottsdale. After years of honing his craft across the southwest, he now leads with a focus on culture and helping his team deliver “the perfect bite.” Where are you from originally? I’ve moved around a lot, but the longest place I’ve lived is in Bakersfield, California. I’d say that’s where I grew up; before that, I was in Michigan, Texas, and Arizona… lots of jumping around. I moved to Scottsdale in 2024. What prompted you to move to Arizona? I wanted to open a restaurant, which was something I’d never done before. I wanted to have that on my resume. I’d spent seven years with Uchi, and I was looking to grow and build upon what I’ve done. Arizona is close to California without actually being California, and that’s where my family is, so this is a good alternative. There’s a lot of options to get out and explore. When my wife and I lived in Texas, it felt like it took six hours to get anywhere [ laughs ], so this was an exciting opportunity. Share your culinary journey with us. My dad was in hospitality for a while, so I grew up around it. My mom cooked every night, so I’d help her, whether it was Hamburger Helper back in the ‘90s or grilling outside when we moved to California. I went to a college fair during my junior year and came across a culinary school that I signed up for. We were in the kitchen five days a week, five hours a day, one-on- one with the instructors. While in school, I was working at a restaurant called LB Steakhouse. I found a passion for ice cream there, if you can believe it. I have a sweet tooth and the restaurant would serve sundaes and banana splits, and for whatever reason, it struck a chord with me, so I got into making ice cream. After that, I moved back home and worked at a mom-and-pop called Moo Creamery. We made all of our ice creams in-house and everything from scratch. It was busy and challenging, but we had a good time. It helped me get a real taste of the industry. With that sweet tooth, did baking ever cross your mind? I got a little bit into bread-making, but, no, not really. Savory compared to baking has more room for ingenuity. There’s more room for error. Pastry and baking is ‘to the T,’ if something goes wrong, the dish won’t work. I got into ice cream between Moo Creamery and The Padre Hotel in Bakersfield, where I worked for about five years and became the executive chef. They were just softening big tubs of ice cream and whipping them with the KitchenAid. I told the chef, “This is bad, let me do it.” I’d take everything home and make ice cream until two in the morning and bring it back the next day. Eventually we were making it in house and the dessert program grew – that’s about as far as ‘pastry’ goes for me. Tell us about the restaurant. When did the first location open? Chef Tyson Cole opened Uchi in 2003 with business partner Daryl Kunik. They bought a little red bungalow in Texas that they expanded to what it currently looks like. It’s cool to see us going on 22 years! It was small and humble; what Tyson emphasized from the beginning was whether you were sitting at the sushi bar or the wine bar or at a table, he wanted you to feel like you were at the sushi bar. That’s a huge part of the experience and why people were drawn to the restaurant. I was working somewhere and had purchased Tyson’s Uchi: The Cookbook . It’s one of the few that I’ve read cover to cover. I was inspired. It sounds silly, but I thought, ‘If a guy like Tyson can make sushi, I can get into that.’ Do you take classes to learn to make sushi? What’s funny is I never actually got into making the sushi. I started as a line cook, worked through all the stations, but when it came to sushi, I tried it out and decided it was not for me. I don’t enjoy being covered in sticky rice and scales and smelling like fish at the end of the night [ laughs ]. It takes a strong person to be able to do that. I respect what those chefs do, and I’ll help if they need me, but I’m not making the rolls or the nigiri. I respect that boundary. What does Uchi offer? We have a large core menu that doesn’t change too often, other than seasonal changes. There are nine stations. We have yakitori (grilled meats, fish, veggies, skewers); sauté, donabe , which is everyone’s favorite. That’s made in a clay pot, like a crispy rice bowl…they bring it tableside and it sizzles and crackles and everyone loves it. We’ve got a tempura station, which is an art form in itself: you dip your hand in the batter and you’re dripping the batter over the fish or the veggies – you’re essentially trying to paint whatever’s in the copper pot and get an even coating. We have garde manger , which is savory and pastry. All of our food is meant to represent our ethos of ‘the perfect bite.’ I’m sure people have gone to a restaurant where the nigiri is huge, it’s a two-biter – it shouldn’t be. One the sushi side is maki, which is the rolls; then we have a station that does the hot or grilled pieces on the sushi bar – like hot mushroom, which is seared in brown butter, that one is one of our top selling pieces; or the grilled short rib. There’s the cool tastings, which are the plated sashimis and then the nigiri, the fish over rice. What are your responsibilities as chef de cuisine? Maintaining the restaurant and the food, operational stuff, and making sure we’re able to open the doors every day. On a day- to-day, it’s making sure our menu is a go. We do a specials tasting every couple of months that our staff can participate in, so we’re keeping the food culture alive. It’s not just about what I want, it’s what the team can collaborate in. It’s fun to see anyone from servers to prep cooks to pastry put something on the menu. When you become a chef de cuisine, it’s more than the food, it’s about building a culture and progressing your team. If you’re not able to do that, the food won’t follow. What’s the process for new menu items? First, of course, is what season we’re in. What’s new, exciting; what haven’t we had on the menu? For the specials tasting, the first part is practicing the dish. You have

17 JULY 2025 to get my stamp of approval before we move on to the tasting. We have “meetings” every other month that the GM, another manager, front of house and back of house employee and regional manager from Texas will attend – like a panel – to taste the dish. The other part is trying to create an omakase [tasting menu] – which we do daily. It’s basically what were excited about that day. It could be a new fish or a dish that we’re unveiling; you’re getting all kinds of different things that crosses the entire menu. How is Uchi unique from other sushi spots? Our ability to draw from the whole team. The cuisine is a f lair and a taste of each person, especially if you look at the specials page. You could get a dish that’s not Japanese in ingredients but it’s Japanese in aesthetics and ethos and quality. There’s other things that we look at that don’t have to be Japanese to make it Uchi. We’re creative with f lavors and combinations that people wouldn’t expect. We have a different approach. Half of the experience is what happens in the dining room, and we want guests to feel like they’re going on a journey. What’s your favorite part of the restaurant industry? I think the reason I’ve stayed in this industry – and stayed at Uchi – is the sense of family. I spend 10 to 12 hours a day here, five days a week. You need to be excited and happy with where you’re at for this to work. It challenges me, but it’s also very rewarding. The most important thing in this industry is the people, because without them you don’t have a restaurant, you don’t have a menu, you don’t have the food. That’s what gets me out of bed every day, is the people I work with. I’m excited to grow with them, it’s rewarding to see them succeed. On the flip side, what’s your least favorite part? When people have certain expectations of what restaurants should be. There are so many out there, of all different calibers and cuisines… over the past four years, there’s been more of a rushed experience in restaurants. ‘I want to get in and out very quickly.’ We want to take guests through the menu and create a special experience, but when you have 200+ guests wanting the same thing, that’s a challenge. I want people to slow down and enjoy their time here. You’re a brand-new dad. What’s it been like balancing work and fatherhood? I feel like I’m sprinting a marathon [ laughs ]. The twins are seven months old now, but it’s wash bottles, fold clothes, make formula, whatever other chores need to be done. There’s not much downtime. Being the head chef, my job doesn’t turn off – things are still happening even when I’m not at the restaurant. I think that’s the biggest challenge. The twins came six weeks early, which threw us for a loop, and we’re so grateful they’re healthy. I’ve got to work on my organizational skills, and I also have an unhealthy habit of ‘let me do it.’ I need to learn how to ask for help. It’s a learning process! Who is your biggest inspiration? A lot of my ideas come to fruition when I’m talking to my wife. We haven’t had the time recently [ laughs ], but she used to throw hypothetical mystery baskets at me, like, ‘what could you make with these ingredients?’ We met at The Padre Hotel; she’s been around food and is really adventurous, which has helped me be more food adventurous. What piece of advice has stuck with you? First week of culinary school the chef said ‘be open minded, especially when it comes to feedback.’ Hang on to what’s important and take the emotions out of it. That’s really helped me succeed and become my own person in the industry. J M Chapman Agency Inc Jay Chapman, Agent Bus: (480) 945-7122 7055 E Thomas Rd Scottsdale, AZ 85251 jchapman@amfam.com American Family Mutual Insurance Company, S.I. & its Operating Companies, 6000 American Parkway, Madison, WI 53783 ©2015 006441 – Rev. 2/20 – 12923221 CALL (480) 945-7122 FOR A NO-OBLIGATION FREE QUOTE. INSURANCE DESIGNED WITH YOU AND YOUR DREAMS IN MIND. J M Chapman Agency Inc Jay Chapman, Agent Bus: (480) 990-8855 7055 E Thomas Rd Scottsdale, AZ 85251 jchapman@amfam.com American Family Mutual Insurance Company, S.I. & its Operating Companies, 6000 American Parkway, Madison, WI 53783 ©2015 006441 – Rev. 2/20 – 12923221 CALL (480) 945-7122 FOR A NO-OBLIGATION FREE QUOTE. INSURANCE DESIGNED WITH YOU AND YOUR DREAMS IN MIND. J M Chapman Agency Inc Jay Chapman, Agent Bus: (480) 945-7122 7055 E Thomas Rd Scottsdale, AZ 85251 jchapman@amfam.com American Family Mutual Insurance Company, S.I. & its Operating Companies, 6000 American Parkway, Madison, WI 53783 ©2015 006441 – Rev. 2/20 – 12923221 CALL (480) 945-7122 FOR A NO-OBLIGATION FREE QUOTE. INSURANCE DESIGNED WITH YOU AND YOUR DREAMS IN MIND. INSURANCE DESIGNED WITH YOU AND YOUR DREAMS IN MIND. CALL (480) 990-8855 FOR A NO-OBLIGATION FREE QUOTE.