About Koj

Koj is a chef, teacher, food writer and judge who specialises in Japanese food and drink. After reaching the final of MasterChef, he undertook a fast-track training programme in Michelin-starred kitchens across the UK and Europe. As a private chef, he has cooked for The Queen, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Eddie Redmayne and many other celebrities. His restaurant won awards and critical acclaim with its pioneering approach to Japanese dining. His first book “No Sushi” was published in 2020.

Awards and credentials

Finalist, MasterChef 2012

Finalist, Kikkoman Masters 2018

Michelin Guide 2019 and 2020

The Good Food Guide 2018, 2019 and 2020

Harden’s 2018, 2019 and 2020

Best Restaurant, Cheltenham BID Awards 2018

Best Newcomer, Cotswold Life Food & Drink Awards 2018

Judge of the Great Taste Awards

Biography

Andrew Kojima (better known as Koj) is a British-Japanese chef, teacher and author based in the Cotswolds. His mother taught him to cook from a young age and he first became seduced by the idea of becoming a chef after reading Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential in 2001. However, after graduating from Oxford University with a degree in Classics, he jumped onto the corporate treadmill and spent the first ten years of his career in finance, eventually developing the skills to be an investment research analyst.

In 2012, he reached the pinnacle of amateur cooking competitions, in the final of BBC1’s MasterChef. From there, he seized the opportunity to turn his passion into his profession, and undertook a fast-track training programme in the kitchens of Michelin-star chefs such as Michel Roux Jr, Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal, Brett Graham and Sergio Herman.

After moving out of London in 2013, he continued his professional development, working with Guy Manning at The Red Lion and and Martin Burge at Whatley Manor. Learning discipline and techniques from top restaurants such as these, he began work as a freelance private chef, using his own imagination, flair and creativity to create bespoke menus for private and corporate clients, which have included HM The Queen, Andrew Lloyd Webber, AP McCoy and Eddie Redmayne.

He built a reputation as an expert in Japanese cookery by becoming a guest chef instructor at leading cookery schools around the UK and by cooking Japanese for the public via pop up nights at art galleries, pubs and restaurants.

Observing that there was less demand for sushi outside London, he hosted a two week "No Sushi" pop up at a restaurant in Cirencester in 2015. He then found a site in Cheltenham to run an extended "No Sushi" popup with a menu of skewers and izakaya-style dishes. Encouraged by the response, he launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign which raised £54k to fit a Japanese-style open kitchen, refurbish the dining room and install a cocktail bar.

Jay Rayner published a review in The Observer a month after opening, which soon led to a mention in The Week. Within its first year, the restaurant was listed in The Good Food Guide, Harden's and The Trencherman's Guide. The following year, the restaurant won Best Restaurant in the Cheltenham BID Awards, Best Newcomer in the Cotswold Life Food & Drink Awards and joined the prestigious roster of the UK’s Best Restaurants in the Michelin Guide.

He made an early but prescient call to close the restaurant in 2020, and now promotes Japanese food in partnership with brands and organisations such as The Japanese Embassy in London. As a chef, cookery teacher and food writer, Koj entertains audiences with his personality and passion as much as his cooking.

He has appeared on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and BT Sport and has written for BBC Good Food, Crumbs, Cotswold Life, Spears and The Cotswold Gentleman.

His first book “No Sushi” was published in 2020 by A Way With Media.