Our Team.
Welcome to chefs' island, Cafe île.
"You are what you eat"
We promise to provide the food you eat with love and sincerity.
Introducing our family members of Cafe île! Click on the photos below to see the chefs' bio & food philosophy.
Paul Nam has been working as a Sushi Chef for 23 years in the Philadelphia and Washington, DC areas. He focuses on providing a truly authentic Sushi taste with a unique style all his own along with his customized service to every guest. Chef Nam is always challenging himself to create new menus and in offering a uniquely stylish way of serving Sushi. He demonstrates theses different aspects through his roles in the kitchen, creating authentic and fusion style Asian food, not specifically centered around a sushi menu. He has a gift in handling Korean/Japa-nese cuisine due to his Asian roots! He is well qualified throughout many years of experience as the Chief Chef at ‘Rolls n Rice’ in Rockville, MD. He has proved himself in conducting sushi bar operations, in being interactive with chefs in the kitchen, as a hall manager and in communicating to the staff the customers’ orders and so fulfilling them speedily.
Jinny Kim is a co-founder and media director for Cafe île and also a documentary film producer/director. Why is she here in the café île, among the chefs? She answers people's questions. "First, I love food and people. Many things changed after the pandemic, I see. After two years of being untact, I missed communicating closely with people, sharing food and joy. I want to serve food with sincerity. Second, I want to create a restaurant that practices love. Jesus said to love others as you love yourself. I want to practice love not only for the customers who visit café île, but also for the people I work with. I believe that when the working environment overflows with joy, food full of love and sincerity is made, and such food should be served to guests. Third, I want to create a profit structure where everyone can make money, not just the owner. Material is important. The moment you think that the substance that came to you is yours, you may become greedy. I want to share, I want to contribute at least my pie to good causes." She is currently producing a serial food show in which the Chef (as a host) visits a selected applicant who has a desire to learn how to cook a specific menu. This cooking show establishes a new perspective and puts a twist on the common theme of a studio cooking program. The idea of the show is to listen to each applicant’s story as their menu is being introduced, and then proceed to teach each applicant (and the viewing audience) how to prepare the items on that menu in each episode. Our chefs at cafe ile are the host of this show and it will fit with the theme that we pursue to produce and develop new ideas and present those ideas on documentary film for the public’s use; this her ultimate goal!
Young Kim is the executive chef. Literally, it is the chef that corresponds to the head in cafe ile. Head. In other words, it is a pivotal role corresponding to the cornerstone. All he thinks about is food. He is a chef who contemplates the menu throughout the entire day and observes the facial expressions and reactions the moment the guests taste. He is a chef who always listens to and accepts the opinions of others without relying solely on his experience and judgment as a chef. After the dish is delivered to the guest table, he never forgets to check with the server how the guest feels about it. The walk; that he decided to learn sushi and entered holding a knife at the age of 20. Since he became head chef with his skills at a young age, he must have had a lot of emotional conflicts with other older staff. Maybe that's why he is taciturn. Not only does he have few words, he limits facial expressions. He is a thoughtful man who is not light-minded. When asked who was the teacher who influenced him the most, "YouTube." he replied. What is your food philosophy? To the question, "If it's delicious, it's good!" he answered. He is a very simple and self-motivated person. When asked about his family, he spoke immediately. "My wife is wise. I became a real person after meeting her." Having a lovely daughter and son, he is also a wonderful father who fulfills his responsibilities and duties as a head of household. Despite Valentine's Day, February 14, being his daughter's birthday, he had never been able to spend time with his family. Because Valentine's Day is the busiest day for restaurants, he didn't take a day off. As such, he is a person who thoroughly distinguishes between public and private affairs. Young Kim. He has also demonstrated his skills as a chef at Nobu Washington DC and Sushi Nakazawa.