Coffee With E

Cooking with Chef Sachiko: Smoked Salmon Latkes & Life After Wolfgang Puck

• Erica Rawls

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From Wolfgang Puck’s Oscar kitchens to the heart of Central PA, Chef Sachiko Baez brings passion, culture, and flavor to every plate. In this episode of Coffee with E, we step into the kitchen with Chef Sachiko to cook her signature smoked salmon latkes and uncover her inspiring journey.

Chef Sachiko, co-owner of Coda Rouge, has cooked for Hollywood’s biggest events, trained under Wolfgang Puck, and now pours her talent into creating authentic, fresh, made-to-order meals right here in our community. She also shares how mentorship fuels her purpose, giving young chefs the opportunity to learn, grow, and believe in their dreams.

Whether you love food, leadership, or stories of perseverance, this conversation will leave you inspired and hungry for both inspiration and flavor.

☕ In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

  • How Chef Sachiko creates her famous smoked salmon latkes
  • What it was like working under Wolfgang Puck at the Oscars and Grammys
  • How her Japanese heritage and grandmother shaped her culinary roots
  • The challenges and victories of being a minority female chef
  • Why mentorship is central to her mission of uplifting the next generation
  • How Coda Rouge brings farm-to-fresh dining to Central PA

📍 Visit Coda Rouge: 2013 North 6th Street, Harrisburg, PA | Open 8am-2pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat-Sun

Follow their journey: Coda Rouge on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

⸻

🔗 Sponsored by:

TOCH Construction • Allstate Insurance – Rob Shaw

Chavis Law Firm • Dirty Dog Hauling

💼 Powered by The Erica Rawls Team

#CoffeeWithE #ChefSachiko #CookingWithSachiko #CodaRouge #SmokedSalmonLatkes #WolfgangPuck #WomenInLeadership #MinorityChefs #FoodInspiration #FarmToTable #CookingShow #CulinaryJourney #YouthEmpowerment #FoodCulture #JapaneseCooking



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Erica Rawls:

Okay, y'all. So this is a special edition of Coffee with E. I have the privilege of actually cooking with an amazing chef in the central Kia area. I don't even know how many people know about her and her talent and the business that her and her co-owner run, but we're going to actually prepare something today, sashi.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

Okay, yes, yes, hi, good morning. I'm Tiafsachiko. We're going to make smoked salmon latkes today, which is one of our popular dishes here at Cotaroo's.

Erica Rawls:

Let's get into it. So I never did this before. I always see people do it, so I'm excited just to let's get into it. So I never did this before. I always see people do it, so I'm excited, just to let's get to it.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

Yes, I like to do things as authentic as I can. Okay, the potato latke part is very authentic and it comes from the Jewish culture, so it's shredded potato with shredded white onion and egg yolk, seasoned with salt and pepper, and then we're gonna actually cook it almost like hash browns. I've never had hash browns before, so we'll.

Erica Rawls:

Actually I don't want to embarrass her y'all here we go.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

It's through there. Okay, yeah, so we'll make this in here. We actually cook it down so it can be crispy. It's almost like frying it on both sides to give it a little crispness, but the inside is still soft. Okay, it's seasoned. They usually eat this with like applesauce or sour cream, and they do smoked salmon as well.

Erica Rawls:

Okay, it does look like a hash brown.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

Yeah, we do this to order. So when order comes through, yeah, we cook it to order, we do this to order. Oh really, yeah, we cook it to order. I cook everything to order, that's what.

Erica Rawls:

I love about this place Everything tastes so fresh, Like you can tell it's made to order. Unlike other people, they pre-planned their meals on how many people may want it.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

That's right. I love that about y'all. Thank you, this is the finished product, so we lay the base on the plate, and now your job is going to come in. So what you're going to do? And you can use gloves as well. Yes, well, you can.

Erica Rawls:

Someone's going to eat this dress. You're just going to spread this.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

This is a dill, cream cheese Dill, sour cream and fresh dill. You're going to spread that over top. What's that? Big hands, those are going to be good, seriously Hilarious, but I might have a bigger size.

Erica Rawls:

No, we're good Dirty Dog Hauling. Thank you so much for your sponsorship. If you're looking for a junk removal company, they are the go-to company. Whether you have a small job or a large job and even excavation, you want to check them out. They are reasonable and also timely and effective Dirty Dog Hauling. Now back to the show.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

Yeah, and you just want to. It's really easy, it's very spreadable. You just want to spread? How am I? Okay, yeah, a nice, nice thin layer. Yeah, that looks good.

Erica Rawls:

Looks good. Yeah, now y'all may not know this, but she's a really good chef. Like she is, I like to say she's renowned.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

Oh to my. Oh, stop it. I know those, but you weren't. She worked under her. No, but you worked under her. I did. I went to only five stars. Yes, I worked under whooping pup. Yeah, you're almost 20 years. I was pretty much my whole upbringing was whooping puck. Since I was 19 yeah, I was 19, since I was 19.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

Right out of culinary I went to culinary school in atlanta. Actually, I thought I was getting away. I was raised in California and I went there to the Cordon Bleu and I came back to LA. They wanted me, they asked me to come back to LA and I did my internship with Wilking Puck and then I stayed. What was that experience? Because you see him on TV now. He's like rawr. Yeah, he's awesome. He, he's awesome. He's actually really humble, he's amazing. I learned the most Really. Yeah, I learned the most from him. I learned a lot from. My grandmother Was Japanese, so I learned a lot of Japanese home cooking from my grandmother, yeah, and then the love of cooking came from her. And then from there, yeah, culinary school, whifting Puck. I did so much with Whifting Puck. We did the Oscar Awards, the Grammy Awards, the Emmy Awards.

Erica Rawls:

Yeah.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

So what was that experience like? Was it like hustle, bustle, a lot of hustle, yeah, and initially we I worked for their catering company, which I did the Oscar Awards, I hosted movie premieres and it was. It was very interesting because it's very different than a restaurant setting. Yeah, there's a lot of hustle, there's a lot of people involved. You know you have your prep person, you have your dishwashers, you have the ones who set it up, the chefs who delegate. So it was definitely a lot, a great, great experience, wow. And then going into his restaurants, yeah, and learning that side of things, but it was a whole different, um experience wow, okay, he does a lot of farm to fresh.

Erica Rawls:

Because we can talk forever, we're going to continue to talk about a little bit about this food.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

Yeah, so I get a lot of the fresh from from wolfgang puck. So fresh herbs, fresh vegetables uh, we get this from the farmer market Actually here. Oh, really, yeah On camera. So you're gonna do two slices of tomatoes over top, so I just place them on there, yes, okay, anyway, I want it to look pretty like you do.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

Yeah, yeah, anyway, okay, it's kind of next to each other, yes, and then we're gonna put this smoked salmon, thinly sliced smoked salmon, okay, and you're going to layer it just like this, just cascade it across, cascade it Like a blanket, if you think about it.

Erica Rawls:

Like this, a blanket, yeah, as you're covering the creme fraiche, I had to take two seconds to thank Allstate Insurance for sponsoring this episode. If you're looking for car life or casualty insurance, they're going to be your ultimate insurance company. Thank you, rob Shaw. With Allstate Insurance Y'all, I'm kind of thinking pretty like this.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

Am I doing it? Good, I think I'm getting hungry. I'm a natural. Yes, you're definitely a natural. Okay, yeah.

Erica Rawls:

Wow, and you know what? They're generous with their portions too, y'all. That's another thing, right?

Chef Sachiko Baez:

So my husband and I, we came here about three weeks ago and he's like Erica, we're coming back, we're definitely going to come back, is that good? Yeah, that looks great. Okay, now these are your garnishes. So you just have a little bit of sliced red onion, okay, a little bit of capers, and you just, sporadically, I put about five or six around each one. Yeah, because these are strong, so you don't need a lot.

Erica Rawls:

Yeah, they get salty okay, oh wait, did I mess it up?

Chef Sachiko Baez:

no, here, let me see, I like organic, it's the perfect. No worries, you can do the same thing with the red onion. Yeah, you're having fun. I got around to see that. And then, okay, we have avocado. Oh lord, okay. So now this part. I think I have it cut already, and we actually peel the avocado down where this one is a little soft.

Erica Rawls:

Oh, so you cut it in fours. Yeah, okay, hold on. This is the trick.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

You have to cut these in four, and I like to keep it on the seed. It helps it not turn. This one is pretty ripe. You just slice it and then you kind of gently smash it and it kind of makes a fan and then that goes right on top like that. Nice, okay, then you can garnish with some dill and then squeeze a little lemon on top.

Erica Rawls:

Squeeze the lemon like you see on the TV shows, they go like this Yep, bam, that works.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

You take a little deal spread it around.

Erica Rawls:

So I know a lot of young people that want to get into becoming a chef. So what would you say would be their first step? Do you have a mentorship program where people can learn to decide whether or not it's something they want to do?

Chef Sachiko Baez:

That's something I want to get into. I kind of want to get into. I do I kind of one-on-one mentor. Okay, now, I wouldn't call it a program in itself, but, um, I do have some. I've had, um, a couple of interns come through. I've had my, my cook symphony that you meant earlier, she went to. She just graduated DC Tech in the culinary program, so she's one of my, my mentees. I've been, she's been with me for about what are you 18 now? So I met her when she was around 14. It's a good color, yeah, and she's been helping me cook throughout. We do pop-up dinners as well and that's a more refined like fine dining. Yeah, five course meal, um, she'll help with that. Just, you know we get plating together. Learn how to cook.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

So private is just dinners so someone can call you up and say Not necessarily private, it's open to the public, but it's for that, okay, like the dates that I use. That's why I call it a pop-up. It's not every Friday, I know, like once a month or every other month a month or every other month, right, but it's live music, five chorus dinner, um, and it's very elevated, very refined. I theme it so you should come to that next time, next time that.

Erica Rawls:

But do you offer private chef dinners, like if someone called you say, hey, sashi, yeah, I have this private chef dinner for a couple people.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

Do you mind catering? Definitely. One thing that I want to do in here actually, because we have this nice marble and seats is do like a VIP thing in here where they can watch us cook and you know you serve them. Yeah, that'd be so great.

Erica Rawls:

I had to take two seconds to interrupt this episode. I would like to thank one of our most recent guests, attorney Jenny Chavis, for sponsoring this show. Chavis Law Firm is an elite law firm in central Pennsylvania that helps with estate planning as well as understanding what type of business entity you should enter into when starting your business. If you're looking for a great attorney that understands estate planning as well as business entity how to start the right way, you want to check out attorney Chavis Chavis Law Firm. Now Back to the show. So I love your story because I don't know what the statistics are. How many minorities actually out there being chefs at a high level like you, right? And the fact that you're a female it just makes it that much more like I don't know. Just great, it's just a great feeling to see you doing the darn thing. So to give hope to you know, other young women that want to become a chef, right, and do it.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

They definitely can do it. It's definitely challenging. I won't not going to sugarcoat it at all. It was. I think now the culinary world is a lot more gentle, you know, it's a lot more acceptive of diversity. I guess, and and back, when I was kind of coming up and trying to be these things, it was not that, it was almost the opposite, it was very, very militant, really a very militant. Um, I even had a chef that they were like you're not gonna work for Wiccan Cut, like, because that was my like in my head. I was like I'm going to the Oscars, that was my dream. But and I told this chef and he was black, black man, and he's like they're not hiring your black ASS, not happening, and I'm like, like, but I did it anyway. I ate you, though I did. You don't want to show I am one of those. Yeah, let me, let me do what I can't do. Yeah, yeah. And there is definitely.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

You have to be strong mentally and physically and emotionally Just to even just be in a room by yourself, like you're the only person that looks like you, whether it's a female, or your ethnicity, or being a male, you know. Either way, you know being somewhere where it's only you're the only one and you're trying to kind of get ahead and they might have an opinion of you already kind of proving them wrong kind of thing. So you just kind of have to get your head right Right, focus on your goal, focus on your whatever your end goal is, your dream, and just continue, just show up every day, that is, keep going. I always tell like I tell um, symphony, just small goals, just small goals each day, and then you'll achieve your big goal. At the end of it. You know like you dream too big and you're like stressing out I'm not there.

Erica Rawls:

You know sometimes that that that fires on you yeah, it's good to stop and take inventory of where you went or where you came from. Yeah, so it gives you the motivation to keep going on. So, yeah, this is so great. Okay, so can we try it? Yeah, it's good. Yeah, but I want to show you how good it is. Does my eyes roll up in my head? What's going to to happen here?

Chef Sachiko Baez:

I like changing this. I've done like a toast. I'm trying to not do a traditional bagel, so something different. Yes, so this is smoked salmon. What's the name of the meal? Smoked salmon laka.

Erica Rawls:

Hey, I need to take two seconds to interrupt this wonderful show that you're watching. I run a real estate business and the way we fund this podcast is through that business, the Erica Ross team. I would love it if you would just give us one opportunity to service your real estate needs, whether you are in central PA or around the entire world. Think of us first, so we can help you. Now back to the show. So we can help you. Now back to the show. Mmm, that is really good. Mmm, you know Fresh. Yeah, we have two foodies on our production team. Okay, that need to try this. Yeah, definitely.

Erica Rawls:

I think, they will love this.

Chef Sachiko Baez:

Love this. Yes, thank you, thank you for being here so good.

Erica Rawls:

Hey y'all, if you're looking to become a chef, right. If you want a mentor, someone to give you some ideas, it's not going to be easy, she said right, but it is simple if you take the right steps. This is the girl right here. She's been a place host. Yes, thank you so much, thank you, thank you.

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