Start me up: Banzaï offers a Japanese food experience focused on savouring the present

Nadia Steiger launched Banzaï in the summer of 2025, a culinary concept that blends homemade, seasonal and convivial food experiences: meal boxes, Japanese cooking workshops, intimate supper clubs and tailor-made catering services. She tells The Bulletin about her background, her inspirations and her ambitions for the culinary business.

“I moved to Brussels when I was eight and grew up in a Swiss-Japanese family where food always held a central place. Cooking and hosting have been my happy place for as long as I can remember: simple, joyful moments where everything comes together — the flavours, the gestures, the people. From an early age, my mother taught me how to prepare the dishes of our culture: crispy tonkatsu, homemade gyoza, comforting hambāgu… Recipes I have never forgotten, and that still inspire my cooking today.

After studying law and management, I worked for two years in the corporate sector, but I felt the need to follow my true passion. Since the age of 15, I had always been drawn to the world of hospitality, a sector where I worked regularly for 10 years. When I returned to Belgium after a one-year trip to Australia, I spent a year training in culinary techniques, bar arts and hospitality management, before finally fine-tuning my project.

Banzaï is a Japanese word that wishes the emperor a prosperous long life. Today, it is a joyful exclamation to celebrate a moment and savour the present. That’s exactly what I aim to share through my cooking: generosity, freshness and a true zest for life. Our Thursday Supper Clubs are designed specifically for people coming solo, who simply want to share a warm and tasty evening and meet new people.

My goal is to establish Banzaï as a reference point in Brussels for modern, seasonal and culturally inspired dining. I want to grow from intimate dinners and workshops hosted out of my apartment to larger collaborations and eventually a dedicated space where food and community can intersect. 

When setting up a business, you quickly realise you can’t be a one-trick pony. Even if the heart of the business is cooking, you also need to handle so many other aspects: creating communication materials, designing menus, selecting the right vendors and checking their sustainability practices, accounting and legal obligations, building a website, maintaining social media, handling logistics and keeping track of customer relations. It’s been a very rich and interesting learning experience, but it is definitely a lot to take on at once.  

The high points are the creativity and joy of seeing people connect through food, as well as the freedom of building something that feels authentic. The low points are the uncertainty and financial pressure of starting up, as well as juggling the many roles required when you’re just one person.

My advice for any budding entrepreneurs is to remain patient and resilient because the beginning is often slow and full of obstacles. Surround yourself with people who encourage you and always keep your focus on why you started in the first place. But most importantly: just do it. Of course, it’s important to prepare a sound business and financial plan, but at some point you need to stop second-guessing yourself. If it’s a true passion project, things have a way of aligning.”  

Banzaï 
Boulevard Louis Schmidt 2B
Etterbeek

If you would like to share your experience setting up a new business in Belgium, send an email to editorial@thebulletin.be