WILLIAMS SONOMA LAUNCHES NEW COLLABORATION WITH IRON CHEF MASAHARU MORIMOTO

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WILLIAMS SONOMA LAUNCHES NEW COLLABORATION WITH IRON CHEF MASAHARU MORIMOTO

2025-02-19 22:00 Last Updated At：22:20

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 19, 2025--

Williams Sonoma, portfolio brand of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM), the world’s largest digital-first, design-led and sustainable home retailer announced today, the launch of a new food collaboration with Michelin-starred restaurateur, author, TV personality and Iron Chef, Masaharu Morimoto. Known for his distinctive fusion-style creations, bridging Japanese flavors with the American palate, Chef Morimoto partnered with Williams Sonoma to create a collection of sauces and ramen bases that are meticulously crafted using the finest ingredients that elevate everyday meals with bold-Asian-fusion flavors.

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“Whether you’re a seasoned chef or just starting your culinary journey, The Morimoto Collection for Williams Sonoma will bring bold flavors and authentic techniques to your kitchen,” said Williams Sonoma President, Felix Carbullido. “We are honored to bring Chef Morimoto’s world-class culinary expertise to our customers, empowering them to explore new flavors and elevate their home dining experience.”

"I am thrilled to be partnering with Williams Sonoma, blending the authentic taste of Japanese cuisine with the simplicity of everyday cooking,” said Chef Morimoto. "Together, we've created the Morimoto Collection, which reflects my passion for blending accessible cuisine with the unique flavors of Japanese cooking. My hope is that these sauces and ramen bases will inspire both new and experienced cooks to discover the joy of cooking with bold, authentic flavors.”

The Morimoto Collection for Williams Sonoma is crafted to bring the authentic flavors of Japan into the home kitchen and uses the same ingredients featured at Chef Morimoto’s celebrated restaurants located around the world. The collection includes:

To celebrate the launch of this new collaboration, all Williams Sonoma stores will be sampling the Morimoto Collection for Williams Sonoma on Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22.

For more information about the Morimoto Collection for Williams Sonoma, please visit: www.williams-sonoma.com/morimoto.

ABOUT WILLIAMS SONOMA

Since its founding by Chuck Williams in 1956, the Williams Sonoma brand has been bringing people together around food. A member of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM) portfolio of brands, Williams Sonoma is a leading specialty retailer of high-quality products for the kitchen and home, providing world-class service and an engaging customer experience. Products include cookware, cooks’ tools, cutlery, electrics, bakeware, food, tabletop and bar, outdoor, cookbooks, as well as furniture, lighting and decorative accessories. Each store offers cooking classes and tastings conducted by expert culinary staff. A comprehensive gift registry program for weddings and other special events is available in stores and online. On williams-sonoma.com, customers can find recipes, tips, and techniques that help them create delicious meals. Williams Sonoma can also be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. Williams Sonoma is also part of The Key Rewards, a free-to-join loyalty program that offers members exclusive benefits across the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. family of brands.

ABOUT MORIMOTO

Chef Masaharu Morimoto — known to millions as the star of Iron Chef and Iron Chef America and now exetive producer and head judge for Roku’s Sushi Master — has garnered critical and popular acclaim for his seamless integration of Western and Japanese ingredients. In 2001, Chef Morimoto opened his first restaurant in Philadelphia, which was later followed by restaurants in New York, Napa, Honolulu, Boca Raton, Mumbai, Mexico City, Tokyo, and Maui. Morimoto Asia Orlando at Disney Springs opened in 2015, followed by Momosan NYC and Morimoto Las Vegas at MGM Grand in 2016. Morimoto Asia Waikiki, Momosan Waikiki, and Morimoto Doha opened in 2018. Next came Momosan Seattle (2019), Momosan Wynwood (2020), Morimoto Taghazout Bay (2021), Sa’Moto (2021), Momosan at Hub Hall in Boston (2021), Morimoto Asia Napa and Momosan Santana Row (2022), Morimoto Bordeaux, Morimoto Jakarta and Morimoto by Sea aboard Holland America Line’s Nieu Amsterdam (2023), and most recently Mori Mori, bringing Chef Morimoto’s global restaurant count to 24. His first cookbook, Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking (2007), won two IACP awards (in the “Chef’s and Restaurants'' category and the “First Book: The Julia Child Award"), and it was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award. His second cookbook, Mastering The Art of Japanese Cooking (2017), introduces readers to the healthy, flavorful, surprisingly simple dishes favored by Japanese home cooks. Follow Chef Morimoto via Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or www.ironchefmorimoto.com.

WSM-PR

Strike by New Jersey Transit train engineers leaves some 350,000 commuters in the lurch

2025-05-16 22:06 Last Updated At：22:10

New Jersey Transit train engineers went on strike, leaving train terminals quiet for Friday's rush hour and an estimated 350,000 commuters in New Jersey and New York City to seek other means to reach their destinations or consider staying home.

Groups of picketers gathered in front of transit headquarters in Newark and at the Hoboken Terminal, carrying signs that said “Locomotive Engineers on Strike” and “NJ Transit: Millions for Penthouse Views Nothing for Train Crews.”

Friday’s rail commute into New York from New Jersey is typically the lightest of the week. In New York, some commuters from New Jersey said they could not work remotely and had to come in, taking busses to the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan.

David Milosevich, a fashion and advertising casting director, was on his way to a photo shoot in Brooklyn. At 1 a.m. he checked his phone and saw the strike was on.

“I left home very early because of it,” he said, grabbing the bus in Montclair, New Jersey, and arriving in Manhattan at 7 a.m. “I think a lot of people don’t come in on Fridays since COVID. I don’t know what’s going to happen Monday.”

The walkout comes after the latest round of negotiations on Thursday didn’t produce an agreement. It is the state’s first transit strike in more than 40 years and comes a month after union members overwhelmingly rejected a labor agreement with management.

“We presented them the last proposal; they rejected it and walked away with two hours left on the clock,” said Tom Haas, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri described the situation as a “pause in the conversations.”

“I certainly expect to pick back up these conversations as soon as possible,” he said late Thursday during a joint news conference with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

Murphy and Kolluri planned a Friday morning news conference.

BLET National President Mark Wallace walked the picket line outside New York City's Penn Station, and he said the engineers are committed to staying on strike until they get a fair deal. Union members were nearly unanimous in authorizing a strike last summer, and 87% of them rejected the latest agreement.

Wallace said NJ Transit needs to pay engineers a wage that’s comparable to Amtrak and Long Island Railroad because engineers are leaving for jobs on those other railroads for better pay,

The next talks are scheduled for Sunday with the help of federal mediators. The parties met Monday with a federal mediation board in Washington, and a mediator was present during Thursday’s talks.

Many people were concerned not only with their morning commute but making sure they had a way to get home.

“When I come back home to New Jersey what do I do?” nurse Pam Watkins, of Edison, asked an NJ Transit customer service helper on her way to work on Brooklyn on Friday morning.

The worker helped her punch through a touch screen that would help her use her commuter ticket for the bus back.

“I don’t want to be figuring it out on my way home,” she said.

Some riders who were unaware of the strike learned what had happened as they waited at transit stations early Friday for trains that would not be coming. Others sought help to get to their destinations.

“How do I get to Newark (Liberty Airport)?” entrepreneur Vishal Gonday, with a large red suitcase in tow, asked a reporter after trying to get a train ticket at an automated terminal. “It has kind of messed up my plans” he said, adding he was trying to get a flight to India.

Some passengers reported a smooth commute and were planning on trying to make it to New York on Monday even if the strike continues.

“I may have to leave home an hour early.” said Zach Moran, an operations worker at a wealth management company in Manhattan who alternates commutes by bus and rail but can work remotely if necessary.

A few blocks from the Port Authority bus terminal, the NJ Transit train terminal was quiet, with an NJ transit worker in an orange hoody on hand to warn riders it was closed, Signs read: “service suspended.”

The South Amboy train station, an express stop on the NJ Transit rail line, was vacant. But the Waterway ferry that began service only 18 months ago from a waterside launching point that’s a 10-minute walk from the train station was busier than usual for its 6:40 a.m., 55-minute nonstop trip to Manhattan.

The ferry runs once an hour during the morning and evening commutes. With about three dozen people aboard, more than half the seats in the ferry’s lower deck were empty.

Murphy said it was important to “reach a final deal that is both fair to employees and at the same time affordable to New Jersey’s commuters and taxpayers.”

The announcement came after 15 hours of nonstop contract talks, according to the union.

NJ Transit — the nation’s third-largest transit system — operates buses and rail in the state, providing nearly 1 million weekday trips, including into New York City. The walkout halts all NJ Transit commuter trains, which provide heavily used public transit routes between Penn Station on one side of the Hudson River and communities in northern New Jersey on the other, as well as the Newark airport, which has grappled with unrelated delays of its own recently.

The agency had announced contingency plans in recent days, saying it planned to increase bus service, but warned riders that the buses would only add “very limited” capacity to existing New York commuter bus routes in close proximity to rail stations and would not start running until Monday.

Amid uncertainty ahead of the strike, the transit agency canceled train and bus service for Shakira concerts Thursday and Friday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Associated Press reporters Cedar Attanasio and Larry Neumeister in New York, Hallie Golden in Seattle and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.