In 2003, restaurateur Joseph De Vito, who had previously opened a burger joint and a classical Italian eatery, was looking to open a new restaurant. He wanted it to be a bit out of the ordinary and was considering Asian fusion. Chef Homaro Cantu, then sous chef at Charlie Trotter's, applied for the job, pitching something really different. "This guy comes in with these little glasses, he looks like an accountant," De Vito recalled, "and started talking about levitating food. I walked away saying, 'Wow, that's a lot to take in.'" Cantu persuaded De Vito to let him cook a meal for De Vito and his wife. The seven-course meal, which featured an exploding ravioli and a small table-top box that cooked fish before the guest's eyes, won De Vito over. The name Moto, meaning "idea," "taste," or "desire" in Japanese, was chosen for the new venture.