Updated 28 January 2020 at 15:04 IST
Japanese chef Kei Kobayashi makes Michelin history, wins 3 stars in France
Chef Kei Kobayashi became the first Japanese chef to win three Michelin stars in France on Monday. He was the biggest winner of the night and thanked France.
- World News
- 3 min read
Chef Kei Kobayashi became the first Japanese chef to win three Michelin stars in France on Monday. He was the biggest winner of the night which also witnessed Kazuyuki Tanaka and Yasunari winning two stars each for their respective restaurants Reims and sushi and crossover cuisine at L'Abysee au Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris.
'Thank You, France'
After accepting his award, he thanked France for the honour. In his speech, he also said that there are a lot of Japanese chefs in France now before thanking the European nation for acceptance. Only some 130 restaurants worldwide hold the prestigious guide's highest distinction.
Speaking about his victory, Kobayashi said that over a period of time, Japanese chefs have earned their place in the top table of french cuisine, international media reported. He further added that his perfectionism made him a difficult and hard person to work with adding that he asks a lot of work from his team. Elaborating further he said that he does not like his cooking to be classified either as Japanese or French. “Just the best” he added.
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Last year, Keigo Kimura at the Asperule in Dijon and Takafumi Kikuchi at La Sommeliere in Lyon won their first stars for helping to re-define and re-invent French cuisine. In 2019, Argentinian Mauro Colagreco became the first chef of foreign origin working in France to get three Michelin stars for his restaurant Mirazur.
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Nine years ago, Kobayashi opened his restaurant Kei in central Paris after which he received a lot of praise from diners for his dishes such as sea bass cooked on its scales and smoked salmon with roquette mousse with tomato vinaigrette with lemon emulsion. Critics hailed him for his precision in cooking and the way he made relatively simple dishes like gnocchi truffle bellota and ham and parmesan cheese extraordinary.
Kobayashi is the son of a chef who worked in the traditional Japanese multicuisine Kaiseki restaurant. After watching a documentary 'nouvelle cuisine pioneer Alain chapel', he had a realisation that he should dedicate his services to french cuisine. In 1998, he moved to France after training in French restaurants in Japan. He worked under the legendary chef Gilles Goujon at the Auberge du Vieux Puits on the Swiss border and Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athenee in Paris before going out on his own.
Published By : Riya Baibhawi
Published On: 28 January 2020 at 15:04 IST