This is the second installment on the media event entitled “A Journey to Unravel Tokyo’s Diverse Food and Spirit,” organized by the Tokyo Food Promotion 2024 Executive Committee and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. This week I report on the three chefs who participated in it.
There seems to be something almost magical about the number three. It keeps popping up in various places, and it just feels so appropriate, regardless of the context. Take fairy tales. Somehow Goldilocks and the Five Bears—Mama Bear, Poppa Bear, Baby Bear, and a Couple of Cousins—just doesn’t cut the mustard. Or, if you prefer to go highbrow, how about Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges? How does “2 ½” sound to you? Well, maybe we should consider language, English expressions, for instance. Hop, skip, jump, and—what was that?—lunge? I think not. Okay, okay, maybe in certain cities, which shall remain nameless.
And so it came to pass that there were three chefs present, quite extraordinary ones, as a matter of fact. As Willie the Shake (a.k.a., William Shakespeare) might have put it, each worthy of the title “honorificabilitudinitatibus”: Akihiko Murata, Yahei Suzuki, and Yusuke Nomura. Their respective restaurants all bear at least one Michelin star. The last-mentioned person was billed as the “General Supervisor” and made an appearance at the beginning and at the end of the event. The day’s agenda might be described as follows: Tokyo/Edo’s Gastronomic Past, Its Present, and Its Future, with Chef Murata covering the first segment, Chef Suzuki the second, and Chef Nomura the last.
*Compliments of ‘A Journey to Discover Tokyo’s Heart Through Its Diverse Cuisine’ or 「東京の多彩な食と心を紐解く旅」
Drinking Japan 