Chef Yuichiro Watanabe has been following an elite course all his life. He trained at the Tsuji Culinary Institute in France, at Courchevel and at the two-star Le Chabichou in Saint-Tropez. He then took a position at Le Maestro Paul Bocuse and was appointed chef at the Robuchon Group, but instead of aiming for a higher position, he went to train at other chefs' restaurants and returned to hone his skills, always conscious of the need for rigorous training and improvement. As a result, he has maintained his three Michelin stars for nine consecutive years as executive chef of Joël Robuchon in Tokyo. He is literally a chef who has successfully repaid his mentor.
In 2016, he opened NABENO-ISM, a restaurant in Komagata, a place with a strong Edo (the name of Tokyo until the mid-19th century) atmosphere, with a name that seems to be a complete departure from his previous career. The restaurant is a series of dishes that incorporate Edo food culture and long-established craftsmanship and yet are developed as solid French cuisine, or that brilliantly open up the potential of rare ingredients that are not widely distributed, even though they may be domestic. The wide-range of offerings born out of his constant, rigorous self-improvement, the diversity of his patterns, and the originality of the way they are served are fueling his continuous development.
Since its opening, the restaurant has steadily climbed the ladder from one star to two stars until it reaches the one-star mark in 2024. With ten years of independence in sight, it may be time to get a little lost. Perhaps it is time to start seeing himself as the last one left to face, having honed his skills to a fine degree. In retrospect, this period might play an important role in how he finds the meaning of the very simple phrase ‘Parce que je suis Japonais’ in the philosophy and techniques of French cuisine, which he has continued to thoroughly hone.
