Chef Yusuke Takada knew from a very young age that he wanted to be a chef when he grew up. Today, he is that and more, with his restaurant La Cime achieving a place on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant 2019 list at #14 and in 2018, arriving to the list as the Highest New Entry. He takes inspiration when it comes to him while maintaining tradition and knowing that La Cime is always a work in progress. Ann Hill, Director of Dining at Aspire Lifestyles, was able to learn more.

Aspire Lifestyles：您希望全世界怎样认识您所在国家的美食和您餐厅的美食？

Chef Yusuke Takada: Restaurant La Cime is not a Japanese restaurant, but uses Japanese ingredients to make new style of Japanese cuisine (I think this is a global standard today which we see happening everywhere). I have my own filterable ingredients for my own choice of products, introducing customers in Japan and abroad to combinations they have never experienced or aren’t yet familiar. I would like diners to recognize it as a place where they can have a delicious meal that is also an intuitive expression. It’s layered in with theory and perhaps some unfinished ingredients that might otherwise be difficult to convey. Before delivering to the world, I would like people in Japan experience it first.

AL: Aspire Lifestyles’s CEO Martin Conneen had the honor of presenting you with the Highest New Entry Award at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards in 2018. It’s a very exciting award and to come in at #17 is quite an amazing accomplishment. How did it feel, knowing that you made a place on the list, and that your name wasn’t being called earlier in the ceremony? (We hope that you are smiling as you recall this moment).

YT: The awards were announced in order from the 50th place, but our name wasn’t pronounced correctly. When La Cime was called, I thought it was a mistake. The moment that the trophy was presented and La Cime was announced Highest New Entry Award will remain an unforgettable event for me.

AL: What progress have you seen over the span of your career so far? What would you like to see happen, and how are you becoming part of that evolution?

YT: When I first started cooking, Chef Robuchon was famous but the Internet was not as popular as it is now, so I bought books and studied cooking. While looking at Alain Ducasse’s Gran Livre, I tried replicating great dishes and was inspired to go to France and try to experience something real.
I was able to get a work permit to stay in France for two years, so I trained at several of the best gastronomic restaurants in Paris, and finally worked at Le Meurice under then head chef, Mr. Yannick Alleno. It was the period that I was able to think about the chef I wanted to become, having experience from the best.

At the same time Nordic cuisine was getting attention, especially the presence of Noma, a style which shocked me considerably. It was a valuable experience in which you could see the real-time moment when restaurant standards suddenly shifted. But I also learned that this style cannot be done by one person. I think that tastes change quickly and now everything is different from the past. I would like to continue to create my own cuisine in light of the times, keeping tradition while being original. I can’t say much because I am still on my way, but I have been able to create something appealing that Japanese chefs have never done before. I think that is good. I am honored if it is part of an evolution.

AL: The late Jean-Claude Vrinat, the owner of restaurant Taillevent in Paris, was known for his impeccable and gracious sense of hospitality. What did you take away from your experience there, both from a hospitality and cooking perspective?

YT: On my first day of work at Taillevent, I was waiting at the back door and remember Mr. Vrinat saying “bienvenue” (welcome). I didn’t work there for long but I was lucky to have been able to experience that historic location.

AL: Speaking of France, we read that you wanted to become a chef of French cuisine from a young age. How was your experience living in Paris and what surprised you the most?

YT: I wrote in my elementary school graduation letter that I wanted to become a chef when I grew up. Although I wasn’t in Paris for culinary school, (he was at the Tsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka) during my time in Paris I was dedicated to studying French and spending time with French people on days off to absorb the culture because I was aiming to work in a three-star restaurant in France. I went to the homes of my co-workers, went out drinking and went foraging for truffles and mushrooms. I bought a baguette and relaxed in the park.

AL：你教给烹饪和给厨房团队施加压力的烹饪最重要的价值是什么？

YT: To be Interesting and caring.

AL: The esthetic of La Cime is very minimalist. How does it contribute to the dining experience?

YT: It wasn’t that way in the beginning. My style has evolved the more I have experienced. Sometimes there is a boom of inspiration, so instead of being conscious and simple, it is a natural flow of expression.

AL：您最难忘的美食目的地（城市/国家）是什么，为什么？

YT: There are various discoveries and development in Asia in recent years. I haven’t had enough time so I haven’t visited as many as I’d like, but I’m interested in China.

AL：你想在一个休闲，私密的环境中做什么音乐家或乐队来聊天，吃饭，或者听一些他们的音乐？

YT: Alicia keys

AL：有一天晚上，你可以带五位厨师（现在或过去）在世界上任何一家餐馆吃饭。你带哪些厨师和你带哪些（除了你自己的餐厅）？为什么那些厨师和为什么那家餐馆？

YT: Having BBQ with:

• Alain Chapel
• Pierre Gagnaire
• Ferran Adria
• Rene Redzepi
• Alain Passard

We would go to Amami Oshima Isalnd the largest island in the Satsunan island chain that runs between Kyushu and Okinawa that belongs to Kagoshima Prefecture. We would enjoy the local foods at a local restaurant made by a grandmother and have a Q&A session with them.

AL: How has your placement on The Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list changed your life?

YT: Asia’s 50 Best was an opportunity for broader awareness of the whole of Asia. After winning the prize, guests from all over Asia came to visit. I think that the exchange with fellow chefs has also expanded the scope.