FOOD | A WORLD WITHOUT BOUNDARIES

I found out that I wanted to be a chef when I was three years old,” says Takagi Kazuo, guest chef from Kyoryuri Takagi, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant for five consecutive years in the city of Ashiya between Osaka and Kobe. On a rare occasion, I have a chance to sit down with him and have a chat at Mandarin Oriental’s signature restaurant, Vida Rica.
Born to a culinary family, with his mother being an instructor at a cooking school and his grandfather a chef, Takagi set his goal to be a Japanese chef from an early age. He received rigorous training on traditional kaiseki-style cooking when he worked at Kyoyamato in Kyoto, and was later promoted to Sous Chef at only 29 years old, making him one of the most promising stars on Japan’s culinary scene. In 2005, he opened his own restaurant, Kyoryuri Takagi, which has won two Michelin stars consecutively since 2010, when the first Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Nara version of the Michelin Guide was published. Takagi also opened a bento shop, Nichi Nichi, and a hot pot restaurant, Kozithu, in 2012, with the latter having earned one Michelin star consecutively since 2013. Following his achievements, Takagi has been constantly invited as guest chef to top restaurants in the world’s major food capitals such as Paris, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and others, to showcase his acclaimed culinary style.
“What cuisine do you enjoy cooking the most? French or Japanese? Or fusion?” I ask.
“I don’t think we should categorize dishes so rigorously as to which cuisine it belongs to. Personally, I believe in using the best ingredients to make dishes that will please the customers. Dishes should taste good and it should create an incredible experience for guests. That’s all that matters. I don’t like to have boundaries,” he explains.
Indeed, Chef Takagi Kazuo is one of those rare Michelin-starred Japanese chefs who could speak very good English. His language skill is one of the reason why he feels he has the responsibly to promote Japanese culture and Japanese cuisine, because other chefs might not communicate as well as he does with foreigners.
Showcasing his special French-inspired Japanese creations at Vida Rica, Chef Takagi Kazuo treats diners to a tasteful journey with his signature dishes such as spider crab with Sturia caviar and shiso flower and Wagyu beef fillet with foie gras kinome dengaku.
Egg yolk is an ingredient that is widely used in his dishes, because Chef Takagi Kazuo indicates that it brings out the flavor of other ingredients. On top of that, using a clear broth in his work as a basis gives a delicate twist to his menu. While some of the dishes resemble that of the Japanese cuisine, others are more French. After all, I agree with Chef Takagi Kazuo that the world of creation should have no boundaries. Who cares if it’s French or Japanese when a dish taste this good