Sushi Awards 2009
Seven Sushi Samurai
Taiji MARUYAMA
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Taiji was destined to be a sushi chef. Born into a family that ran a sushi restaurant in Fukushima, in the north east of Japan, as soon as he graduated from high school he set off to Tokyo to start his apprenticeship in Sushi Kappo in the rapidly regenerating Shinagawa district. Training as a sushi chef is notoriously difficult. Taiji, however, showed distinct talent from the very beginning, and by 2001, at just 20, he gained his chef’s license. Even more impressively, in 2002, at 21, he became the youngest person ever to gain the Fugu (poisonous blowfish) Preparation License from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. In 2005, Taiji came to the UK and, as is only becoming for an ambitious and talented young sushi chef, started to work at Nobu Berkeley. Nobu Berkeley received its Michelin star in January 2006, after being open for only five months, and Taiji has very much contributed to the success of this glamorous restaurant, which has rapidly carved out a name for itself as a must-visit on the London restaurant scene.![]() My ambition is to communicate my vision as a chef to the entire world – just as Nobu Matsuhisa has done. I think that it is sushi’s very simplicity that makes it such a versatile and interesting cuisine; and that makes is so difficult to prepare well. A decade has passed since I started to work as a sushi chef, but I’ve still got a lot to ![]()
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Thanks to everyone who wrote in with their ideas for the Eat-Japan site. Click here to see who won!
2009/07/27
Japan Catering Ltd. contact details
2009/08/10
Enjoy the perfect treat for the cold months, created by one of London’s best Japanese chefs. Click for more details.
2010/01/13
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Great Economist special about rice in Japan. Long but worth the read!
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Posted on
January 20 2010 0:14