On July 18th I was at the Madison Square Park for the Celebrating Madison Square Chefs 2018 event. I donate my time every year to help raise money to maintain the park. There were 29 of the best restaurants in the neighborhood. The event was great. The weather was not.
The winds of change blew through the mass of curls on my head as I trotted up the couple of stairs that lead to the glass front doors of the Whitney...
I spent two weeks in Cancun working with Antonio Bachour on a new book in partnership with Palace Resorts. It was such a culture shock watching the Mexican workers. They are extremely hard working, very fast and seemingly always smiling – all for $4.00 a day. They couldn’t believe that my rent is $160.00 a day. The commissary was constantly being cleaned and a lot of hand work.
Chef Sōta Atsumi is a Japanese chef who has been working in Paris for the last twelve years. Sōta started his French experience studying in Lyon at the Estoffier school. There he earned the trust of Chef Troigros, who gave Sōta the chance to do a stage at his restaurant which was a wonderful six month experience.
Sōta then moved to Paris and the restaurant Stellas Maris, near the Champs Élysées, where he studied the basics of French gastronomy under Chef Yoshino for four years. After having spent one year at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Chef Nakayama contacted Sōta to become Sous-Chef of his restaurant Toyo.
