chef

INTERVIEWS

Small place, large vision – You will find something spectacular even in small spaces

July 02 2016

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   Chiu Yin Mei (Hong Kong) Catering Chef, Food and Beverage Public Relations Expert July 1 – It’s the day of Hong Kong’s reversion to China, which took place in 1997. We would like to introduce you today to a Hong Kong Food and Beverage Public Relations Expert and a Catering Chef who has all along been working as a bridge between Hong Kong and Japan food related industry – Ms. Chiu Yin Mei. Yin was introduced by Ms. Tomoko Komatsuzaki to us, who promotes Japanese food related items to Asian

INTERVIEWS

Indian cuisine possesses much potential. So I cannot understand why some people don’t want to teach how to cook it.

November 21 2010

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Savari Muthu (India) Indian cuisine chef/instructor (He’s been in Japan since ’94) My Eyes Tokyo brings you interviews with teachers of “Niki’s Kitchen“. It’s a cooking school in which foreigners teach their homeland dishes to Japanese people. The 1st interviewee is Savari Muthu, a managing chef of an Indian restaurant chain called “Muthu“. He owns three restaurants in Tokyo and Chiba. He says on Niki’s homepage; “You may associate India with Hinduism, but I’m a Christian. Therefore I can cook anything including beef, pork and chicken.” We got interested in a Christian

INTERVIEWS

I didn’t want to close my business because I’d worked hard for 20 years to have my own restaurant.

December 28 2009

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   MD Humayun (Bangladesh) Managing chef of a Bangladeshi restaurant (He’s been in Japan since ’87) Have you enjoyed a great New Year’s vacation? My Eyes Tokyo wishes you and your families the best during the year 2010. We bring you the first interview in this year with a guy from Bangladesh. He is MD Humayun, who is managing a Bangladeshi restaurant in Tokyo. Humayun has been living in Tokyo for more than 20 years and he speaks Japanese very fluently. He doesn’t uncap his toque blanche even at lunchtime. He

INTERVIEWS

I felt Japan was better than I expected. But everything is more expensive than I expected.

December 16 2009

Interviewed by Chinatsu Suzuki Written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Dilnath Sapkota (Nepal) Indian restaurant manager (He’s been in Japan since 2008) This is the first interview with a guy from Nepal, a landlocked country which is surrounded by two big powers, China and India. Dilnath Sapkota is a chef at an Indian restaurant in Chiba, east of the Tokyo Megalopolis. He is running a shop with his younger brother. Sapkota has been in Japan for only a year and he is still struggling with the Japanese language. But his smile soothes his customers. His smile leaps over any language

INTERVIEWS

You can’t clap with one hand, so I need others help. I want to expand our business with good people.

September 05 2009

Interviewed & Written by Isao Tokuhashi & Chinatsu Suzuki Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Selami Kucuk (Turkey) Kebab stall co-owner (He’s been in Japan since 2003) We introduce you to a Turkish guy who runs a kebab stall in Chiba, a suburb area of Tokyo. His name is Selami Kucuk and his background is unique. He used to be a professional soccer player in his country! Turkey is one of the world-class soccer powers and it placed third in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. But now a former professional soccer player is making doner kebab everyday in Japan, outside Tokyo. Do you want to

INTERVIEWS

I have to scare even yakuzas in this town in order to survive.

August 25 2009

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Iyad Mansour (Palestine) Managing chef of a Palestinian restautant (He’s been in Japan since 1997) Nishi-kawaguchi – It is located near the river which forms a boundary between Tokyo and outskirts. We introduce you to Iyad Mansour, who’s been running his own Palestinian restaurant in that town. He is a “man in a million” guy. His heart is direct and pure so he hates anything crooked. But he is not only stubborn but also mischievous. He holds belly dance shows on Fridays and Saturdays at his restaurant. He starts dancing

INTERVIEWS

I needed to bottle up my emotions in order to get one step ahead. Otherwise a foreigner couldn’t have run a noodle shop here.

August 12 2008

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Belouazani Lakhdar (Algeria) Shopkeeper of a buckwheat noodle shop (He’s been in Japan since ’88) Belouazani Lakhdar is an Algerian buckwheat (soba) noodle chef. He’s been making soba noodles for 16 years in the area called Musashi-kosugi, a town which has been changing dramatically. It’s striking that his shop, Kabura-an, is located in a local shopping area that’s kind of closed, not opened to foreigners. How has a foreigner been taking pride in working as a soba chef in a closed community? How has he integrated in the local society? *Interview