The 16th Edition MICHELIN Guide dedicated to Tokyo rewards two Italian establishments: Massimo Bottura's Gucci Osteria with 1 Star and AlCeppo Trattoria with a Bib Gourmand.
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Japan is no ordinary country when it comes to Michelin, which has dedicated a landmark guide to Tokyo for the past 16 years, making it the world's most MICHELIN-Starred city, never ceasing to surprise inspectors. "Once again, its culinary scene has been enriched by a diverse range of categories and concepts," states Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Guide.
"With 55 new restaurants awarded Two Stars, One Star or Bib Gourmand in our selection, this edition perfectly reflects the city's dynamism and its chefs' pursuit of excellence. As a global cosmopolitan megacity, Tokyo is also known for its cultural openness and contrasts between cuisines, traditions elbow to elbow with innovative concepts, and ancestral skills blended with modern, international know-how."
Shower of stars on the land of the Rising Sun: the guide includes a total of 422 restaurants, including 200 starred and 220 Bib Gourmands. But sixteen of the single stars and a pair of Two-Stars are new, a figure that rises to 38 for the Bib Gourmands. Particularly striking is the exploit of Myojaku, a restaurant that collected two stars with one single shot.
Myojaku
It was opened in April 2022 by Hidetoshi Nakamura, a chef capable of sublimating Japan's most exclusive ingredients, including local water, with a special focus on sustainability when selecting them. The other Two-Starred restaurant is Sézanne, where chef Daniel Calvert puts his international career to good use by interweaving techniques and influences with eclecticism, as evidenced by a signature that won over the inspectors, a drowned chicken inspired by the Chinese drunken chicken recipe but prepared with a Japanese bird and Vin Jaune del Jura. They join Tokyo's two-star roster of 37 other establishments.
Udatsu sushi-@Kisa Toyoshima
Among the single stars, with the number rising to 149, there is a most exciting variety of styles and proposals, ranging from creative cuisine to Japanese tradition, from sushi, also innovative, to international schools, where Gucci Osteria by Massimo Bottura stands out, with Antonio Iacoviello at the helm and his contamination of Italian concepts, techniques and local products.
@Gabriele Stabile
But Italy also pops up among the new Bib Gourmands thanks to AlCeppo, with its pan-Italian proposal emphasizing seasonal vegetables. There is no news, instead, among the twelve 3-Star and twelve Green stars, which remain unchanged from last year.
AlCeppo
