Mineko Kato's patisserie offers a 360-degree experience. As a pastry chef at Faro in Tokyo, she was recently awarded the title of Best Asian Pastry Chef by The World’s 50 Best. Her sweet form of activism speaks of sustainability, depopulation, and climate change.
The story
Pastry is not just about sugar, fruit, and cocoa. This is exemplified by the success of Mineko Kato, pastry chef at Faro in Tokyo, who pursues her poetic commitment without compromising the aesthetic and taste pleasures of her creations.
Daughter of Japanese diplomats, Mineko spent her childhood in the United Kingdom, Thailand, and Italy. She attended university in Italy and began her career as an assistant art director for Vogue Italia. However, fashion wasn't enough for her. She preferred the world of sweets, which she explored and deepened her knowledge of at prestigious establishments like Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia, Enoteca Pinchiorri, Il Marchesino, Mandarin Oriental, and Osteria Francescana, where she trained for two crucial years. "The reason I work the way I do today comes from Massimo Bottura. From him, I learned that food can transcend goodness, beauty, and interest. For me, it’s not just fashion, but much more: culture and philosophy, our roots and our future. Through food, we choose the future. It’s like voting in an election."
When she finally felt the desire to return to Japan, offers from Michelin-starred restaurants were plentiful. "However, I was looking for a place where I could feel comfortable, design, and create my desserts. I need to feel free. But if the chef is too important, the pastry chef has to follow. When I arrived, Faro didn’t have a Michelin star, so I felt complete freedom of expression. It was the ideal stage to launch the challenge of entirely plant-based desserts."
It was 2018, and the restaurant was already shifting towards plant-based cuisine, with entirely vegan courses. This was the ideal setting for Mineko’s pastry, a treasure chest of pleasure, taste, and color, containing precious messages and a deep knowledge of applied phytotherapy. According to The World’s 50 Best, the sensation is like immersing oneself in the lushness of rural Japan, right in the heart of Tokyo, with a cascade of herbs and flowers often sourced from elderly farmers scattered across the archipelago.
These extraordinary ingredients remind guests of how the disappearance of a generation risks taking with it a wealth of traditions and sustainable practices, leading to depopulation and contributing to climate change. The rice featured in another iconic dessert, aptly named "The Future of Rice," comes from agriculture that is exceptionally attentive to environmental needs, highlighting the damage caused by industrial production.
Even in the only non-vegan dessert, the cream comes from a highly selective pasture-raised farm, excluding any waste that would compromise the beauty of the result. Mineko is certain: "Chefs and pastry chefs play a unique role in gastronomy. We are innovators and can create a positive trend in the food system by making influential choices and helping society progress."
