Andrea Fazzari

This book profiling young master chefs from Japan is a betwixt and between kind of thing. Ms Fazzari's access to and personal acquaintance with the people she profiles is admirable, but the profiles are too short and, in my mind, give us too little. I am reminded, a bit, of Aleksandra Crapanzano's "The London Cookbook" which is a quick guide to the 100 or so hottest restaurants and chefs in London in 2016. Ms Crapanzano's tone is more informal and fun, and London is well known for its exciting food scene. I contrast "Tokyo New Wave" also with "Relæ: A Book of Ideas", one of my favorite profile books in recent years, also from Ten Speed. Relæ is a book-length exploration of one restaurant and its creator. That kind of depth is not Ms Fazzari's purpose, but she might have gathered some writing tips from author and chef Christian Puglisi.

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Ms Fazzari's profiles are rather like sketches from the culture section of a weekend newspaper. There isn't much about the training of the chefs and their rise in their profession. If they trained overseas there is little discussion of why they returned to Japan to work. The short summaries of personal philosophies hardly helps us to understand how personalized food theory is translated into a restaurant experience, and the recipes presented with each vignette are too short and disconnected from the text. (The link between text and application is the strength of Relæ.)

I can't imagine how the book would be relevant. I almost never stop over in Japan and even if I do I would be hosted by someone or some company who will host me, so I don't need this book. Independent short-stay visitors and tourists will choose restaurants based on their itinerary, prior research on the intended stopovers, and whether they can get a reservation, so they don't need this book. Serious food hunters will use in-depth research and personal introductions to make their choices, not this little book. So who's it for?

I received a review copy of "Tokyo New Wave: 31 Chefs Defining Japan's Next Generation, with Recipes" by Andrea Fazzari (Ten Speed) through NetGalley.com.… (mer)