Taking centrestage

When Tomonori Danzaki was 14, he had asked his father if he could continue the family sumo tradition but he was told that he could not be one as he was too lazy for the regimented life of the ancient Japanese sport. While stewarding in a small eatery in Tokyo in 1981, he became interested in cooking. The owner gave him a catalogue from Tokyo Cookery Academy and he decided to enroll with the school. Today, Danzaki is the executive chef for Singapore’s Joël Robuchon Restaurant.

Perhaps some of the fighting spirit from his family’s sumo tradition did rub off on him after all. In 1986, he found work at Les Anges as a garde manger, after hearing that its chef had returned from a stint in France under a certain Joël Robuchon, who was gaining fame for his French cuisine.

While having a meal at Joël Robuchon’s Jamin on Rue de Longchamp, he met the French maestro himself, who shared with him his plans for opening Chateau Restaurant Taillevent Robuchon in Tokyo. Danzaki expressed his interest in the project, and Robuchon gave him the opportunity, offering him a stint in his new eponymous diner in Paris before putting him in charge of his outpost in the Japanese capital in 1994. And thus began the start of his 16-year and running relationship with the esteemed chef.

Excerpt from the January issue of epicure.