Tokyo restaurants monopolize the top spot!

The award ceremony for "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants" (hereinafter referred to as "Asia's Best 50") was held again this year. It is an Asian competition for restaurant rankings that rivals the Michelin Guide, and is a glamorous event that is sometimes referred to as the ``Academy of Food.'' This time, the event will be held in Seoul, South Korea, for the first time since the event began in 2013. The award ceremony was streamed live on official SNS and YouTube, and the various compliments and opinions regarding the 50 most outstanding houses have continued to buzz on SNS ever since.

This time, we focused on highlighting points that can be considered from the results. There may be some parts that are too personal. However, since this is the ``Academy of Food Awards'', I hope that the author, who has watched this award in the past, will give you a new perspective on the restaurant industry.

Please see below for the list from 1st to 50th place. We will also include a list from 51st to 100th at the end of this article. I hope you will use it as a reference for your research.

The results up to 50th place are as shown in the list. Please note that these results do not simply reflect taste or ability. ``Asia's Best 50'' and its parent ``World's Best 50'' are, without fear of misunderstanding, rankings based on popularity. It is similar to the Michelin Guide and Gault & Millau in that the judges are anonymous "voters." However, the number of stores selected is limited to 50, and voters can only vote for stores they have actually visited within the past year and a half. The voting criteria covers not only the cuisine, but also the chef's ability to communicate, influence on society, expressiveness, and originality. Compared to other competitions that are based on absolute evaluations, one of the characteristics of the ``Best 1'' is that it is a relative evaluation and it is impossible to predict what will happen a year from now.

Well, the first thing that stands out about this "Top 50" is that Tokyo restaurants took first and second place. ``Sézanne'', which took first place, first appeared in 1 at 2th place, and last year came in 1nd place. Although he achieved this feat in just two years, 2022-year-old British chef Daniel Calvert is a hard worker who honed his skills at numerous star-rated restaurants, starting in London, then moving to New York, Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. is. The fact that he has continued to create high-quality, appealing cuisine in numerous cities has now become an overwhelming force and widely acclaimed. Chef Hiroyasu Kawate, who heads 17nd place Florilege, moved his restaurant from Gaienmae to Azabudai last fall. I think it was a challenging time for him as a chef, but instead of taking a break during the holidays, he traveled all over the world and continued to convey the charm of his restaurant both inside and outside the restaurant. It may have been for a reason that he was selected for the Chef's Choice Award last year, an award that was voted on by his peers.

Furthermore, Takanori Nakamura, chairman of the Japan region, says that the impact of the weak yen and inbound tourists learning about the capabilities of Japanese restaurants is still high, and the same is likely to apply to voters. In short, there were a lot of people who visited Japan.

Point 1 The nationalities of chefs are diversifying, and the era is entering a new phase.

Five years ago, Parisian chef Kei Kobayashi became the first Asian to receive three stars in the French version of the Michelin Guide. In this year's "Asia's Best 5", British chef Daniel Calvert took first place in Asia and also took first place on the Japanese team, which I feel is a symbol of the current times. The number of restaurants in Japan is by far the highest in the world, and the number of successful foreign chefs has also increased. However, there are still many closed-minded areas; for example, I have yet to meet a foreign chef who runs a star-rated Japanese restaurant or sushi restaurant.

In the "Asia's Best 50" awards, there is a sense of nationalism as the number of ranked restaurants in each country and the top restaurants in each country are announced, but it is still difficult to see that all the chefs at the ranked restaurants in that country are of the same nationality. Not so much. For example, the famous Bangkok chef Gagan Anand is Indian, but he is now the face of Thailand's food and beverage industry. Singapore and Hong Kong are the best examples, where chefs of different nationalities skillfully combine their own identities with the regional characteristics of the countries where they have restaurants to develop new creations.

Therefore, if you try to maintain an attitude of valuing uniquely Japanese cuisine made by Japanese people, you may not be successful in this award. I think it is necessary to create a unique story that encompasses the origins of the chef and the region where the restaurant is located. The same goes for the supporters of food and the media.

Point 2: Places where big food trends are born

``Asia's Best 50'' and ``World's Best 50'' have created a number of big trends in the past. In the era when Spain's famous restaurant ``Elbri'' rose to prominence, foodies from all over the world flourished in molecular cuisine and Basque cuisine. With the appearance of ``Noma,'' Scandinavian gastronomy suddenly became mainstream, and recently, with the success of Peruvian ``Central'' and other restaurants, South American cuisine has gone from being a street food to a fine dining experience.

If so, what about the future? The answer will be revealed in the related events held before the awards. "#50 Best Talks" is an exhibition in which media from various countries participate, and this time's theme is "FOOD OF THE PEOPLE." Opinion-leader chefs from various Asian countries took to the stage to talk about their memorable local food teachings and flavors, and how they interpret and utilize them in their dishes. What is interesting is that each Asian country has its own unique fermented foods and traditions. It was a moment where I felt a sense of sharing the deliciousness and respecting differences at the same time, and it made me realize once again that the pursuit of locality is the key to sublimating cuisine.

Point 3: There are opportunities after the host country

"Asia's Best 50" has been held in various cities. Singapore, Macau, Bangkok. It has been held twice in Japan in the past, in Tokyo and Yokohama, but sadly, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, chefs and media from other countries did not visit.

Whether it's ``Asia's Top 50'' or ``World's Top 50'', the host city will have a considerable advantage afterwards. This is because during the event, restaurant professionals, journalists, and foodies flock from all over the world, and of course there are also many voters who have the right to vote in next year's rankings. Even during their short stay, they boldly attack popular stores. They are foodies who don't shy away from having two courses a day for lunch and dinner. Therefore, up-and-coming restaurants in the host city will have significantly more opportunities next year than those in other countries.

This is clearly reflected in the results this time, with last year's host team, Singapore, making great strides. The same goes for previous venues such as Hong Kong (Macau) and Bangkok. It is difficult to host a country without a somewhat mature restaurant culture and number of restaurants, but it is well worth it. This year's Seoul event is the first to be held, but it already has more than enough potential, and the rankings from next year onwards are attracting a lot of attention.

Point 4: Advancement of young and female chefs

The phrase ``generational change'' makes me feel a little nervous, but looking at this year's ``Asia's Best 50,'' there is no generational change. On the contrary, they are merging, and the boundaries between genders are becoming lower. If you picture the faces of chefs while looking at the list of 50, you can say that their balance has improved considerably over the years, ranging from early 30s to late 50s (estimated). Chef Daniel Calvert of Sézanne, who currently won first place, is 1 years old. His career as a chef has probably not even reached the halfway point yet. The adjective ``authoritative'' does not suit the ``Top 37,'' and diversity is a quality.

In this regard, the person who deserves attention this time is Chef Mineko Kato of Faro in Tokyo, who won the ``Asia's Best Pastry Chef Award.'' She moved to Italy at the age of 16, and after graduating from a local university, she became the editor of "Vogue Italia", but then she became a pastry chef. During her time in Italy, she worked at the famous restaurant ``Osteria Francescana'', which was ranked at the top of ``World's Best 50'', and the Bvlgari Hotel, but she returned to Japan in 2018 and became the chef pastry chef at ``Faro''. He took office. Although she is a serious craftsman who cannot be called a socialite, she is impressed by the fact that Asian voters did not miss her presence.

Point 5: Aiming for a sustainable food and beverage industry

Recently, when I look at the social media posts of chefs and sommeliers, I notice how many people are complaining that they are looking for staff. Occasionally, things that would have been unthinkable before, such as closures due to staff shortages, occur. There are still many voices lamenting the cancellation of guests without notice and expressing concern about the industry's inability to escape from the black market. However, when we look at the restaurant situation overseas, the situation appears to be different. The shortage of human resources seems to be a common problem in developed countries, but it does not seem to be as severe as in Japan.

Japan is a food and beverage giant, but although there are a large number of restaurants, it seems that there are overwhelmingly many small, high-end restaurants and restaurants that are difficult to reserve. I think the way the industry works is fundamentally different. During this interview, I encountered companies that support ranking restaurants and investors who support specific chefs. In short, there are many initiatives to support chefs so that they can flourish as creators, and this allows young working people to focus on learning. Nowadays, "sustainable" has become a common recognition in the food and beverage industry. In addition to the enormous work of creating a menu, working in the kitchen, attracting customers, increasing profitability, and making the space attractive, you also have to pay attention to food loss, work style reform, carbon neutrality, etc. , that's an impossible story. I feel like the Japanese food and beverage industry these days is making its own industry less and less sustainable, even as it cries out for sustainable food. I believe that finding a breakthrough will also contribute to the Japanese economy.

``Asia's Best 50'' may seem like a glamorous party event when viewed from the outside. However, if you look deeper, you will get a sense of the different visions that people in the food and beverage industry in each country live by. I think anyone working in the food and beverage industry should definitely take part, and by ranking in, you'll be able to open new doors. The time has come for us, the people who eat food, to also look at the world and understand it.