What is the background of the Chef of the Year 2022?

Ryôdô Kajiwara: I was born in Saitama, Japan, in the Tokyo region. I was trained in a hotel school, in a special course right after high school, and then I started working in Tokyo when I was 18. First in a Mediterranean restaurant, then in a kaiseki and sushi restaurant called Ginza. While I was taking French lessons, I met my future wife Nina, and at the age of 24 I moved with her to Luxembourg, where she had already worked. It was a good thing: I was eager to learn about European cuisine and to confront myself with it! Here, I have worked in the kitchens of Léa Linster, Le Sud and Le Fin Gourmand, but also and above all in those of Restaurant Clairefontaine and Mosconi, where I stayed for about four years each.

Then you felt like opening your own establishment?

Yes, especially after I won second prize at the Mougins hopefuls competition in 2016. The idea started to take shape, but it finally took time and patience because it was in March 2020, a few weeks before the first lockdown, that we opened the Ryôdô restaurant in Luxembourg. We found the premises by word of mouth, in the capital, but in a quiet and more accessible area, which suited us perfectly. But the work took longer than expected, so we had to face this pandemic closure head on. But we continued to work hard and it seems to be paying off today... I’m very happy, with the 24 covers we have and the Japanese orientation I finally decided to take, which wasn’t necessarily the case at the start of the project.

This Gault&Millau 2022 Chef of the Year award confirms you in your approach? How do you feel about it?

Absolutely, I am more than ever in agreement with the very personal interpretation of Japanese gastronomy that I propose in my restaurant. I feel very proud to receive this award, not only for myself, but also for my family, who are an unfailing supporter, and my great team. It was really a surprise. I even said to my wife Nina 'no need to come at the beginning, meet me later'!

I would also like to say a big thank you to the chefs Arnaud Magnier and Ilario Mosconi, with whom I have kept a great relationship of trust and without whom I would not be talking to you about this prize... Finally, I would also like to address the young people--because I see the difficulties that everyone is experiencing at the moment in finding good collaborators: the restaurant business is difficult, yes, but it is not all about sacrifice, far from it... There is always customer satisfaction, peer recognition and a lot of good times to be had when you work hard.

Speaking of hard work, what products do you want to offer your customers in the coming weeks?

When I moved to Europe, I was very keen to take on challenges with products that are typical of this country and that you don’t necessarily find--if at all--in Japan. This is the case, for example, with game, which I love. In particular venison, which will undoubtedly be on the next menu. I also love working with offal, which is very popular in Japan, as with the sweetbreads in tempura and yakiniku sauce that I proposed a short while ago. I am still sometimes intrigued by local meats and vegetables, but I like to continue to discover the local terroirs. And then there will be white truffles too.

You like collaborative dinners, who would you like to cook with next?

First of all, six hands with Ilario Mosconi and Arnaud Magnier, without hesitation. Then with the 3-star chef Christian Bau, from Victor’s Fine Dining, who blew me away just a few days ago.

Ryôdô: 27, rue Raymond Poincaré, Luxembourg (Hollerich/Belair), T. 27 76 92 85

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This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.