Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy.
The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris.
For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true.
Photo: AFP
However, the joy was short-lived.
He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022.
He was 65.
The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating.
Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down to her husband.
“If Shunei had never received a star, I wouldn’t have been particularly attached to obtaining one myself, but he was proud that his restaurant was recognized,” she told reporters.
“So this star has become very important to me,” she said in her tiny traditional sushiya, which only seats nine.
The Michelin was glowing in its praise, saying a “sensorial journey is guaranteed thanks to the dexterity with which the nigiri are made, the use and working of superb fish and the subtle seasoning.”
However, Chizuko Kimura never set out to be a top chef, only falling into the business when her husband, who had worked in France for decades, decided to open his own restaurant.
“He was already ill at that time, and that’s when I started helping him. I was working as a tour guide and lost my job due to COVID[-19],” she said.
She learned at his side how to cut the fish, cook the rice and how to run the restaurant while caring for him as he grew iller.
“I got better day by day and I still train on my days off. I am always studying,” she said, traveling back to Japan when she can to continue her training there.
After her husband’s passing, Chizuko Kimura took over the reins of the restaurant. She boosted her team by hiring master sushi chef Takeshi Morooka, refined the dining experience by adding tsunamis (small appetizers typically served with sake) to the menu, modified the rice recipe and updated the cooking equipment.
Three years later, Sushi Shunei regained its Michelin star.
“My first goal is to maintain this star,” Chizuko Kimura said, “and to keep it, we must strive to offer even better service and ensure impeccable quality.”
Traditionally, becoming a master sushi chef requires at least a 10-year apprenticeship. Chizuko Kimura got her star in just five.
“If this recognition can inspire or encourage other women, I will be very happy,” she said.
And she is not stopping there.
Her goal now is to surpass her husband’s achievements as a tribute to his work and his memory.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Pegatron Corp (和碩), an iPhone assembler for Apple Inc, is to spend NT$5.64 billion (US$186.82 million) to acquire HTC Corp’s (宏達電) factories in Taoyuan and invest NT$578.57 million in its India subsidiary to expand manufacturing capacity, after its board approved the plans on Wednesday. The Taoyuan factories would expand production of consumer electronics, and communication and computing devices, while the India investment would boost production of communications devices and possibly automotive electronics later, a Pegatron official told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday. Pegatron expects to complete the Taoyuan factory transaction in the third quarter, said the official, who declined to be