Today's Notables

Last year for three days from November 4-6, 2010, the World of Flavors, the premier food education event, was held at one of the world's most prestigious culinary schools, the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) Greystone Campus located in Napa Valley, California. Rewinding the clock about 2 years, the CIA expressed an interest in "Japan" be the theme for the 2010 event. With the leadership of Mr. Chikaraishi, from Thomas & Chikaraishi, a group was formed to support the event from the Japan side. As you may know, I graduated from the CIA, New York Campus in 1987. Since my graduation, I have continued my involvement in the alumni association and maintain connections with the school through work. Since Japan accepted the responsibility for this event, as a representative of the CIA Alumni Club of Japan, I joined the group to form a planning committee.

The conference, officially named "Worlds of Flavor International Conference and Festival", has gained such notoriety that is actually influences trends in the food industry in the United States. Up to now, the topic of the conference has involved "street food" from Asia and the Mediterranean region. Japan was the second country after Spain to be selected, highlighting both the country and the culture. One of the reasons Japan was selected this year, was the tremendous interest in, and popularity of Japanese cuisine. In fact, to call this phenomenon a trend would be an understatement. Sushi and tofu are now common offerings at most local supermarkets, and with a huge variety of menu offerings to choose from, Japanese food has become commonplace in the American food scene. Overseas, about 30,000 restaurants claim to serve "Japanese cuisine," but of those, slightly less than 10% or 3,000 are actually operated by Japanese people. Given this background, the CIA, the world's leading culinary educational institution, chose to highlight Japan to disperse any misconceptions about Japanese food and to shed light on the true qualities of genuine Japanese cuisine, which may be lost despite the level of popularity.

The planning committee in Japan began preparations about 2 years prior to the event. During this time, we recruited food manufacturers and corporations to sponsor the event, and selected the top chefs who supported the event's core message. The planning committee consisted of Mr. Hattori of Hattori Ecole de Cuisine et Nutrition, and Mr. Tsuji of Tsuji Culinary School, but we were also honored to have Mr. Murata from Kikunoi, Mr. Tokuoka from Kyoto Kitcho (3 stars by Michelin) from the Japanese cuisine side, and Chef Mikuni who was the chef for the Summit.

Participation and involvement in this event was completely voluntary, but through the efforts of the staff and each of the committee members, we were able to get the support of top chefs from each area and gain their involvement. In the various genres of cuisine, udon, ramen, okonomiyaki, yakitori, Edo-mae sushi, Osaka sushi, kushiage, sukiyaki, tempura, other local dishes, kaiseki ryori, and wagashi, a total of 39 chefs met in Napa Valley for demonstrations and to make samples for tasting. Despite being in the middle of peak season for kaiseki in November, Japan was able to put together 11 chefs from top class restaurants in Kyoto to represent the cuisine of Japan.