Open F2F Class Notes August 30th (Ben)

CHEN

Michelin-starred

an apprentice
strict training

One of his apprentices started making eggpies but only after 10 years of training.

He is in his fifties.
They only choose the finest specialists.

章鱼 octopus
an artisan
a status 地位

The portions vary according to the customer’s gender.
People might think this is very attentioned.

The son will inherit his restaurant and his legacy.
His son will need to be twice as good as his father to be recognized.

评委 a judge
The son is always in his father’s shadow. He needs to work for his own reputation.

Jiro dreams of Sushi

I watched a documentary last weekend, called “Jiro dreams of Sushi” and which is about the story of Jiro, who has made sushi for over 70 years, and his restaurant, the smallest Michelin-starred restaurant in the world. There are only 10 seats in it.
Jiro is called the God of Sushi, and he is also quite famous in China thanks to this documentary.

It talks about a sort of spirit of artisans and the value of work.
Jiro and his apprentices spend their lives only focusing on one thing.

From choosing ingredients to cooking, and even choosing some details, like arranging the seats, the order of the courses and the portion of sushi according to customers’ genders.
The film spent a lot of time talking about how they choose ingredients to show how detailed they are. They only choose top vendors in every aspect. They have established strong relationship with them. They will not buy others’ ingredients if one of the vendors doesn’t have good things. Also, as one rice vendor says, only this restaurant knows how to cook his rice.

The other purpose of this film, I think, is about his son. Although his son’s capability is close to his father‘s, people still say that he is the son of the God of Sushi’, and that he is not as good as his father. Jiro wants to tell everyone that his son has enough capabilities and spirit to inherit his restaurant. He also told the judges the man who made sushi for the Michelin judges was his son in order to persuade people that his soon can inherit his restaurant, and that he is not only the son of the God of Sushi’s, but also himself.