The congratulatory bouquets were arrayed in profusion outside the entrance to Sincere last month, marking its opening in the quiet residential backstreets north of Harajuku. Sometimes those auspicious flowers — sent by well-wishers at the start of any new venture — can seem like mere ritual gestures of support. But here they represented a true celebration: the return of chef Shinsuke Ishii.
After a year in the wilderness he is back in action, and it has been a long and frustrating wait for him. At the beginning of 2015, he was in charge of the kitchen at one of Tokyo’s most popular — and hardest to book — French restaurants, the brilliant little Bacar. But following its sudden closure in March 2015 (due to its owner’s ill health), Ishii was in limbo. Now he has a restaurant and a kitchen to call his own. And what a great location he has found.
More on the Japan Times website here: http://jtim.es/sI4d300oTKS
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