¡°Why did I leave Japan? I guess it¡¯s because I had nothing to do back home,¡± says Paris-based chef Sota Atsumi as he takes a coffee break from prepping scallops for his dinner guests. ¡°I didn¡¯t study much, so enrolling in a university was not an option. I wanted to be a professional snowboarder but I gave up due to an injury.¡±
Atsumi, recently described by food critics as one of a recent surge of ¡°rebellious French chefs,¡± took the recommendation of one of his high school teachers to go to France to be a chef.
¡°I didn¡¯t necessarily aspire to be one, but always found cooking entertaining,¡± he says, adding that one of his earliest childhood memories is his grandmother¡¯s simple home cooked dishes, like curry rice. ¡°It¡¯s not like I was obsessed with France either.¡±
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