Keizo Shimamoto never imagined he would become a ramen chef. Nor did he imagine he would become a major player in the American ramen scene.
When the second-generation Japanese American began his blog, , in 2007, he simply saw himself as a ramen eater. He started the blog to document his adventures slurping noodles around his native Southern California ¡ª and occasional trips to Tokyo ¡ª through the lens of an amateur.
¡°I didn¡¯t see myself as a food critic,¡± he says via Zoom. ¡°People would ask me, ¡®What¡¯s the goal of the blog? Do you want to become a chef?¡¯ And I¡¯d say, ¡®No, I just want to eat ramen.¡¯¡±
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