Saturday May 26, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Japanese farmer is French chefs' secret

Food Dec. 10, 2011 - 06:59AM JST ( 9 )

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Produce from Asafumi Yamashita's Japanese vegetable farm near Paris is a prized commodity among the capital's top chefs

Farmer Asafumi Yamashita recently struck two Paris hotels off his customer list after chefs failed to meet his standards

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9 Comments

1

Dara DanhDec. 10, 2011 - 08:34AM JST

And they say Top Chefs can be picky... this farmers chooses and even Fires his client for not working up to his standards!
2

kiss1969Dec. 10, 2011 - 11:01AM JST

Good for him! I love it and I love his attitude! There aint no second prize...
1

Ranger_Miffy2Dec. 11, 2011 - 06:51AM JST

So esoteric! Really interesting article. Yamashita has found a charmed life in France.
-1

RaichuLovDec. 11, 2011 - 01:05PM JST

Wow...it'd be an honor to be his client then! Wow! And here I thought veggies couldn't get more expensive!
-2

akashingoDec. 11, 2011 - 03:28PM JST

I am sure his veggies are fantastic! I am also sure his life is nothing but work and he has no time to actually enjoy the profits of selling expensive vegetables., so I don't envy him.
3

CosDec. 11, 2011 - 04:13PM JST

his life is nothing but work

Oh, let's cry... You think he'd prefer playing golf all days ? He already did golf for a job. Here in Japan and there in France, fine gardening is the fav' hobby of millions of people. He has many people's dream job. And others don't matter, he seems passionated about what he does. That's a nice life.
2

unreconstructedDec. 11, 2011 - 06:42PM JST

Great article. I go to my local supermarket in Japan though and despair at the relative lack of variety in the vegetables.And the prices, ugh, still can't get over them after all these years here.

“At first I sold my vegetables to Paris’ Japanese restaurants, but I found their standards weren’t high enough,” he said. “You know, if a Japanese chef leaves Japan, it means his career has been a failure.”

That's a bit harsh.
1

seaforte03Dec. 11, 2011 - 09:09PM JST

In case you guys are interested, there are mail-order farmer's coops around Tokyo where you can buy first fruits and farmer's picks of the crops, albeit at higher prices - but hey - organic, FRESH, and utterly amazing. Once you've tried reputable coop produce, you'll NEVER go back (and leaving Japan will be extraordinarily painful). Lettuce is as juicy as a ripe watermelon, crunchy as a freshly picked apple. Fruit and juices always sweet, never sour, never bitter, never dry. You pre-order based on their seasonal crops and they deliver pretty much on-schedule in refrigerated (dry iced) styrofoam containers (which they want back - very green you see).

A VAST difference from the animal fodder at most grocery stores.
0

DewaashitaDec. 14, 2011 - 03:27PM JST

Does he have a website from which we could order, perhaps?