Chef Fumio Kondo of Tempura Kondo won the Mentor Chef Award for the 2024 MICHELIN Guide Tokyo.
The Mentor Chef Award is awarded to chefs whose work and career serve as a role model for others. The award honours chefs who devote themselves to training the next generation, serve with passion as guides for others, or contribute to the advancement of the restaurant industry.
Kondo has worked in kitchens for over half a century and is a true pioneer who established the modern form of tempura. He proactively makes his recipes public for the sake of younger generations who will shoulder the future and he is an advocate for information sharing. He has been praised as an exemplary chef who frequently visits markets and production areas.
As he expresses his thanks with modesty, saying ‘Even now, I’d only give myself an 80% score for my work, but I’m very grateful for this award,’ a warm round of applause fills the ceremony venue. His motto is ‘the spirit of dreams.’ It means working to achieve your dreams and treating other people with the greatest respect. It was a moment in which it was lovely to see Kondo, who truly embodies this motto, receive an award that so wonderfully sums up his career.
RELATED : Fumio Kondo, Owner-Chef of Two-starred Tempura Kondo, and his Tempura Journey
How do you feel about winning the Mentor Chef Award?
It has been my dream for many years to promote tempura all over the world. It would be wonderful if young chefs cooking tempura are encouraged by this award. I haven’t attended a ceremony like this in a while, and I could really feel the changing of the guard of the participants. I also enjoyed talking with the other chefs. And some of my customers were even kind enough to say that they felt happy for me, as though their own family member had won an award.
What do you think about when teaching the next generation?
Customers reveal how they truly feel about a restaurant in the moment right after they leave. Even if they say their meal is delicious while eating, that may only be polite flattery. So, it’s important to always do your best. The way tempura is handled before frying is very important. It’s easy to get sloppy when you’re busy and in a rush to finish quickly. I warn my staff members about times like those. I tell them to stay calm and keep a clear head no matter the situation, and to think of the customer’s happiness as the most important thing.
What have you done to help develop the tempura industry?
In the old days, people only thought of tempura as a type of fried food and would say that it doesn’t require any skill. I went through a great deal of trial and error in an effort to change this stereotype. I made the batter thinner and brought out the flavour of each variety of tempura, and I started using western vegetables such as asparagus. I had in mind reaching new customers, even those from abroad, and getting them to enjoy tempura. I make my recipes public because I want more people to enjoy tempura and I want to help develop future generations of chefs. Tempura is now well established as a genre of cuisine. Delicious food has the power to cross national boundaries. I am truly thrilled to also have many customers who have come from overseas.
You often go out to visit production areas and markets. Why is that?
I don’t make tempura to gain the approval of food critics. I want to deliver authenticity to customers and younger generations. It’s important for chefs to see and experience good ingredients and to be able to discern them. Because this isn’t a simple world where 1 + 1 = 2, going to where ingredients are produced, sharpening your senses and accumulating experience is essential. Treating producers as equals and not just worrying about profit also improves mutual understanding with them. Relationships based on trust are a strength of Tempura Kondo.Could you tell us about a memorable episode with Shotaro Ikenami?
One time, a customer was kind enough to say, “You make tempura in a unique way. You’ll be well-known in the future.” I found it odd because I’d just started working as the head chef at Hilltop Hotel at the time. Only later when I was introduced to Mr. Ikenami through the media did I realise to my great surprise that he had been that customer. Vegetable-based tempura with thin batter was not trendy at the time, but he was kind enough to accept my new ideas.
And finally, could you talk about your future aspirations?
I would like for more people to appreciate tempura. That idea of mine hasn’t changed from the start. I have a responsibility to do work worthy of the recognition I’ve received. Perhaps I continue doing this work with tempura so as to address that I still need to improve. I want to protect traditions while also being flexible enough to take on new challenges. In other words, I have a role in being a bridge to the future. I’m still in the process of creating fertile ground for younger generations. And fortunately, I’m still physically able to do that. I want to continue working, without ever forgetting my sense of gratitude, until I feel that I’ve reached my limits. I still have further to go before the stage curtains close on my career as a tempura chef.
Related Restaurant：
Tempura Kondo
Related Page：
The MICHELIN Guide Tokyo 2024: Newly Awarded Restaurants Announced Including One 3-Star Restaurant
Illustration image：© Michelin
