French Restaurant MIKUNI NAGOYA in Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel located right above Nagoya Station

Chef’s comment

Born in Mashike-cho, Hokkaido. Mr. Mikuni decided to become a chef at age 15 and trained at Sapporo Grand Hotel and Imperial Hotel. He was assumed the position of Chief at the Japanese Embassy in Switzerland in 1974. He trained under Fredy Girardet while working at the Embassy. Thereafter, he trained at 3 star restaurants such as Troigros, L’Auberge de L’ill, Loasis and Alain Chapel and opened his restaurant Hotel de Mikuni in Yotsuya, Tokyo, in 1985. In 1999, Mr. Mikuni founded the Syndicat de la Haute Cuisine Francaise au Japon, an organization designed to training of chefs and taste development education for children. In 2011, Mr. Mikuni represented Japan and served as one of the Grand Chefs to prepare the gala dinner that was called The Banquet of the Century held at the Palace of Versailles in France in commemoration of gastronomic meal of France being registered as UNESCO intangible cultural heritage. In 2013, Mr. Mikuni received an honorable doctorate by The University François-Rabelais in recognition of his contributions to French gastronomic culture. He was awarded the L'ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur Chevalier (National Order of the Legion of Honor Chevalier) by the French government in 2015. The Legion of Honor is the highest French order for military and civil merits, established 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte. Mr. Mikuni is the first Japanese chef to be honored with this medal. Mr. Mikuni is recently involved with taste development education for children and “Smiles on faces of children!” smiling face project, a reconstruction assistance activity.

​ ​​Chef ​​ ​ Kiyomi Mikuni