Chef makes exquisite Japanese cuisine despite having no interest in cooking

“I’m a chef but I don’t like cooking that much.”

This is how Ryuya Nagase, a chef working for a restaurant specializing in creative Japanese cuisine in Beijing, has described himself.

Despite his lack of interest in cooking, Nagase is no newcomer when it comes to serving up his various gourmet delicacies featuring exquisite textures and flavors to his many customers, inspired by his constant stream of culinary ideas. His diligence and sense of pride, driven by an unwillingness to lose business to any of his rival competitors, has put him ahead of the pack among restauranters operating in Beijing’s fine dining scene.

Nagase has already lived in China for six years. For him, everything here is still filled with a sense of novelty. “China has become like my second home,” he said.