Sugio Yamaguchi

Yes, very well. It was September 2008; definitely autumn. It was very hot in Japan, and very cold here. I arrived wearing just a t-shirt, and carrying two 30-kg suitcases. I left for Jurançon straight away, to work in a 2-Michelin-Star restaurant. The chef there used to go to the market every morning, getting back around 10 o’clock. By 10.30 we’d have a menu. There was a lot of preparation to do and it was hard, but it was fun. I’ve got good memories and I learned a lot. I realised that in French cuisine, ingredients are key.

I opened it together with my associate Alexandre, but we didn’t want anything too rigid. And actually, we do as we please. On the ground floor there’s a bistro serving traditional French food, while upstairs we’ve got a Chef ’s Table where we serve gourmet cuisine, everything bursting with flavour, inspired by my travels.

I know a few Japanese cheeses, but they’re not a big thing. Nobody in Japan is really interested in them. I was introduced to French cheese when I was 20, in one of my classes at college. There were around 10 cheeses, but they weren’t particularly good quality, I don’t think, and were all at the wrong temperature. The only one I liked was Morbier. That was very nice, and easy to eat. But now I love cheese, and eat a lot of it. When I’m hungry, I’ll have a piece of Comté, Salers or Saint-Nectaire. I like a cheese with character.

Very well. In my sweet cheese recipe, for example, I use yuzu, a fragrant citrus fruit which can be very mild if you only use the zest. In Arbois, I was once served cheese with a citrus marmalade. It was nice, but a bit too acidic. Acidity and cheese don’t go well together.

I don’t just want to cut it up and serve it – I’m a cook! So, I’ll make something like winter root vegetable risotto with Bleu d’Auvergne – for France, that’s quite unusual. I like to be a bit different. In Japan, we like our vegetables to have a bit of crunch, but this works well with cheese. It gives more flavour, a richer, tastier feel.