Ryuta Iizuka
Message from the chef
I am involved with the process to the last detail, including the selection of the food served, and am very happy to attempt new challenges in a new city, such as with my menu supervision at The St. Regis Osaka Teppanyaki Wajo. Around 30 years ago I came to Osaka and attended a cooking vocational school, so this opportunity feels very significant to me. Kansai is a treasure trove of excellent foods, including seafood caught in the Seto Inland Sea, Kyoto, which is highly praised as a production area of vegetables, and Kobe beef and Matsusaka beef. I have always strived to put the time and effort in to understand the ingredients, such as when I met with local producers when I began supervision work at Teppanyaki Wajo. I wish to provide a menu that lets guests rediscover new charms in the ingredients and lets them feel fresh surprises.
After graduating from Osaka Tsuji Gakuen Cooking and Confectionary School, he worked at Dai-ichi Hotel Tokyo Bay (currently Hotel Okura TOKYO BAY), Hotel The Manhattan, the Yokohama Royal Park Hotel, and Aoyama 1999 Leau a la bouche before requesting an apprenticeship at Taillevent-Robuchon in 1994. He then moved to France in 1997 and began training at a Michelin-starred French restaurant such as Troisgros. Upon his return to Japan, he became sous chef at Taillevent-Robuchon Café France, and then became a senior lecturer of French cuisine at a cooking school.
After that, he held successive posts as a chef at LA TABLE de Joël Robuchon in 2004, and L'ATELIER de Joël Robuchon in 2005.
In 2011 he opened Restaurant Ryuzu. In addition to receiving the Chef Masters Silver Award under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' Chef Honoring System, he contributes to the training of chefs and the revitalization of the industry, including his work as the director of chefs' organizations.