north east regional extra | September 25 - October 1, 2019
nemedia.com.au
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September 25 - October 1, 2019
By CORAL COOKSLEY
A FASCINATION for decades with Japanese culture and the intriguing city of Tokyo led celebrated Beechworth chef Michael Ryan, owner of the Provenance Restaurant, to write his first book ‘Only in Tokyo - Two chefs, 24 hours, the ultimate food city’ with good friend and chef Luke Burgess. The intrepid chefs have shared their knowledge and love of the country’s capital city by giving readers a taste of favourite places and restaurants from their own cultural adventures, and there is a sequel in the works. “It was originally going to be a recipe book but the world doesn’t need another one, so I hooked up and collaborated with Luke – a talented chef and photographer – where I wrote the words and Luke snapped the photographs,” Michael said. “It’s not a travel guide, it’s more of a journal to give readers a feel of what the city is like and we could only focus on a small slice of Tokyo. “The book is like an insider’s guide to the city with lots of contributions from the hospitality industry.” Two years ago with the book idea set in motion, the chefs spent 10 days in Tokyo where they undertook the bulk of their research. They have been working on it since then and it was published this year with a local launch at Beechworth Books last month. Adelaide-born Michael who owns the award-winning Provenance Restaurant with his partner Jeanette Henderson, a qualified winemaker who also works there and helps with the cooking, has been intrigued with Japan since his high school days when he enjoyed studying the language and culture. Studying chemistry at Adelaide University with a career that followed in that profession, Michael studied Japanese in his early days at university but was unable to continue as the focus was on his science degree. But never losing his curiosity about Japan though, living in the country for six months just before switching careers at age 27 to become a chef. “I studied commercial cooking at TAFE in Adelaide, started cooking in the city and decided to move and work in Victoria,” Michael said.
◆ CHEF TURNED AUTHOR: Chef Michael Ryan Provenance Restaurant, Beechworth.
A taste of Tokyo
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Continued page 6
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