
Jiro Ono and René Redzepi Have a Cup of Tea [video] - gmays
https://vimeo.com/124820375
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SocksCanClose
It's a lovely video. Thanks for posting. It seems as though what unites these
two isn't that they both work in the gastronomic arts, but rather, that they
are both driven to achieve perfection, and that they both share a certain
sadness and also mania knowing that they want to achieve something that is
impossible, and yet are so close. I also think it is what makes it so
prescient for this forum -- many of us are the same way. We seek out new
challenges. Refine old art forms. Think about things slightly askew. For me,
seeing this conversation was almost like seeing three men discussing a topic
across time. Jiro-san relays to Rene what his experience has been like as
someone pursuing perfection, and says something along the lines of "When you
are my age, you won't think about quitting... I know you... because you are
me... and we can never quit. We just keep striving for the next thing." And
Rene has (and this may be my American interpretation of his Nordic facial
reaction) a sort of moment where he realizes that Jiro-san is correct. That he
is both blessed and trapped with this relentless drive. Jiro-san then says
something along the lines of "I won't live this long... but if I lived until
you were the age I am now, I would want to be there to say 'I told you so'
because I know you will never stop. You will always look for the next thing."
And you can see his son, the third participant in the conversation, observing,
and contemplating his father's mortality, his father's legacy, and his
father's drive.

I thought it was quite beautiful.

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mts_
For those who didn't know who the two men are:

Jiro Ono, Japanese sushi chef, is often regarded as one the greatest sushi
chefs. Owner of "Sukiyabashi Jiro" a three-Michelin starred sushi restaurant
in Tokyo. The documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" is about Jiro Ono, the
restaurant and his son.[1]

René Redzepi, Danish chef, and co-owner of the two-Michelin starred restaurant
Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark. Voted the best restaurant in 2010, 2011, 2012 and
2014. Renowned for reinventing and refining new Nordic cuisine.[2]

[1]:
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772925/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772925/)
[2]:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Redzepi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Redzepi)

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mc32
Ono is dedicated to Sushi and is relentless in his pursuit of perfection of
that one thing. Redzepi, on the other hand, is relentless in pursuit of making
exquisite food from humble ingredients local to what is to others consider a
land of little variety, in a locale not known for gastronomic experimentation.
They are not really comparable. They are good at different things, they just
happen to both be in the food service industry, although at the highest level.

~~~
abalone
Sushi was once considered a food of humble ingredients.

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mc32
Maybe, certainly ramen were considered humble --and still so, except there are
high art ramen joints.

I think my point was that Ono specializes in one thing and just keeps honing a
particular thing whereas Redzepi has an approach but will consider anything
for his approach --he'll experiment with inedible things --things which
normally cause diahorroea, but he experiments with them none the less, he
wants to see how far he can go to make something delicious.

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sjm
Link seems to be down for me.

Vimeo link: [https://vimeo.com/124820375](https://vimeo.com/124820375)

~~~
dang
Ok, we'll use that instead of [http://www.madfeed.co/video/jiro-ono-and-rene-
redzepi-have-a...](http://www.madfeed.co/video/jiro-ono-and-rene-redzepi-have-
a-cup-of-tea/). Thanks.

