Completely Clear Structure Thrums with People Watching, Food, Libations and Music!
14.12.2023 - 15:16 / cntraveler.com
Welcome to Where Chefs Eat on Vacation, a column in which chefs tell us what they ate on a recent trip. All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Junghyun ‘JP’ Park may be the star chef behind New York City’s lauded Atomix, Atoboy, and Naro—and co-author of just-released The Korean Cookbook (Phaidon)—but he has to fight for restaurant reservations like the rest of us. When he snagged a dinner slot at sushi spot Sugita in Tokyo for this past October, there was no question—he’d just have to plan a trip around it with his wife and business partner Ellia. “We got lucky, we had a big conference in Korea [around then], and Tokyo is only a 2.5-hour flight away,” he says. “So we just went three days early.”
It was Park’s third time in Tokyo this year, so he was quick to settle in to his usual Google Maps-based approach of travel. “I put as much as possible on my Google Map,” says Park, whose first priority is always food, with fashion and art close behind. “My Google Map for Tokyo has 100 restaurants, and maybe 30 shops. I don't travel with a very detailed timeline, but I pick a neighborhood, plan to walk around, and then see which places I have marked on my map.” Those little pins are all recommendations from trusted friends or Tabelog reviews. And while Park loves the latest when it comes to fashion, he makes sure his food explorations include the traditional. “Many fine dining concepts and restaurants in Tokyo are always top of class, but I feel like a true kaiseki or omakase experience can only be enjoyed in Japan, so I prioritize that.”
We ask Park to share what he ate, drank, and added to his Google Maps—below, he shares everything from that trip-inspiring sushi dinner to the airport sweets he brought back to New York City. Open your Google Maps app, and get ready to fill up the Tokyo quadrant.
What was the first thing you ate when you got off the plane?
When we travel to Tokyo, we usually take Japan Airlines or ANA Airlines. Their in-flight meals are much better than those on US-based airlines. I finished all the food before I landed, so I was kind of full (ANA served some pretty good udon noodles, cooked salmon, and a bowl of rice on this flight).
But after checking into the hotel, I always search a local ramen place. Having a bowl of ramen is what makes me feel like, Okay, now I'm in Tokyo. This time I went to Kikanbo in Chiyoda, near the Four Seasons at Otemachi near Ginza where we stayed. Kikanbo is a chain but it's really good, and it's Chinese-style ramen, so they use Chinese spices—like numbing pepper—and there's oil on top.
What was your go-to breakfast every day?
Completely Clear Structure Thrums with People Watching, Food, Libations and Music!
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