Taïki TAMAO

Chef : 1 restaurant

Presentation

For Taïki Tamao, chef at Parisian restaurant 975, it all began at the Taiwa Hotel School in Kyoto. At the age of 19, the young apprentice had to choose between Japanese, Chinese, Italian and French cuisine. He chose the latter. In 1995, after graduating, he took his first steps in Kyoto, at the Lever Son Verre restaurant, where he perfected his mastery of blue-white-red gastronomy. At the age of 24, he made a name for himself and took charge of the stoves at Liquor Mountain, an artisanal brasserie, but "to learn more about French cuisine, I had to dive into the source".

In 2002, Taïki Tamao flew to Paris. As soon as he landed, he met one of the illustrious defenders of French savoir-faire: Guy Savoy. The master invited him to join his brigade at the bistro Les Bouquinistes. After a stint in the kitchens of Point Bar, the restaurant of Alice Bardet, daughter of multi-toque chef Jean Bardet, Taïki Tamao ventured into the provinces. In 2005, he settled in Arcachon, where he was appointed head chef of the L'Encoche restaurant, a position he held until 2008.

On his return to Paris, he crossed paths with Antoine Heerah, who offered him the chance to assist him at the legendary Moulin de la Galette. Satisfied, Heerah offered him the chance to open Antoine de Montmartre and set up as chef. "There was a coal-fired oven like you'd find in Argentina. It wasn ' t long before Taïki Tamao was working his way up the ladder, taking charge of the stoves at three of Antoine Heerah's four restaurants: Le Moulin de la Galette, Antoine de Montmartre and Le Chamarré Montmartre.

In 2015, he felt ready for the big leap. He teamed up with Mathieu Orazi, the maître d' of Antoine Heerah's four establishments, to found Le 975, in the 17th arrondissement: their first bistro, which earned them 2 Gault&Millau toques in its first season. Wishing to expand, they moved in 2022 behind the Butte Montmartre. Since then, their French cuisine, tinged with Asian touches, has taken on Hispanic accents. "Antoine Heerah and I toured Spain to see what was cooking there. Since then, I've been going back thereregularly to get some inspiration."

B. G.