Chef profile :: Yuichi Kamimura

Visionary disciple of Sydney's Tetsuya's, Yuichi Kamimura has demonstrated himself not only as a chef, but also as an artist. He brings world class fine dining of the highest quality and sophistication to Niseko.

Yuichi left Japan to study English in the United States when he was 18 years old. He searched for inspiration to satisfy his creativity in Seattle and New York, but remained uncertain of his direction. Returning to Japan, he worked for his parents' restaurant and another Japanese Izakaya restaurant, upgrading his chef qualifications and credentials. He travelled Europe, continuing his search, but still could not find what he was looking for.

In 1999, Yuichi moved to Sydney. In near penury, he noticed a classifieds for a position at one of Australia's most highly awarded restaurants, Tetsuya's. He waited outside Tetsuya's for four hours for his chance to ask the famous master for a job. Tetsuya saw much of himself in the 25 year old Yuichi and gave him a chance. Yuichi began work with the much younger apprentice chefs in the back kitchen. Here in Tetsuya's, he finally found his passion.

He completely absorbed himself in his cooking, investing all his time, energy and money in dogged pursuit of creating exquisite experiences. He poured over countless cookbooks and spent his meagre wages becoming intimate with expensive wines. In five years, he grew from kitchen hand to one of Tetsuya's greatest prodigy chefs. He returned to Japan to open his own unique fine dining experience in Sapporo. The restaurant received two years of wide-spread acclaim and then in December 2007, he moved with his wife, Miyuki, to Niseko to establish his new restaurant, Kamimura. Here he continues to develop his philosophy: a fusion of Japanese seasonal ingredients and flavours enhanced by classic French cooking techniques.