Michelin-Starred Chef Jun Tanaka Shares His Path to Success

Michelin-Starred Chef Jun Tanaka Shares His Path to Success
Warm tones of exposed brick and a display of vintage copper pans from the local market gives The Ninth restaurant in London a homely and timeless feel. Palida Boonyarungsrit
Jane Werrell
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LONDON—Jun Tanaka’s light and tasty French-Mediterranean sharing plates at The Ninth gained a Michelin star at the beginning of October. The flavours are simple yet refined, and the same care has gone into the restaurant’s ambience.

With warm tones of brick and copper, old books and mood lighting, it’s a restaurant that has a timeless and homely quality to it. Designed to feel “not overly of the moment”, in Jun’s words, it’s “the kind of space that will age well.”

Looking out at Charlotte Street from the first floor of The Ninth, so named because it’s the ninth place he as worked, Jun tells me about starting out as a chef – how it all began with a letter, and a lack of attendance at college.

The only day he enjoyed on his hotel management course was a Tuesday, he recalled – which was the only day his lessons were based in the kitchen.

“Actually it was the only day I used to go into college,” he said.

Jun Tanaka. (Palida Boonyarungsrit)
Jun Tanaka. Palida Boonyarungsrit
Jane Werrell
Jane Werrell
NTD News International Correspondent and Anchor
Jane Werrell is an international correspondent and anchor for NTD News based in London. Jane is a part-time anchor for "NTD UK News."
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