While it is no exaggeration to say that Hiroshi Nakamichi is one of the key faces of Hokkaido cuisine, it may be a surprise to hear that he is not a Hokkaido native. Born and raised in Kanazawa, he followed reluctantly on a family move to the hot spring town of Noboribetsu, Hokkaido at the age of 15. Coming from the refined, history-rich town of Kanazawa, Nakamichi had a passionate distaste for the north island with its gloomy feel and lack of charm.

Exposed to cooking because his mother ran a small restaurant, he decided to attend culinary school to study French cuisine, seeing it as a ticket out of Hokkaido and into the world. He left for France immediately after graduating, headed for Lyon armed with a copy of guide and a dream of one day earning a star in its pages. He threw himself into all things cooking in every waking minute. After establishing himself in France as a young Japanese chef, the failed health of his father necessitated a return to Japan. The only thing he could think to do was start his own restaurant in Sapporo, and that was the beginning of Molière.

Having lacked authentic French cuisine until then, the word spread fast in Sapporo. The restaurant saw great success and yet the inner conflict for Nakamichi was great – he still wasn’t doing exactly what he wanted to do. He didn’t want to succeed on the grounds of simply being unique. The turning point came with a visit to Makkari town at the invitation of a friend. Never before had he tasted such delicious spring water or such flavorful vegetables, or seen the hard work invested by the farmers. That was all the inspiration. He set about pioneering French cuisine showcasing delicious Hokkaido ingredients, and the rest is history. A diligent worker with strong leadership skills, Nakamichi brings people together. Many of his staff have worked with him for more than twenty years, an exceptional case in the cooking industry.

VISION
While requests for new restaurants constantly come in from around Japan and the big cities of Tokyo and Osaka, Nakamichi refuses them all. His dedication is absolutely to Hokkaido, where he is key to several other restaurants and an auberge, and on that he will not waver. He still considers himself to be in the developing stages of his chef career and says that creative cooking methods and dishes do not suddenly come to him. Instead, his new discoveries come from focusing on the basics and doing them to the best of his ability, and that is where he will continue to focus as he works on his vision of sharing the charm of Hokkaido more broadly with the world.