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Rokusaburo Michiba, the first Iron Chef Japanese, is known as both "the god of Japanese cuisine" and "the rebel of the culinary world." He was born in 1931 to a family who dealt in tea ceremonies, and even today, Michiba is known for being particular about what types of porcelain used to plate his food for service. His interest in cooking dates to his childhood, and when he was young, he was an apprentice in the kitchens of famous restaurants in Kobe, Tokyo, and Kanazawa.
At the age of 40, he opened the Ginza Rokusan-Tei, a restaurant in Ginza. The restaurant is located on the eighth and ninth floors of a building, and patrons on the eighth floor have a view into the kitchen, where Michiba can be seen at work.
Michiba gained his "rebel" title for his innovative approach to Japanese cuisine. Following the set code of traditional Japanese cooking eventually bored Michiba, who found that he wanted to explore different types of ingredients, including more unusual items such as shark's fin and shark's stomach, which are not part of classic Japanese cuisine. His creativity stood him well as the first Iron Chef Japanese, when he could incorporate a non-Japanese ingredient such as foie gras into his style of cooking with ease and elegance. Elegance in his cooking and his presentation is important to Michiba, who feels that presentation can move a diner as much as flavor, but he also likes to include at least one dish that is simple to prepare, so that viewers think, "I could make that." Perhaps they could, but not with the heart and style of Rokusaburo Michiba.
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