A Frenchman will become the first foreigner to be employed at a traditional Japanese restaurant under a special measure aimed at promoting Japan's food culture worldwide, according to the Kyoto Municipal Government.
Julien Verrat, 20, the son of a chef at La Ribaudiere, a Michelin one-star restaurant in western France, is scheduled to arrive in late January or early February to work at Kikunoi restaurant in Kyoto for two years and promote Japanese food, or "washoku."
Last month, Kyoto became the only place in Japan where foreign chefs could be hired at traditional Japanese restaurants for the purpose of cultural expansion.
