At Matsugen, even Vongerichten is a food blogger

Most chefs and old-line journalists look down on food bloggers with disdain. So what’s it like when a four-star chef turns into a food blogger himself? Here’s Jean-Georges Vongerichten on the opening of his latest restaurant, Matsugen:

My newest New York City restaurant, Matsugen, is open. I am thrilled to bring truly authentic, refined Japanese dishes to this great city in a warm, chic setting.

We have some of the best sushi and sashimi in the city, but Matsugen is ultimately a soba house. And what soba. These fresh noodles are the best I’ve ever had. Starting with whole buckwheat grains, we slowly grind them into fine, medium, and coarse flours each morning. Throughout the day, we prepare the doughs and cook the just-cut noodles to order. Here’s Marja, my wife, enjoying a bowl of hot soba.

Of course, I love our other Japanese specialties too, like homemade tofu and shabu shabu. Here I am enjoying some tempura at the end of a long night.