2019, November 7th Tokyo
This is how a simple plate of curry made my way to French Karé.
My last day in Tokyo, a few hours before flying home to France. I sat down and ordered my first karé — that’s what it’s called in Japan, karé, not curry. What arrived was white rice, a thick, dark sauce with a gentle warmth to it, and a golden breaded pork cutlet on top.
I still remember that first spoonful: the generous sauce, a spice blend I had never tasted before, the crisp pork, and the rice soaking all of it up. Just as I was leaving Japan, I had found my favourite dish.
I still remember that first spoonful: the generous sauce, a spice blend I had never tasted before, the crisp pork, and the rice soaking all of it up. Just as I was leaving Japan, I had found my favourite dish.
2024, March 2nd
Jinsuke Mizuno
Four years of obsession followed.
I dug into the history of the dish, its origins, its techniques — everything I could find. It was the author Ryoko Sekiguchi who put me on the trail of chef Jinsuke Mizuno, the reference on Japanese curry.
We started exchanging messages on Instagram in 2023, and met in Tokyo in February 2024. I think he was surprised to see a self-taught French cook travel that far to learn about a dish the Japanese eat every day. That first meeting was electric, and the notes from his first lesson are still in my notebook.
I dug into the history of the dish, its origins, its techniques — everything I could find. It was the author Ryoko Sekiguchi who put me on the trail of chef Jinsuke Mizuno, the reference on Japanese curry.
We started exchanging messages on Instagram in 2023, and met in Tokyo in February 2024. I think he was surprised to see a self-taught French cook travel that far to learn about a dish the Japanese eat every day. That first meeting was electric, and the notes from his first lesson are still in my notebook.
2025, june 6th
Curry Bootcamp in Chartres
After we met again in Tokyo, Mizuno-san pushed me to cook curry professionally. So I invited him to Chartres: ten intensive days of cooking, spice work, testing and refining recipes, side by side.
I decide to invite Jinsuke Mizuno to Chartres : as a japanese curry expert, Jinsuke san is used to help chefs in their way of cooking karé in Japan . Again, he agrees to meet me and to help me. For 10 days, we cook relentlessly, working around spices, mixes, we test my recipes and make them better with his teachings. When he left, he hugged me and told me our next meeting would be at the table of my restaurant — because, in his words, I had managed to put a little of my French cook’s DNA into my Japanese curry.
In my mind, French Kare was born.
I decide to invite Jinsuke Mizuno to Chartres : as a japanese curry expert, Jinsuke san is used to help chefs in their way of cooking karé in Japan . Again, he agrees to meet me and to help me. For 10 days, we cook relentlessly, working around spices, mixes, we test my recipes and make them better with his teachings. When he left, he hugged me and told me our next meeting would be at the table of my restaurant — because, in his words, I had managed to put a little of my French cook’s DNA into my Japanese curry.
In my mind, French Kare was born.
2026, june 12th
French Karé opens in Paris
Life is made of adventures and encounters. I had met Giovanni, of the restaurant Omurice, years earlier; we share the same love of Japanese cooking and a good feeling.
In May 2026 he suggested we work together. I present him all my ideas, concepts, recipes crafted with Jinsuke Mizuno and tell him about my French Kare philosophy. He likes the idea and then decide to turn the recipes into the restaurant menu and to open with me the French Karé restaurant in Paris.
No Curry No Life !
Come to our place and have a taste of our wonderful kare ! Thibaud Villanova Chef & Founder of French Karé
In May 2026 he suggested we work together. I present him all my ideas, concepts, recipes crafted with Jinsuke Mizuno and tell him about my French Kare philosophy. He likes the idea and then decide to turn the recipes into the restaurant menu and to open with me the French Karé restaurant in Paris.
No Curry No Life !
Come to our place and have a taste of our wonderful kare ! Thibaud Villanova Chef & Founder of French Karé
