While all F1 drivers have the obvious goal of winning races and championships, Yuki Tsunoda has often voiced his ultimate life goal of opening a restaurant of his own besides being a world champion. The Japanese driver enjoys cooking a lot, a skill set that would be missing in several of his peer drivers. However, many celebrity chefs have advised Tsunoda to not open a restaurant on his own.
The Red Flags podcast host asked a few celebrity chefs about the 24-year-old’s dream of having a restaurant, to which all of them said: “Don’t do it”. Mario Carbone, Olivia Tiedemann, Masaharu Morimoto, the Volataggio Brothers, and Wolfgang Puck were the chefs who revealed the risks and reality of the restaurant industry.
View this post on Instagram
Carbone urged Tsunoda to call him for help and avoid jumping into the competitive ocean of the food and hospitality sector all by himself. Tiedemann mentioned how opening a restaurant is a very “hard thing to do, but can also be rewarding”.
The Voltaggio Brothers, who run their own Steak House, gave the most comprehensive advice. They said that if Tsunoda wants to work in the non-profit sector of the restaurant industry and focus on his passion primarily, that could work.
They also offered to work with him in either case to help him learn the tricks of the trade. Even the likes of Puck and Morimoto gave similar advice and said that they would be glad to help out Tsunoda and open a restaurant in partnership.
All these words of wisdom certainly seemed for Tsunoda’s well-being and came from the ton of experience all the chefs have in the restaurant industry. Nevertheless, the 24-year-old may not back down as he is highly passionate about food and cooking.
Tsunoda won’t be the chef in his restaurant
The restaurant dream is certainly years away with Tsunoda currently focusing on his F1 career. He wants to obviously become a world champion and enjoy success at the pinnacle of motorsport before pursuing his passion in the food sector.
However, the Japanese driver once revealed his “temporary plan” for his restaurant in a feature YouTube video with his team, AlphaTauri (now Racing Bulls). “I’ll open a restaurant, but I won’t be a chef, because I know to be a chef is a really hard thing. And I don’t think there’s time to practice or whatever,” he said.
Tsunoda stated that he will be mainly focusing on curating the menu of the restaurant with his chefs. He also mentioned that the location of his restaurant may not be in Japan. The #22 driver likes European food as well and has started to enjoy Italian food immensely in recent times, perhaps owing to the time he spends in Faenza at his team’s base.
Tsunoda wants to include the taste palate of all the cuisines he consumes globally in his restaurant menu, which hints at how the Japanese driver may not open a place that only specializes in one or two kinds of cuisine.
