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The Audio Long Read

Endo dreams of sushi: a trip around Japan with one of the world’s greatest chefs

The Audio Long Read

The Guardian

Society & Culture

4.22.5K Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Endo Kazutoshi spent decades climbing to the top of the culinary world, only for a devastating fire to threaten it all. I joined him in the aftermath as he travelled around his homeland, visiting the people that helped make him Written and read by Kieran Morris. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is The Guardian.

0:09.0

Welcome to The Guardian long read, showcasing the best long-form journalism covering culture, politics and new thinking.

0:15.8

For the text version of this and all our long reads, go to the Guardian.com forward slash long read.

0:30.5

Endo Dreams of Sushi, a trip around Japan with one of the world's greatest chefs, written and read by Kieran Morris.

0:42.3

Endo Kazatoshi was on the train to Paris when he heard about the fire. A few hours earlier, at 2 a.m., he had left his restaurant, the tiny Michelin-Stard sushi counter,

0:49.3

Endo at the Rotunda in West London, and headed home, where he had got changed and packed his

0:53.3

bags for the 6am

0:54.2

Eurostar, upon which he planned to sleep. As he boarded the train that morning, the 6th of

1:00.2

September 2025, he was unaware that just after 3 a.m., the fire brigade had been called to a blaze

1:06.4

at the Helios building, where his restaurant was located on the eighth floor. The fire had started on a

1:12.7

terrace, and a few hours later had reached the restaurant's dining room, built mostly from 200-year-old

1:17.6

Hanokey Wood. The prep kitchen, everything. Shortly after departure from St. Pancras,

1:30.3

the news began to reach Endo through early rising friends. They reassured him and would keep him updated, though details were still unclear.

1:34.3

The trip to Paris was intended as a moment of respite after a busy summer service.

1:39.3

Instead, Endo cleared his schedule and booked the first train home, but there was one appointment

1:45.8

he couldn't bring himself to cancel.

1:48.5

L'Amboisy, a three Michelin Star Temple on the Place De Vosges, which had held its stars

1:53.6

since 1988, is legendary among gastronomes worldwide, but particularly in Japan, where it is

1:59.8

viewed as the pinnacle of fine dining.

2:02.6

Endo would book two months in advance, and this would be his first visit. Unable to return to

2:08.0

London until mid-afternoon, he kept his reservation. Underneath a giant Obeson tapestry,

2:14.9

in the grand sequel dining room of his dream restaurant, Endo sat in a fugue state.

...

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