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| On the occasion of the publication of the Michelin Guide 2006, we decided to find out more about France's new star-rated chefs. Japanese chef Tateru Yoshino, from the Stella Maris restaurant (Paris)  Gaya Rive Gauche , Pierre Gagnaire's latest restaurant(Paris)  Benoît Bernard , the new rising star of the Lille region (north of France) 
| Tourism and Gastronomy PORTRAITS OF CHEFSKeisuke Matsushima, the most Provencal of the JapaneseBy E. Tresmontant After the 'ogre of the North', Benoît Bernard, here is a portrait of a young 26 year-old Japanese man also awarded a first star this year by the Michelin Guide. This instinctive chef opened his restaurant in Nice only three years ago: time enough to remind us that the Côte-d'Azur also sparkles in its cuisine with marvellous produce.  Soon after opening three years ago, Keisuke Matsushima, called 'Kei', made a name for himself in the Nice gastronomy microcosm. This fiery Japanese man, who seems to read your very thoughts, was first introduced to the taste of vegetables by his farmer grandfather with whom he used to go picking root vegetables in the mountains on Kyushu Island. Trained in French cuisine by the master chef Tateru Yoshino who, at the beginning of the 1990s, ran a hip restaurant in the south of Tokyo, Kei then left for the south of France where he learnt the trade at Jean-Marc Banzo in Aix (at Clos de la Violette) and at the Pourcel brothers restaurant in Montpellier (Au Jardin des Sens). He was immediately captivated by the products, flavours and intense light of the Midi. Despite being offered work by famous chefs, such as Pierre Gagnaire, Kei then opened his own place to give free rein to his inspiration.  You will be amazed by the lightness of his cuisine devoted to Mediterranean flavours and by his entirely Oriental manner of spicing and slicing beef. Tempura Norway lobsters and courgette flowers with a green tea sauce, beef mille-feuille with wasabi, wild bilberry tart, and the zabaglione with verbena and yoghurt are little, delicate masterpieces! Kei, like his first 'teacher' Tateru Yoshino, sticks to the rhythm of the seasons. You are advised to book as the restaurant is soon full.
 In spring, try his first purple asparaguses from Italy with lemon and fresh thyme, and also his fried Ligurian anchovies with sauted thorny artichokes, Sicilian tomatoes and basil, without forgetting his roast loin of Sisteron lamb with potato gnocchis. Set lunches for 23 and 30 euros. Set dinners for 43, 65 and 90 euros. You are advised to book as the restaurant is soon full.
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