Chef Antonio Koji Tsuchiya feels gregarious, knowing that he can speak about chocolate for a few hours. He sits at a table in the dining space of one of his five shops, the one most centrally located in the Shibuya-Ku district of Tokyo.
While Tsuchiya is about to start his monologue, an elderly man walking past interrupts him: “This is the best chocolate in Japan,” he says. It’s Mr. Iijima, a loyal customer, Tsuchiya explains after the man has left the shop. “On the day of the opening, he came by the store three times. He never really left,” the chef explains.