Chef
Fumio Kondo
Chef and Owner, Tempura Kondo
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Tokyo, Japan
Known for
- Pioneering light-battered tempura with seasonal vegetables, challenging the convention of thick-battered seafood tempura
- Elevating tempura from a side dish to a refined cuisine capable of anchoring an entire restaurant
- Two Michelin stars consecutively since 2008
- First tempura chef awarded the Contemporary Master Craftsman (Gendai no Meiko) honor in 2019
i. Biography
Fumio Kondo is the chef and owner of Tempura Kondo in Tokyo's Ginza district, a two-Michelin-starred specialist tempura restaurant he opened in 1991 at age 43. Born in Tokyo in 1947, Kondo trained at the Yamanoue Tempura and Japanese restaurant within the Hilltop Hotel, becoming head chef at age 23 before dedicating over 50 years to perfecting tempura as a refined cuisine. In 2019, he became the first tempura chef in history to receive the Contemporary Master Craftsman award from the Japanese government, and in 2023, he received the Mentor Chef Award from the Michelin Guide Tokyo.
Profile updated April 2026
