Ramen: A Pilgrimage in a Bowl
The Parisian Wonder Known as Kodawari
This week Hospitality Is A Lifestyle welcomes guest writer, Sean Robinson.
There are foods that soothe. There are foods that revive. And then there are foods so soul-saturating they deserve their own passport. Ramen - that swirling, slurping, steam-kissed marvel - sits triumphantly in category three.
Our Ramen journey began soon after arriving in Paris. As the evening approached and we became weary from walking, a decision had to be made. Bistro? Brasserie?
To my surprise, Kiran had an unexpected reply - “How about a ramen!”
Oh wow! She needed comfort food. So, I had a mission (guys like having a mission). I would find the best ramen restaurant in Paris and pray that we could get a seat.
And so our pilgrimage began.
From Chinese Roots to Japanese Renaissance
Though often crowned as Japan’s culinary ambassador, ramen began life as a Chinese wheat noodle quietly making its way into Japanese port cities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Immigrants served humble bowls of lāmiàn to hungry workers, and Japan did what Japan does best: it refined, reshaped, and reinvented until an entirely new creature emerged.
Soon enough, the dish evolved from convenient nourishment into an edible philosophy.
Why Ramen Flourished
Post-war Japan was weary, rebuilding, and very much in need of sustenance that didn’t require a second mortgage. Enter ramen:
1. Cheap fortification: Thanks to U.S. imports of wheat flour, noodles became an inexpensive staple. A bowl brimming with broth, noodles, protein, and vegetables delivered warmth, calories, and comfort in a single swoop.
2. Local flair: As regions put their signature stamp on the dish, Japan birthed an atlas of broths:
• Shoyu swagger in Tokyo
• Miso might in Hokkaido
• Tonkotsu thunder in Kyushu
Each bowl echoed its birthplace.
3. Culinary obsession: Ramen turned into a craft religion. Chefs now fuss over alkaline ratios in noodles, bubble broths for days, and whisper secret tare blends like ancestral spells.
Ramen stopped being food. It became devotion.
Anatomy of a Great Bowl
A transcendent ramen isn’t accidental, but rests on four interlocking pillars:
• Broth: the essence, the poetry, the reason you’re here. It can be crystalline (chintan) or luxuriously opaque (paitan), but never timid.
• Noodles: springy, bouncy, and engineered to ferry flavor.
• Tare: the character-defining seasoning - shoyu, miso, or shio.
• Toppings: a curated ensemble of meats, eggs, fish, greens, and aromatics.
When these elements harmonize, the bowl becomes a symphony.
Paris Discovers the Slurp
Ramen slipped into Paris in the ’80s and ’90s, settling around Rue Sainte-Anne, an area now lovingly dubbed “Little Tokyo.” Parisians quickly realized this piping pot of umami was:
• soothing yet spirited,
• affordable yet cultured,
• and precisely the kind of artisan craft the city prizes.
By the 2010s, a ramen renaissance washed over Paris. Bowls grew more elaborate, chefs folded in French ingredients, and queues curled down sidewalks with a zeal typically reserved for couture drops.
Enter Kodawari: The Parisian Portal to Tokyo
And then came Kodawari - arguably the moment Paris stopped “importing” ramen and started hosting a full-fledged ramen experience.
Kodawari didn’t merely serve soup; it built worlds.
• One location evokes a bustling Tokyo fish market - crates, lanterns, chatter, all conjured with theatrical precision.
• The other whisks you into an Edo-era village, complete with wooden facades, marketplace din, and the charm of a time capsule.
The result? A restaurant that feels less like Paris and more like a cinematic teleportation device. Even the ritual - the line outside (yes, it was long and took nearly an hour before our names were called), the tight seating, the ticketing system - mirrors ramen culture back in Japan.
And the bowls? Meticulous. Traditional. Broths layered with quiet intensity, noodles built for chew, and toppings engineered for balance. Kodawari brings reverence to every detail, exactly as the name suggests.
Final Slurp
Ramen’s story is one of migration, reinvention, and obsession - a dish that hopped borders, survived history, and blossomed into a global comfort. Kodawari honors that lineage not through gimmickry, but through immersive fidelity: a Parisian love letter to Japanese craft.
If Paris is the city of romance, Kodawari is proof that sometimes the most ardent love story is the one happening between a diner, a spoon, and a bowl of broth so rich it might as well be a saga.