I'm a chef and I've been living a lie about the quality and authenticity of my food

I'm willing to bet that my restaurant would be the only place in the world where you can eat ‘authentic’ Japanese food made by an English guy who has never been to Japan and who isn’t even sure what a lot of his ingredients are used for and is mostly making it up as he goes. I’ve spent years honing my cooking technique, and have an absolute passion for cooking Japanese food, I’ve spent years studying Japanese cooking techniques, and buying stupidly expensive equipment (ag27s for days, yo). I’ve probably spent thousands of hours perfecting my food and learning new techniques, I’ve read books about Japanese food, watch tutorials, and even have a little book full of secrets. I’ve spent my life savings on my restaurant, and it makes me so happy to see people eating and enjoying my food. <br><br>I can’t tell my customers how things really are though, and I feel like I’m living a lie. Every time someone says something like ‘this is how Japan does it! This is 100% authentic’ it feels like a knife to the heart. When someone says ‘this is how my grandmother used to make it when I was a kid in Tokyo’ it feels even worse. <br><br>If someone ever asked me thought I’d just laugh it off and say I was just messing around with them, but I don’t think anyone ever will.