Scapar, the restaurant from which its chef fled due to exploitation after achieving a Michelin star

Having stayed out of the headlines and practically disappeared for months, Kuwabara and his lawyers have finally decided to give their side of the story, a story in which, until now, Yukinobu Tone, owner of the Scapar restaurant, had been the main voice. Kuwabara's absence from the Michelin gala in Málaga last year was considered merely anecdotal, as he was the only chef to receive his first star that night and didn't go on stage to accept it. But it could well be the opening scene of this story.

It was weeks later when Foodie magazine broke the news: the Scapar restaurant had not reopened and nobody knew anything about its chef, responsible for this small omakase bar for eight diners having managed to seduce the inspectors of the red guide in just a year and a half.

The chef who had escaped from the Scapar restaurant. The joke was served up on a platter, it was heard for a while in Barcelona's gastronomic circles, but then, for months, nothing more was heard. The fact is, the restaurant never reopened. It appears, of course, in the printed Michelin Guide published with the 2026 stars, but it's no longer listed on the official website.

Moral damages and unfair dismissal

Meanwhile, Tone promised an imminent reopening of his business and fueled the story of the chef's mysterious disappearance. Kuwabara's silence, which lasted for months, prevented any other perspective. "I needed time for myself," he now says when asked about it. "Explaining things is important, but for me it was even more important to recover and get back to cooking at the level I consider appropriate."

Although the chef is reluctant to give details and insists that "it's not about pointing fingers or blaming any specific person," the case ended up in court, and last April an agreement was reached whereby Yukinobu Tone, owner of Scapar, agreed to compensate Koichi Kuwabara for wrongful dismissal and moral damages. The juicy story of the missing chef was, in reality, another case of exploitation in the restaurant industry.

When asked by this publication, Kuwabara said he was feeling much better and offered a very mild version of what happened. His forte is cooking, not talking, he emphasized several times. “For a long time, I carried a very heavy workload and a great deal of responsibility. That situation gradually affected my physical and mental health,” he recalled.

The lawyers from the firm Novacelona, ​​specializing in labor law and representing the chef, offer a more stark account of what transpired for months at Scapar, and of the working conditions that led the chef to suffer an anxiety attack on the very day of the Michelin Gala. According to their account, the owner, who would later boast of the Michelin star, washed his hands of the matter, and it was the chef himself who had to pay for his trip and hotel in Málaga, although ultimately, on medical advice, he did not attend.

Although after the agreement that avoided the trial, El Periódico already revealed more details of what happened a few months ago, recently in an interview on Cadena SER the chef's lawyer spoke of endless hours, tasks far beyond the kitchen that included everything from managing orders to washing dishes or bathrooms, and even being alone in the restaurant for months at a time.

The end of Scapar and the projects to come

“I’ve been working in the kitchen for over twenty years, and this experience has been one of the most challenging of my career. Since opening Scapar, I’ve taken on many responsibilities and been completely dedicated to the project. Over time, without realizing it, I ended up surpassing my own limits,” Kuwabara tells us.

“The decisions were also mine,” he clarifies, “and there were certainly aspects where I could have acted better, both as a chef and as a person. Both the businessman and the chef are Japanese, a detail to keep in mind when trying to better understand what happened. The toxic work environment that has long been accepted and continues to be considered normal in Japanese society seems to be another element in this story.”

With this bitter chapter now closed, the chef says he's looking ahead. “As a cook, I feel I still have so much to learn. After more than twenty years in the profession, I still feel the same curiosity I had when I started,” says Kuwabara, who spent years at Dos Palillos alongside Albert Raurich.

Although he confirms that “there are several interesting projects underway” and rumors pointed to the opening of his own restaurant next fall, “it’s still too early to talk about them,” he notes. “What I can say is that I will continue working to develop a cuisine that reflects my identity and my understanding of gastronomy.” Given what he achieved almost single-handedly at Scapar in just a year and a half, it’s clear we’ll be hearing more about Kuwabara in the city.

“Everything I experienced there, both the good and the difficult, has helped me grow,” he adds, as if writing Scapar's epitaph. A restaurant that has the dubious honor of becoming part of the dark history of the hospitality industry. Although perhaps, with time, only the anecdote of that Japanese restaurant in Barcelona that received a Michelin star and never reopened will remain.