Michelin took away Sézanne’s 3 stars. Why is new head chef Steve Lancaster so glad?

The shiro amadai (white tilefish) served at Sézanne in Tokyo’s Marunouchi district never see the auction floor of a fish market. Caught off Himi, a small coastal city in Japan’s Toyama prefecture, the fish are selected before they reach the market and sent directly to the restaurant. There, new executive chef Steve Lancaster ages them, grills them over charcoal and serves them with a fish-based Albufera sauce finished with a touch of foie gras and fermented Okinawan yellow carrot. “Amadai is a...