Taro Daniel Food Court: Pass the oysters, hold the latte!

World No. 76 Taro Daniel has fond memories at the BNP Paribas Open, where he upset five-time champion Novak Djokovic in 2018. 

Six years on, the 31-year-old will take Stadium 3 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Friday to face 10th seed Alex de Minaur in the second round. ATPTour.com sat down with the one-time tour-level titlist to discuss the diet he keeps to compete at the highest level.

Let’s say you have to cook tonight, whether for yourself or for friends. What would you cook and why?
I am a huge fan of intestines from meat. It’s a bit weird. I love liver. So I’d probably cook beef liver because it’s not that difficult to cook and I'd pair it with a nice red wine or something. That’s probably all I could do.

How would you rate your cooking skills?
One or two. I don’t cook generally. I’m just travelling. I’ve never had a kitchen, so I can’t cook. Only breakfast.

What do you cook for breakfast?
Just eggs and then some vegetables, ham and cheese and toast.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
I don’t consider anything to be junk, it just depends on moderation. I love craft beer so I guess that’s a guilty pleasure for me as an athlete.

What is your go-to meal the night before a match?
Ideally something Japanese that’s rich in carbs, so udon or ramen and some protein as well. Some carb-heavy meal like that.

What do you eat right before a match?
Right before the match is similar, very carb oriented. If possible, less sauce. So like plain pasta, noodles, or rice with a little bit of chicken. But no sauce chicken.

What do you snack on during a match? Has that changed over the years and if so, what did you used to eat?
I’m bigger on eating properly beforehand. Even if you are nervous and full, I make sure to eat before. During a match I nibble on stuff like a banana or if it’s a five-set match, I’ll eat something drier to keep absorbing liquids.

What might you eat during a non-tournament week that you wouldn’t eat during a tournament?
I generally eat similar but I add stuff like raw oysters, which during a tournament is a little bit risky. When I’m not playing, I love oysters.

If you go to one of your favourite restaurants, what would you order?
Raw oysters. My ideal situation is somewhere in northern France, the oysters are a little bit saltier over there. Japan has great oysters but they are a little bit sweeter and creamier, so I prefer the French salty ones.

What is something people might be surprised to hear you enjoy?
I think the more gamey stuff. I love when people hunt stuff and cook that for me. I have so much respect for that. I think I would enjoy southern cuisine a lot. Anything like that, I’m all for it.

What is the best meal from your home country Japan?
I think it’s just the whole cuisine because it’s so varied. There’s so many different things from so many different regions. It’s the professionalism behind it. The very low level of Japanese food is very high, so I think that’s what to be proud of and not one particular dish.

You go to any place and pay five bucks and you still have a decent, healthy-ish food. That’s what is important for me, not the expensive, good sushi or something.

What are some of the differences between some of the Japanese regions?
In Kobe, that’s where the Kobe beef is from so the food there tends to be a little bit fattier. Then you go around the coast and you tend to get stuff like oysters, sashimi. In other places you get stuff like fried pork. You go north and you get a lot of different types of seafood like crab. Different cities have different types of noodles.

What are foods you refuse to eat?
It’s not food, but I’m not a huge fan of lattes. That’s not coffee, I find that a little bit childish. I love coffee. I am a coffee snob and a latte is not a coffee. I get a straight espresso or if not, I get like a macchiato or a cortado and just neutralise [it]. Some hipster coffee places are a little too sour. You put in a little milk to flatten the flavour a bit.

So there’s no foods you despise?
I’m not completely allergic, but I’m a bit sensitive to peanuts. So maybe peanuts.

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