Paradise Yamamoto is the known as the "Gyoza King" and his exclusive Tokyo-based, members-only, reservations-only hideout known as Mamgyoen (Vine Garden) operates at an undisclosed location and serves a maximum of six diners each night at a single table. Big-name celebrities are among the fans of his irresistible dumpling creations. When he's not preparing outrageously delicious Gyoza for his exclusive clientele, Paradise fulfills his role as Japan's first official World Santa Claus Congress representative, visiting children's hospitals and homes and appearing on TV and radio broadcasts during the holiday season. He is also a mambo artist and creator of "mambonsai" (a term he coined); a pop-culture riff on the traditional Japanese art of bonsai, where miniature plant scenes are supplemented with fanciful or kitschy figurines.
