********** Yoshinori Ishii Executive chef of Japanese restaurant UMU in London ******************

------------------ 英国の日本料理店 UMU 総料理長 石井義典 のつれづれなる話 ------------



Sunday 4 November 2012

Frieze Masters



Frieze Masters
Frieze Art Fair, the globally well-known event among the world of modern art, was held at Regent’s Park from 9th to 14th of October. Umu had a temporary pop-up branch at Frieze Masters, the site of comparatively exclusive exhibition secluded from the main event.
I must admit, since we received the request in opening pop-up few months ago, I’ve felt a tad of agitation from having to cater for such renowned event, also considering our rather small-sized team and this event being first huge opportunity since the Davos meeting last year. However, in spite of my concerns, we accomplished great success in credit to every member of my team who started the preparation a month back and those who came to help at the event from our sister restaurants of MARC.

During this exhausting week, some staff voluntarily helped at the main restaurant after working non-stop from dawn to evening at the site of event, or some selflessly gave up their day off to come join us at the event to support. The energetic faces of dedicated staff despite their hard schedule were very memorable and impressive.
To all the staff who worked hard and well in unfamiliar environment, to those who maintained the standard of Umu at the main restaurant even with shortage of hands, I would like to say massive thank you to all the people were involved in achieving this huge success.

10月9日から14日にかけて、リージェントパークでFrieze art fairが開催されました。近代アートの世界では世界的に有名になったFriezeのフェアーですが、その中でもよりハイクラスな出展がされる別会場、Frieze MasterUMUはポップアップレストランとして出店しました。

数ヶ月前に依頼があってから、UMUにとっても昨年のダボス会議以来の大きなイベントとなり、小さなレストランでの大きなケータリングは不安で一杯でしたが、約1ヶ月前からスタッフ総動員で用意し、Marcの姉妹レストランで働く多くのスタッフや、臨時で手伝いに来てくれた人達に助けられ、大成功に終わることができました。
早朝、まだ暗いうちから夕方までノンストップでイベント会場で働き、そのままUMUに戻って夜の営業を深夜までこなしたり、休日返上で手伝いに来るスタッフの生き生きとした顔がとても印象的でした。
イベント会場で奮闘してくれたスタッフ、少ない人数で通常と全く変わらないサービスをUMUで続けていてくれたスタッフ、全てのUMUのスタッフに感謝、感謝の1週間でした。