Kizuna – the bond 絆

 

Spring is approaching for the third time since I’ve started new chapter of my life in London. Through whole new series of challenges – being an executive chef for the first time, adjusting myself to new environment and understanding the diverse palette of Western culture – though I still find myself being lost time to time, the picture I had in my mind gradually but surely started to form its appearance.

Uncountable encounters with new associates and reunions with trusty fellows from past, “kizuna” with those who surround me have been giving me unlimited supply of support.

Fishermen and hunters who deliver fresh fish and game on daily basis; farmers who weed the land every day and aim to produce highest quality vegetables through trials and errors; the staff of organic stock farm who devotedly hand-make compost in the enormous land of Wales; every time I hold the ingredients in my hands, I think of the passionate faces of those who dedicatedly continue to deliver and making the Umu experience possible.

Last but not least, I am sending my greatest gratitude quietly every day to the staffs of Umu who go through all the goods and bads together at the restaurant in ever-so hectic days.

ロンドンに来て、3度目の春を迎えようとしています。総料理長としての初めてのチャレンジで、未だに戸惑うことばかりですが、ロンドンに来て以来、心に思い描いていたことがようやく形になりつつあります。

多くの人と出会い、昔からの信頼する仲間と再開し、多くの人との絆に助けられています。毎日釣りたての魚や鳥獣を送ってくれる漁師や猟師たち。毎日雑草と戦いながら試行錯誤をしながら野菜を作り続けてくれる農家の方々。ウェールズの広大な牧場で堆肥作りに精を出す牧場のスタッフ。手元に届く食材を見るたびに多くの笑顔を思い出します。

そしてなにより、忙しい毎日を共に過ごしてくれているUMUのスタッフには、感謝感謝の毎日です。