When I attended a wedding as a child, the most beautiful and delicious food I had ever seen and eaten was served before my eyes. What I remember even more than the surprise I felt when I tasted it was the look of amazement on the faces of the guests, who exclaimed, "Wow, that's amazing!" I never thought adults would look so surprised. The shock I experienced at such a young age made me want to become a chef and make food that would amaze everyone.

I went to a high school that offered a cooking course, and specialized in Western cuisine for three years, which is synonymous with wedding cuisine. Of course, when I was job hunting, I looked around at companies that handled wedding cuisine. After visiting several companies, I chose HAPPO-EN because I felt their hospitality, which was to face each and every customer. And the deciding factor of all was Thrush Café's open kitchen. I was struck by the sight of the chefs brilliantly preparing the food right in front of the customers, and I forgot that I tend to get nervous in front of people and thought, "This is it!"

After joining the company, I was first assigned to the main building and focused on wedding food. This is where I hit my first wall. When explaining the food to customers, I was so nervous that I would often freeze up and not be able to speak. At times like that, my senior was always one step behind me, watching over me and waiting for me, believing that "It's okay. You can do it." It would have been easier to lend a helping hand or take over the explanation, but because they believed that I "could definitely do it," I was able to speak even in front of customers before I knew it.

I was also blessed with the experience of cooking outside of HAPPO-EN. The most challenging experience was when several of HAPPO-EN 's cooking staff went to a Michelin-starred restaurant to provide support. It was an exciting experience to watch a top chef's techniques up close while creating very elaborate dishes for hundreds of guests, and I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I succeeded. In fact, later on, a friend of the chef's who was a chef held his wedding ceremony at HAPPO-EN. In a sense, it was a wedding reception for someone with the highest level of "palate". However, I thought this was a big opportunity, so I boldly volunteered to be in charge of preparation and ordering, and for the first time I was in charge of giving instructions to those around me. It took a lot of courage, but with the support of my seniors, the reception was a success. My confidence led to my subsequent transfer to Thrush Café.

In the winter of my third year, I was finally transferred to Thrush Café, which I had always dreamed of. At Thrush Café, the menu changes every two months, so I often have the chance to develop new menu items, and my ideas and knowledge are constantly tested. In this environment, my knowledge of vegetables has improved dramatically. I would go to farms, learn from the producers about the cultivation methods and characteristics of the vegetables they grow, harvest them, cook them, and serve them to customers. As I spent my days doing this, my love for vegetables grew, and my knowledge of "making the most of the flavor of the ingredients" rather than "adding flavor" deepened. One of the things that this environment has given me is the awareness of making sustainable dishes that allow you to enjoy all the ingredients, without wasting even parts of the vegetables that I would have thrown away before, such as the roots.

It may seem like three years of smooth sailing, but of course there were failures as there were many challenges. For example, when I was put in charge of ordering and preparing, I tried to order ingredients for the number of expected customers. I made this decision to avoid food waste, but my senior pointed out to me that "even if there is a dish that customers want to eat on the weekend, we may not be able to serve it." Indeed, the amount and frequency of purchases are only for our convenience. It was an incident that made me reflect on the fact that I had not been paying attention to the customer's perspective. Everything I do and the decisions I make are connected to the customer. Therefore, there is no job in cooking that I can slack off on, except for cooking. I was once again humbled by the greatness of the task I was entrusted with.

I joined the company four years ago, drawn to the open kitchen at Thrush Café. My dream was renewed. The company announced that they would open the first HAPPO-EN-en restaurant outside the garden. The restaurant would have a completely different concept from HAPPO-EN 's previous restaurants, and would be high-quality and, like Thrush Café, would have chefs cook right in front of the customers. From the moment I heard about it, I thought, "I want to work here!"

Up until now, I have mainly been serving Western cuisine, but Kappo is serving Japanese cuisine. In fact, when I was in high school, I was very bad at filleting fish, and I had a hard time passing the exam. That feeling of inadequacy was also the reason why I did not pursue Japanese cuisine. However, now, strangely enough, I naturally feel positive and think, "Let's give it a try. If I practice, I'm sure I will get better." The atmosphere of the cooking team is such that they boldly entrust young people with tasks, are tolerant of failure, and guide them to use them in the next step. And I think that the presence of HAPPO-EN, which shows me exciting options one after another, has changed my personality. With a goal of a new dream stage, I first applied for a transfer to the restaurant HAPPO-EN because I admired the chefs working in the open kitchen at Thrush Café. I hope that someone will see me working in HAPPO-EN. My life as a chef has been guided by my aspirations, and I would be so happy if I could then become someone else's inspiration and set a guidepost for them.