22 » OpenRoad Driver
You have restaurants in Japan and now restaurants
in Canada. Tell us the difference between running
restaurants in Japan and Canada.
SN: Of course there are so many, especially the cultural differences.
But basically people love delicious food and that’s the same all over
the world. The cooking process and method could be different, but
everything else is pretty much the same.
In Vancouver the food industry is very competitive, as
well as the price. How do you make Miku and the Aburi
group different from your competitors?
SN: We don’t want to i nvolve ourselves in that competition. We’ve
been working so hard to make sure that what we want is being
achieved, so it doesn’t matter about other people or groups. It’s our
dream and vision, and we’re trying to make that happen. If we have
to compete in one thing, we want to raise our management system.
Our system is very strong, so this is the one thing where we can
compete.
I noticed that Seigo-san has some restaurants named
after your children. But you have six children. Will you
name other restaurants after your other children?
SN: No, I started with the first restaurant, Miku. Miku means
beautiful sky, and Canadians like summer time and the beautiful
sky. In the winter season there might be a bit of cloud, but that’s
okay. If you come to my restaurant feeling like a beautiful sky, and
then you think of Miku, ah, a nice name! The next concept was
Minami. Minami is a good area in Japan. It means beautiful and
red… sunset, warmth and good atmosphere. Steak and Aburi sushi
are the concepts. And after that will be Hana. Men and boy’s names
(laughing), nothing yet!
You talked about the concepts of Miku and Minami. Tell
us a little bit about your new concept, Hana.
SN: We created different brands because we wanted to make every
single person experience what we can offer. It isn’t too high end or
too casual. So, after Minami, we’re creating Hana. That covers more
premium and executive-style dining to enjoy your time and the
moment of experience. Of course, it might be more expensive but it’s
important to create a moment where we can innovate and appreciate
what we have.
So that is on the high end. How about more on the entry
level? Do you see your restaurant group also going into
that?
SN: When it comes to a higher-end experience, you need to be more
artistic, to plate nicely and be more styled. When it comes to casual,
you can create 100 of something, and it must be easy to copy and
paste. That’s why we want to focus on both ways and train people so
they can have more opportunities open for them either way.