Endo at the Rotunda・ sushi chef・ Kazutoshi Endo “Finding my Taigi 大義”

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March 2020.

The storm of Corona virus has hit hard England.

One Michelin stared restaurant – Endo at the Rotunda – its sushi chef, Kazutoshi Endo, has thrown himself into the turbulence to help people during the pandemic.

I hear the story of his fights and the path of finding his destiny over the last few months.

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*****

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In June, one morning on Wednesday at 11.30am,

Endo san answered my phone call.

It had been a while since I last spoke to him, before the lockdown had been declared.

I had only exchanged a few texts with him.

Energetic, is the word to describe Endo san in short.

He has a special gravity.

He draws everyone in with his attractive demeanour, always uplifting with his great spirit, but today, his voice was rather quiet.

I had already explained to him the purpose of this interview.

I wanted a record of his work during the lockdown, so anyone can find it and see it on the web.

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“There were some interviews from various media yesterday, but most of the questions were about my career as a sushi chef.”

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His tone of voice was telling that there was much more to tell.

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The lockdown applied in England from the end of March, and all hospitality business confronted closing their doors.

The government swiftly issued the support of 80% of income, and then, each restaurant faced a myriad of different situations.

There were the ones who has enough cash to stay closed at least for coming weeks or months,

the ones who started takeaways to survive, to keep business going to support staff or their business,

and the ones who had to end their business permanently…

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“Did you manage to obtain full support from the government scheme?”

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I didn’t intend to start our conversation with this question.

Japanese etiquette is to avoid asking in such a straightforward manner and even before asking if he has been safe and well.

That made me feel bad, but at the same time, I could be foreseeing the stories of that he could do all the voluntary works because he was in the safe hands, being fully supported.

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“I didn’t tell to anyone that I was going to do this voluntary work. I decided I’ll do it and I just started it. So no one knew what I was going to do and I even didn’t know much about the government support scheme”

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I felt surprised.

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“But everyone who’s in our business were really thankful to me when they found it out” 

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He started telling me the story.

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I WANT TO REPAY

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Endo at The Rotunda opened April 2019 on the top floor of Television Centre, a fashionable new development in West London.

After only five and half months, he achieved his first Michelin star.

From that moment, Endo san started to feel he needed to do more to support society.

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In January, Corona pandemic hit the world, first in Asia.

Endo san was watching the news coming from Japan and knew that this virus will soon arrive to England.

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On the 23rd of March, England went into the lockdown.

The whole first week Endo san couldn’t stop thinking about what he should do, what he can do as a sushi chef, but it was too overwhelming, and he couldn’t find the right answer.

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Most of Europe was entering a critical state.

Devastatingly large fatality numbers.

Strict police enforcement of lockdown was applied in many countries.

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“I have a friend who is a doctor at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, and he told me that all the staff were exhausted and no time to eat… When I heard this, I thought that’s what I can do”

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Endo san was born in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, the third generation in a traditional sushi restaurant.

He trained under a famous sushi chef in Tokyo and moved to London in 2007.

Since then, he worked in New York, Dubai and Hong Kong but he says it’s London that made him to become a mature sushi chef.

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“I feel a debt of gratitude towards this city”

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He decided to make and provide roll sushi boxes for people on the frontline of the crisis.

He tackled it straight away.

The box he created contained four large size sushi rolls.

Each roll had Unagi Japanese eel, Dashi maki egg omelet and soy flavoured Kanpyo dried gourd.

Those sushi were really generous in size and ingredients, you would be delighted to see this quality in Japan.　

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“In April, we made 150-200 boxes a day.

At The Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge, there was a drive-through service pit for police and ambulance staff.

We provided sushi boxes there.

Everyone who came were surprised to see sushi there… I saw many beautiful smiles.

Our team delivered to some hospitals in London too.

By May, I heard many volunteers were bringing meals to hospitals and it seemed enough food was there, but I was told sushi was very popular, so we didn’t stop and kept at it twice a week”

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“How many boxes have been made?”

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“Well I think a few….”

grinned, Endo san.

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Simple calculations tell us roughly 9000 boxes have been made by the end of June.

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“Around this time, I started thinking I’ve got to do something for our customers”

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TEARS FOR TAKEAWAYS

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“That takeaway bento is my expression of gratefulness”

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When the lockdown was declared and restaurants were closed,

there was a clear change for all of us, how we ate and what to eat.

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The supermarkets shelves were empty.

There were queues outside the shops with people in hope to secure what was left.

You traveled to a small shop attached to a petrol station because someone told you there’s food there.

Or you find yourself staring at the screen of Ocado, finding 5600 people waiting before you can log in, and it’s only at 6 am.

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The first few days may have passed by baking with your children and cooking new recipes at home with limited ingredients.

After a while, you really started missing the food, professionally chosen then cooked with skill and care.

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Amid this mood, Endo san announced he would set to create his takeaways.

In under an hour of the booking line opening, endo’s takeaway boxes were sold out, 1200 of them.

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Is the craze for the gourmet food still very much alive during this pandemic?

Just before pandemic, many people were jetting around the world only to eat.

The high-end restaurants seats were some of the most desired tickets with those places booked up good months or years ahead.

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“Everything has changed entirely”

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whispered Endo san.

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The new era is clearly here, which leads us to ask the fundamental question.

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“What is quintessence of food?”

“What does food mean to us?”

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Endo’s gourmet sushi bento maybe regarded as a symbol of a high-end food craze.

But certainly, for some people, it wasn’t.

The bento has a different meaning for them, far beyond high-end gourmet takeaway.

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“Some of the customers never imagined I would personally deliver the bento boxes to their doorstep”

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A few cried when they received the bento.

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No one would have comprehended the circumstances that people shed tears for takeaway food.

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“I simply wanted to see them, see their faces and say hello, to make sure both of us are well. I thought that gives us encouragements and happiness”

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A BENTO MADE OF GRATITUDE

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The sushi bento consists of two layers; an upper box made of bamboo skins, the lower specially made wooden box and then wrapped with Japanese cloth.

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In the upper box, Bara Chirashi sits neatly.

It is very much like his restaurant signature course; sashimi of aged sea bass and sea bream together with Otoro – the most luxurious cut of tuna, delicately cooked oysters and Unagi eel, soft boiled lobster, and slices of grilled Wagyu beef.

It’s an all-star line up

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The lower box contains his famous Wagyu sandwiches, the beef is juicy rare.

Alongside the sandwiches are maki rolls filled with huge chunks of tuna.

Then you see the salad. The bright greens of selected seasonal fresh vegetables.

Asparagus, cabbage, carrots, mushrooms… these humble vegetables are an unexpected explosion of flavor, vibrant and lively.

Scenes of bright green farms flash in your mind.

A surprise, you will find a small jar of caviar in the corner.

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Every single ingredient is expressing the chef’s heart and spirit.

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Each bento has a handwritten message from the chef.

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“My purpose was to connect three of us, the customers, the producers and me.

After the restaurants closed, many of my suppliers faced difficulties… they started really struggling.

Some are on the edge of breaking.

I felt a responsibility to them, I felt I must keep buying their food.

Some of them were producing goods specially for me.

I wanted to show my appreciation for my customers.

When you put all of this in mind, only choice I could make is that to make bento boxes without any profit, and we needed work as volunteer.

I told my young staff if they are not for it then they don’t need to come.

But everyone joined me.

They told me we all must do it as a team, without anyone missing, then this bento will have a meaning”

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Priced at seventy pounds these bento boxes are at the top end for a takeaway. However, if you consider all the factors; exquisite ingredients, 15% of the sales to go to charity, physical workload of the highly skilled staff, and most importantly, the enormous efforts of everyone who were involved, it is very reasonable.

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Endo san buys fish from mostly in the south of English coast.

One fisherman lamented to him.

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”Endo, why no one buys my fish?”

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A couple of fishermen even didn’t know that England was in lockdown and restaurants were shut.

They are living life far from all the heat of current events.

Endo san realised many who had fished for generations, were now facing to lose everything.

He was determined to save them.

It was a devastatingly hard time for him physically and mentally, but he gave his full support for them as much he could. There were many challenges in front of him and he gave his most… It was a personal effort and many tears were shed.

Half the fishermen couldn’t keep their business.

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Fishermen are not the only people which make restaurant Endo what it is.

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The equally popular Miyazaki wagyu beef are supplied by an English meat merchant who managed to obtain the one of the most desired wagyu beef.

The tailored caviar is created by craftsmen with adjusting the percentage of salt contains and marinade with konbu seaweed to Endo san’s special requirements.

Seasonal food does not wait. Fresh fragrant truffles were gathered and lingering to be bought. The vegetables growing in the East Sussex were still getting harvested in the pandemic.

His English Lamb was now almost ready after developing a new ageing process with a farmer in Cornwall.

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His team, friends were struggling.

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“I have been questioning myself, why I run a restaurant … ”

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DETERMINATION

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“Both my mother and my father, the latter who died three years ago, were very strict raising me”

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Born as the third generation of a traditional sushi restaurant in Japan means, his destiny was set at birth, to take over father’s position when grown up to become a sushi chef.

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As like other long established houses, Endo san had to follow rigid disciplines and take many traditional art and cultural lessons, such as Chado (tea ceremony), Shodo (Japanese calligraphy ), Nihonbuyo (Japanese traditional dance performance) as well as regular visits to Kabuki performance theatre to acquire knowledge.

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“My mother even demanded to the principal of my primary school to take some time off to do these lessons”

laughs Endo san.

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He was allowed to attend University, which was often unusual for the children of traditional merchant houses, as they join their family business straight after high school.

After Endo san graduated university, he had to choose, either to take his dream job or to be his father’s apprentice.

Endo san wanted to become a sports teacher at school, an excellent sportsman he won many National university wrestling titles in his youth.

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“But my parents were determined, and I was told if I wasn’t following the family business then I had to throw my family name and leave from the house”

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Endo san could not leave his family, so he became a trainee sushi chef.

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After several years of hard training under his father and another famous sushi chef in Tokyo, unexpectedly he received an interest from London restaurant Zuma, a restaurant famous for its trendy Japanese food and atmosphere, for him to work as the head sushi chef.

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He flew to London and visited several of the group’s restaurants, meeting staff dining at their branches, but his mind was still in Tokyo.

On the last night of touring London, he was talking with a Japanese chef who works in the Zuma group, over glasses of sake drinks.

As the night advanced, the chef finally spoke his mind.

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“Endo san, we need you here. We need you to make our future of sushi culture of London, to build and to flourish”

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A shock ran through Endo san’s body.

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He had been destined in his life to become part of and to protect his family business but now, he was in the position to take big responsibility for sushi culture in London, which was building up to a new level.

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Stunned, Endo san decided to move to England.

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The next day after he went back to Japan, he told his parents about the decision.

They simply stated, “Well, I see”

I still can imagine, the parents’ deep and complexed feelings, their responsibilities to the previous generations, hardships, expectations and care.

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In 2007, Endo san landed and stood at the sushi counter in London.

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*****

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Endo san names Rose Gray, chef and co-founder of legendary restaurant River Cafe who died in 2010, as his hero chef.

She would visit Zuma and sat in front of the counter seat and would say “I only eat Endo’s sushi”.

“So delicious, so delicious” she used to say with a big smile.

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One day she invited Endo san to her restaurant.

She showed him around in the kitchen and explained everything in detail.

What Endo san was most attracted to her enormous love of local, local farmers, local products.

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“Since that day, I worked at her kitchen as an apprentice on my day off, Sundays. I did it for one year”

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Rose kept encouraging him and her words stayed in Endo san’s mind all the time.

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“She told me I must quit working under someone after 10 years and start my own restaurant. I then must challenge for a Michelin star. She emphasized I have a duty to send out message to the world”

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Endo san wept loudly on the stage of Michelin award in 2019.

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“I just wanted to say thank you to Rose on that stage, but I was overwhelmed, and my words couldn’t come out…. Everyone was worried me and wondering what was happening, but I just wanted to tell Rose that I’ve got a Michelin star as she told me.”

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******

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Endo san has had many dramatic moments in his life as a sushi chef, but he says this pandemic made everything completely different.

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“Everything has changed” he says.

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“Until now I may have thought that I could rely on someone, someone will help me, or that it’ll be too impudent if I take the role… but now, I have realised I’ve got many responsibilities and I have many things I must pursue.”

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“What is it?”

I asked.

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“Taigi – a great cause, I think….”

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During the lockdown, each of us confronted with a different decision on how to act, like the characters in Albert Camus’s “The Plague”.

We then may have found unknown parts of ourselves.

Only Endo san knows which character he is, but the certain thing is that he chose to act not just to be as a chef, but as a human.

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“After all, people cannot live alone “

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Even amid social distancing, he now says he wants to be even “closer” to customers.

He wants to share more with everyone.

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“Joy…., beauty….., the land….., people’s work….. and the sense of human’s touch”

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He says he wants to take time to spend with each of us to understand and share what he admires.

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As the hospitality business around the world is slowly reopening, I wonder what the world of food will become and where it is heading to.

No one knows the answer yet.

We all keep walking with our fears.

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Many things have been transformed within only a few weeks and we can feel that even more changes are to come.

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Will technology conquer us?

Will the genetics of food be shifted dramatically?

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Modern technology has been rapidly brought into our daily life.

We did Zoom drinking, had dinner ordered via Uber Eats, some may have taken online wine tasting course or enjoyed watching top chef’s cookery sessions via streaming app.

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As the concerns of environmental issues accelerate, the pandemic may trigger another rapid development in the technology of food itself and may even create new types of food.

We cannot stop this, and it won’t stop.

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Still, what Endo san is showing us by his acts during the pandemic is that a value of humans, the energy of mankind is irreplaceable.

Meet, talk, feel and physically communicate.

These interactions have been carried out for thousands of years as we, humans have existed.

While some of us believe this lasts forever, this naive hope will may be dragged into a huge wave of the new era, as the violent storm of “changes” will try to swallow the hope.

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Still though, I believe that the interaction of our flesh and our hearts are not lost on human honour, at least for now and for a while…..

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The questions Endo san has been asking us during this lockdown.

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The questions kept in a box which we opened up at this pandemic.

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“What is quintessence of food?”

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Endo san is not stopping to show it to us. 　

He is in search of his Taigi. 　

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