Perseverance amid adverse circumstances gives avenue

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

A soba house built on the sheer grit and wit of a chef who simply dreamt of owning a restaurant distinct for ramen – his motherland’s national dish – and also making it up there has made the UAE its first home in the Middle East.

This is the Konjiki Hatotogisu (Golden Bird) whose Abu Dhabi-based franchisee, Australian-Chinese Philip Chan, like soba house owner-Michelin Star Chef Itushi Yamamoto, loves challenges and has taken circumstances as opportunities.

The restaurant set apart from the rest at the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, recognisable for its light and minimalist lay-out and design with elegant vases and jars as well as ikebanas and an open kitchen, was opened to the public on Tuesday.

In attendance were Japanese Consul General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates Sekiguchi Noburu and Majid Al Futtaim managing director Hussein Moussa.

Managing partner Chan, in the restaurant business since 2014 seeing opportunities of addressing specific niches like the Filipino and Italian communities in the capital, told Gulf Today: “I came across this brand because of my love and passion for food. Ramen has been quite popular in Dubai for the past two to three years now.

“We looked at the ramen restaurants. UAE residents are into noodles. We thought that this is something worth looking into. Of course the best noodles are from Japan,” he continued and so the invitation for Yamamoto to come over and at least check the environment.

Ahead of the inauguration, Yamamoto who, after the ribbon cutting, assisted by a team of young multi-ethnic chefs, attended meticulously to each and every order, was interviewed.

He opened “a small shop, 249.06 square feet with eight seats in a low traffic alleyway in Shibuya, Tokyo in 2006. There was almost no customer and I could sell only five bowls of ramen a day. Days went on and it was really hard to live. I began selling household goods. I was constantly thinking how I could get customers; it became mentally tough.”

Why not then concoct best ramen “by improving the taste, making it unique in Japan that no one can imitate it?”

Yamamoto made each night just like any other ordinary daytime to masterfully craft: “I continued to make prototypes. I found myself sometimes not sleeping at all and if ever, using only two chairs at my shop two times a week.”

Three years passed, the five bowls a day became 40 bowls a day on the average, sometimes. Life became tougher not only financially again because both physical and mental exhaustion continually gripped him. He kept on creating the most unique ramen that the 40 bowls a day became 60. Long queues became an almost daily occurrence.

The big bang started happening in 2015 when the Michelin Guide began checking for the best ramen house and his small shop was awarded the Bib Gourmand for the good food served at affordable prices. Three years later came the Michelin One Star.

Looking back, Yamamoto said: “That was one of only three in the world. But, I have not given up developing the taste. I am continuing to improve the taste with the aim of becoming the world’s number one ramen shop and creator.”

Fast forward, from the restaurant on Tuesday, Chan said one thing that made the Yamamoto ramen one of the best in the world and which made him decide to have that in the UAE slowly but surely is its clam-based soup “which has become popular over time.”

Mentioning in his speech that the Michelin Star restaurant has also been fluttering in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Canada and that ramen is originally from China “improved” in so many ways in “many parts of Japan,” Consul General Noburu expressed hope that UAE residents and guests would also get to experience and enjoy the “authentic Japanese Ramen produced with a thorough examination of taste and careful choices of ingredients.”