A bartender with a turbulent life, and sometimes a company cafeteria member. The man behind Monosus' "Itadakimasu"
Interview Bar dAZE Tsuyoshi Nonaka

The company cafeteria, which is held twice a week, supports the lunchtimes of Monosus employees. The person who will be appearing in this issue is Go Nonaka, who has been preparing and delivering delicious company lunches every week since 2012.
We interviewed Go at Bar dAZE in Harajuku, where he is the owner and where he met CEO Hayashi.

Rain or Shine

Undeterred by the Wind

Not even afraid of the summer heat

Tsuyoshi-san drives his bike to deliver company food...

Although we were worried that it was starting to rain, Gou didn't care and arrived briskly on his motorbike carrying a large rice cooker and a pot of miso soup.

He then promptly gives instructions to us, the company cafeteria committee, and dashes off again.

I have eaten almost everything from the company cafeteria that was always brought to me in this way for about four years since the cafeteria started. There were also dishes that I couldn't make at home, such as curry with peaches, because Go-san had received a lot of them!

The delicious company cafeteria not only helped me put on some weight around my belly (lol), but it also increased the amount of conversation I had with people from other departments that I wouldn't normally talk to.
On company cafeteria days, everyone eats together at a table in the conference room, regardless of department.
Delicious food also stimulates conversation. Once I start talking at the company cafeteria, communication thereafter becomes smoother, so the company cafeteria is an essential part of my life.

As long as the company cafeteria continues, I will keep eating there!

So, Gou-san,

Please be very careful to avoid accidents, and I hope you will continue to be healthy and create delicious company cafeteria food.

Thank you so much as always!!!

(Corporate Dining Committee Member, Okubo Chikako )

Go-san, the man behind Monosus's cafeteria: A digest of the history

Gou became the owner of dAZE eight years ago. Many employees remember him delivering meals to the company cafeteria and working as a dashing bartender at the company's anniversary party, but I think most people don't know what kind of background Gou has had that has led him to where he is today.
When I asked him about his days before starting dAZE, Gou smiled and said, "If I were to talk about it in detail it would take a whole day, so I'll just give you a super-digest version."

"After graduating from high school, I found a job at a jewelry store, where I could work on Tuesdays off, just like my girlfriend, who was a hairdresser at the time. The job required hardcore sales calls, but I guess it suited me, because I quickly became a top salesman and went independent at the age of 23.
However, he went bankrupt within a year and a half, then started a mobile phone store with his cousin and expanded the number of stores to five, but things didn't go well and he left the company.
So he decided to quit everything, moved in with a junior colleague, and worked part-time as a bartender at the bar where the senior colleague worked at night.
The bar had some really nice speakers, and the president of the importer was there as a customer. So, when I told him my story, he asked me to come work for him, and that's how I ended up joining my previous job at the speaker importer.
I was working on speakers for concert tours, and I accompanied Kazumasa Oda on his tours around the country, doing things like selling to local PA companies."

The speakers installed at dAZE were from the company I was working for at the time.

This is a story full of ups and downs, but we'll leave out the drama that overflows in the details. If you want to hear more about the many episodes, please come and talk to us at the counter at dAZE.

"After that, I got caught up in some internal trouble and had to quit my job, and the vice president introduced me to this bar. I was hired as the manager and bartender for my first year. In my second year, I bought the bar and made it my own eight years ago. It was around that time that Hayashi-san from Monosas, who happened to live nearby, came over for a drink."

At Go's invitation, Hayashi joined the basketball community in the Harajuku area and began playing basketball together, deepening their bond beyond that of owner and customer.

"The idea of a company cafeteria first came up about four years ago, just as we started serving lunches. Hayashi asked me, 'Can you do it?' I'd never done it before, but I said, 'Yes.' I immediately said yes.
When I was working in sound, catering services often came to concert venues. I had a vague idea of what it would be like. I thought it would be efficient to have the tableware always on hand, put the food in a stockpot, bring it over, and heat it up without transferring it to another place."

This time, we asked Hayashi again what inspired him to start a company cafeteria.
At Monosus, the predecessor of the company cafeteria was a monthly event called "Café Monosus" where Hayashi would cook lunch for everyone. He wanted to increase the frequency of these events and create a system where everyone could gather around the table more regularly. That was the trigger for him to request the company cafeteria.

Cafe Monosus (2011-2012). Once a month, Hayashi and other employees would join together to prepare lunch for the staff.

The menu he is most confident in is taco rice. The "Company Dining Notebook" connects Go-san and Monosus.

The company cafeteria notebook is a way for employees to share their impressions of the cafeteria. This notebook has been running since 2012 and is now in its fifth volume.

"At first, I only went once a week, so to be honest, I thought I could just arrange our lunch menu and bring it over. But after about a month, I started to feel like, 'Curry every week isn't good...' so I asked my wife, who is a good cook, if there was anything we could do about the menu.
Then, she thought of various things. Since many of the people there live alone, she makes dishes that taste like home-cooked meals, such as stews that are not often served at restaurants."

A wide variety of menu items in the company cafeteria, including Japanese, Western and Chinese cuisine

On Go's day, the main dish is decided, and on his wife's day, a menu of dishes reminiscent of mother's cooking is lined up. The employees also enjoy the difference in the mannerisms, saying "Today is his wife's day."

"My favorite dish is taco rice. It's popular in the restaurant, and although it's usually made with beef, I use ground chicken and soy sauce. Recently, the members of the company cafeteria committee got a lot of praise for my kenchinjiru soup. I didn't have any taro, so I used potatoes instead, and made it in a hurry, but it turned out delicious (laughs).
On the other hand, I think I did it a long time ago with the mysterious combination of Zaru Soba and rice. I think I was extremely stressed out, and while I had the image of a soba restaurant lunch, I didn't have the energy to make the rice into a kayaku rice dish or a oyakodon. It was such an aggressive combination that even now people say to me, "That was a surprise." Sorry."

What connects Gou with his employees is a company cafeteria notebook where employees can write down their thoughts and requests about the menu items.

The staff writes down their thoughts after the meal, with some fun comments accompanied by illustrations.

"My wife, in particular, is always wondering, 'How was the seasoning?' But I'm not going to see everyone eating it after I've brought it over, right? That's why the cafeteria notebook is so important. She sees the messages written in that notebook and it motivates her, making her think, 'It's worth making this food.'"

Let's continue to write about this in the future!

They'll be there to greet me, so I have to go.
The reason why we have been able to continue serving company meals

Staff enjoying company meals and conversation around the table

"But actually, the thing I remember most about working at the company cafeteria wasn't the menu or the food, but the pressure cooker incident that happened during a delivery."

Go-san usually delivers pots and saucepans on his motorcycle. The incident happened near Yoyogi Station.

"The moment I hit a bump in the road, the pressure cooker fell with a thud. I thought, 'Oh no, I've spilled all the soup!' but then I saw the pressure cooker running alongside my motorcycle (laughs).
A normal pot would have tipped over, but the pressure cooker has a thick, heavy, and sturdy bottom. So it landed with perfect balance, and then, perhaps due to the law of inertia, some kind of force started to work and it started to slide.
We continued running side by side for a few meters, then both I and the pot slowed down and stopped together, and retrieved the pot as if nothing had happened. An old lady watching from the sidewalk was surprised, but we continued on with the mono suspension.
Of course, I couldn't have confessed, 'I dropped it,' on the day, but the fact that the soup was safe at that time was a really big impact."

Who would have thought such a drama was hidden behind the delivery...

"But Monosus has a nice atmosphere, and I'm not just saying this to flatter you. It's not just on the day of the pressure cooker incident, it's a bleak day here, with lunch and the company cafeteria being prepared at the same time from the morning. But when you go to Monosus, you're greeted by people who have a warm, welcoming vibe, in a good way. It's like time just passes a little slower here, and it warms your heart.
Also, the fact that we had a company cafeteria committee was one of the reasons we were able to continue. If there was no company cafeteria committee member to wait for the delivery and I just had to take it and leave it there, I think I would have taken the morning off because I was hungover and tired. If I had that kind of day off once or twice a month, the company cafeteria might have naturally disappeared.
But the cafeteria committee members were in close communication with me and welcomed me, so I thought I had to go. Looking back now, I think that was a big factor in me continuing."

The company cafeteria system has become so commonplace that it's hard to remember a time when it wasn't in place. During that time, we increased the number of meals served from once a week to twice a week, and the amount of food prepared from 20 to 25 servings, making the system even more fulfilling.

"Here too, the people on the company cafeteria committee have played a big role. They've changed the number of meals from once a week to twice a week, increased the amount cooked, and posted the monthly menu. It would be difficult to do any of these things if they were suddenly told to do them, but the communication is excellent, and just when we were starting to get used to it, they say things like, 'Increase the number of staff,' 'Make it two days a week,' and 'Prepare the menu.' I don't know if they do this intentionally, but as a cook, I'm grateful.
In addition, we have accumulated know-how through our three years of business, so we are planning to start catering for other companies in the future. We may also increase the number of delivery staff to take on the challenge."

We look forward to continuing to work with you in the best way possible, with a sense of distance that is characteristic of Monosus.

When Gou-san called, he rushed over within 10 minutes! Regular customer Sakamoto (left) also accompanied us on the interview. Here is a photo of the two of them together.

Last year, at our 11th anniversary party , Gou closed his shop to attend, even though it was a Friday.

"I did it as a traveling bartender. It's been almost a year already. Time flies.
It's true that I did close the shop, but I came back and opened it at around 10pm. Our regular customers come in around that time, so it didn't affect me at all...or maybe it didn't (laughs). Even though they pointed out to me that I wasn't open, I replied, "That happens sometimes! Don't think I'm always open," so I'm really blessed with customers."

Did the request for a traveling bartender come from the company cafeteria committee?

"Hayashi called me and asked, 'Can you do that?' and I immediately said, 'Yes.' We've occasionally set up stalls at parties up until now, from private rooftop parties to watch fireworks displays to reception parties for famous brands. We also take care of the sound and food and drink, but it's normal for them to just leave it all to us.
Moreover, on the day of the event, I was the only bartender for 100 customers, and we ran out of tonic water and soda... That kind of thing often happens. It's pretty tough. But Monosus made such thorough preparations that I thought maybe they didn't need us there, and it was a wonderful organization where we just had to go and make the drinks on the day."

Gou, who was watching the anniversary party from across the bar, commented that the atmosphere at the venue was "very Monosus-like."

"I've been acquainted with Monosus for about 10 years now, so it was quite a moving experience for me, and the guests were all so touching. They were business associates, but they had a kind of relative-like distance, and the atmosphere was not hostile at all.
Even when I was working as a bartender, people would start talking to me while they were waiting for their drinks to be made. They would ask, "What is your connection?" But in that short amount of time, even if I explained, "It's the bar where our president, Hayashi-san, used to come..." or "We now have a company cafeteria...", it didn't get through to them, and they would just accept their drinks with a question mark on their face (laughs).
Anyway, it was by far the best atmosphere of any event I've ever been invited to. If you invite me again for the 12th anniversary, I'll go again next time with my new staff member. We'll open later (laughs)."

Gou's Night Face
Hear the bartender's tips at Bar dAZE

The familiar image of Gou who brings drinks to the company cafeteria at Monosus is actually his daytime face. At night, he is a bartender who makes stylish cocktails while dressed up.
We spoke to Gou, now in his evening attire, about the secrets of being a bartender.

"When a new customer comes in, I don't start a conversation at first. I think each person has their own rhythm and reason for coming to drink. There are nights when I'm drinking alone and I talk to the bottle.
So at first I just watch over them, and once they've given me a second helping, I feel like they've finally accepted the space, and I start talking to them, like, 'Are you nearby?'

"Bars are sometimes called night-time psychosomatic clinics, but aren't there places where people go to drink to sort out their moods when they feel like they're having a light emotional ups and downs?
That's why I don't like to just send people away when they come, so I listen to them, I lecture them, and if they're feeling down I'll even try drastic measures like giving them tequila to drink, but I always hope that there will be some change in them between the time they come in and the time they leave.
How to match the rhythm of the customer. To put it in a cool way, that's my own way of being particular about my work."

Go is a cheerful guy who always shares fun stories, but he also moves in tune with the rhythm and breathing of his customers... His detailed attention to detail is truly wonderful.
If you'd like to talk to Go or meet him, be sure to come to Bar dAZE!

*Bar dAZE is located on the third floor of a building at the end of a secluded alley in Harajuku. The poster on the left was made for Gou's 33rd birthday party!

(Interviewer: Kensaku Saguchi)

Bar dAZE

3-27-17 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo T's-TWO Building 3rd floor
Tel: 03-5412-0938
[Mon-Sat] 19:00-03:00 [Sun/Holiday] 19:00-01:00
Entry after 10pm, entry after midnight, open on Sundays
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