On the sixth anniversary of T’s restaurant
It has been six years since the story of T’s restaurant began.
Until May 24 2009, I was just an ordinary housewife. Raising my children had been my main purpose of living.
Since both of my children were almost grown-ups, I felt it was time to start thinking about my own future and dreams. “What do I live for?”
Health is the most important thing and the source of happiness for all of us.
We all know that. Eventually, I got to learn that fine sleep, good diet and proper excretion are the key factors to stay healthy.
I thought, “I want to spread the importance of health through diet!” and this became the objective in my life ahead.
On May 22, I decided to develop my own recipes without using any animal based products (meat, seafood, dairy or egg) which anyone could enjoy.
To my surprise, my unimaginable journey started three days later on May 25.
I did not even have any idea about what to put on the menu then.
However, just only 4 months later, on September 25 of that year I opened T’s restaurant.
In my restaurant, I wanted to serve plant based healthy meals that anyone, even non-vegetarians, could enjoy.
And they had to be delicious too! Even if the foods were healthy, people would not come back to the restaurant unless they tasted good.
They also had to look great as well. With these things in my mind, I started to work on the recipes.
If you eat ordinary curry, it tastes good. But when you wash the dish, your kitchen sponge would get sticky with animal fat, even if you use detergent.
If you make T’s restaurant’s curry, however, you can clean the pot just with a kitchen sponge and water without any detergent.
This blew my mind! I guess our bodies will not be sticky inside with animal fat, just as pots will not, if we have vegan curry.
When I have plant-based meal, I actually feel my body is light the next day. I’m sure this means my body feels happy!
Over these six years, T’s restaurant has created a new genre of cuisine named “Smile veg”.
Here, meat lovers, vegetarians for religious, health, or ethical reasons, and people with various dietary backgrounds can all sit together and enjoy tasty foods without having any worries.
Four years ago, on March 20, 2011, we opened T’s Tantan, a vegan ramen noodle place, at Ekinaka shopping street in Tokyo station.
Thanks to its convenient location, not only people from Tokyo area but also people from abroad and other parts of Japan come and enjoy our foods.
Many of them visit us assuming it an ordinary ramen place and are surprised later to find out that our ramens are actually all vegan.
On March 19, 2015, a sister restaurant of T’s Tantan opened in Sendai station building which is the center of Tohoku area.
There we serve Vegan Chinese dishes in addition to a variety of ramens.
“Smile veg” is now spreading gradually among people in Tohoku too.
Our first recipe book “Kiseki no Gochiso (Miracle Feast)” was published in November, 2013.
I wrote this recipe book for those who were not able to visit T’s restaurant in Jiyuugaoka, Tokyo, so that they could enjoy “Smile veg” at home.
I hope this recipe book has raised awareness in more and more people of their own health and helped them make healthy delicious food for themselves.
In January 2015, 22,000 school and kindergarten children in Tsukuba city, Ibaraki, had T’s restaurant’s curry for their lunch.
The aim of this lunch event was to serve all the kids with the same meal.
For those who had food allergy, it was their first time to have the same meal as everyone else, and they got much more excited than we expected.
The parents were also glad to see their kids enjoying the same school lunch without having any worries about allergy.
Some parents even sent faxes to tell us their gratitude.
Having the same meal together with everybody is a joyful experience.
I was so honored that we could help the children have this experience with our curry.
In September 2015, we released two flavors of instant noodle: Tantan noodle and Hot & Sour noodle.
It is a one of a kind vegan instant noodle, which is also chemical seasoning free and made with non-fried noodle.
So now you can enjoy T’s restaurant’s ramen anytime anywhere you like!
It is fun to pick up a meal box (bento) at an airport and have it on board.
But unfortunately for those who only eat plant-based products, it had been really difficult to find a bento free of animal products.
So in October 2015, we released our vegan bento for air travelers (“soraben”), which is available at Haneda airport.
I am looking forward to seeing soraben bring another interesting story to us.
We are also going to introduce a new “Tonkotsu” flavored ramen at T’s tantan in the middle of November.
Although 100 percent vegan, it has a rich and mild taste of Tonkotsu (pork bone broth) and even a meaty Tonkotsu looking too.
On September 25th this year, T’s restaurant marks its 6th anniversary. Among our customers are children with egg or dairy allergy.
They are so excited to have sweets for the first time in their lives at our restaurant, and the parents are even happier.
Some are in tears with joy to see their kids enjoying their first cake or parfait with sparkling eyes.
Also there are some foreigners who don’t eat meat for religious reasons.
Unfortunately, vegetarian meals are not always available at restaurants in Japan, which is causing some trouble for foreign vegetarians.
In T’s restaurant, however, they can order anything on the menu.
They are so glad about our all vegan food and dessert and very pleased with the taste as well.
These positive, amazed and joyful responses from our customers always make us happy more than anything.
I would like you to know that by staying healthy our everyday will be blissful.
Let’s not doctors take care of our body after we have already become sick, but take care of ourselves so that we don’t need to see them.
By introducing and serving healthy vegan meals, I truly hope that T’s restaurant contribute to make more and more people in the world healthier both in mind and body.
子育てを終え2009年9月25日より専業主婦からT’sレストランのオーナーになりました。健康の大切さを食を通して発信しております。
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