It has been two weeks since Bokumo reopened.
Thank you so much to everyone who came and sent flowers despite the current situation! Thank you to everyone who was concerned about us. I hope you will come again at a good time.
Over the past two weeks, many people have congratulated me, but to be honest, every time I hear it, I feel a little sorry. After all, this renovation was something I planned and did on my own, without anyone asking me to do it. I feel kind of sorry for making people say congratulations for something I did on my own.
But I understand. Just buying a new chair is not enough to be congratulated, but if you buy a new chair, have a custom-made table, install a long counter, paint the walls, and reopen, you can be congratulated. I didn't know that.
As a result, it was an opportunity to really feel the support we received. I feel deeply grateful. I'm glad we renovated the store.
However, it is still not as if Bokumo, a bar, has returned to the lively atmosphere it once was.
I was sometimes very busy on the weekends, but on weekdays I often found myself feeling a bit lonely.
A music promoter said, "Live shows are coming back, and there are more shows being held on weekdays, but it's still tough to get people in." And that's exactly what happened with bars. It looks like we'll have to be patient for a while longer.
Oh yes, with the renovation, the food menu has also changed a bit.
We wanted to better convey the fun and deliciousness that can only be experienced by eating out, so after much thought and discussion with the chef, we revised the entire menu.
Classic meat dishes such as lamb chop steak have been given new sauces, spices, and side dishes, and new appetizers such as three-color omelet and mushrooms and jerky have been added.
Of course, all the menu items are made to be paired with New Zealand wines. I would like to offer a pairing course in the future.
I think next time we'll have more Wagyu beef and fish on the menu. Stay tuned.
Well, this year we've been so busy with the renewal that it feels like spring arrived before we even knew it, but spring is also the season of meetings and partings.
For people in our line of work, one of the hardest things to do is say goodbye to our regular customers.
Mr. N, who came to tell us right after the reopening that he had been transferred to Kanazawa, please stay well. I'm sad.
Mr. N was appointed to Nagoya two years ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic. When Bokumo was running its bento lunch business, he would often buy our lunches, and after we resumed business, he became a regular at the counter. We talked about alcohol, baseball, work, and many other things.
Mr. F, a former Bokumo resident, lives in Kanazawa, so I'm hoping that Mr. F and Mr. N could meet at a bar somewhere in Kanazawa and have a great time talking about Nagoya.
When that happens, I'll be sure to sneeze loudly at the Bokumo counter.
What about new encounters? I hope that more people will include Bokumo in their shopping spree from spring. I fantasise about new visitors saying, "I wish I could have come to Bokumo before it was renovated."
Changing the subject suddenly, I've been seeing a lot of crows on my way to work recently (that's really sudden).
I wondered why this was the case, as there didn't used to be many crows around here, and then suddenly an idea occurred to me.
Maybe crows know about the coronavirus, too.
They probably notice that the food source has changed.
There is a bar on my way to work. When the bar is closed, the crows will think, "Huh? There should always be food waste here, so that's weird. Oh well, I'll go somewhere else."
And when it reopened, I was like, yay! My favorite restaurant is back!
But wait a second. The food served at the reopened restaurant seems a bit lacking. Before, they served us a lot more generous portions, but now they only serve a little.
Come to think of it, people have been putting a lot of white stuff on their faces lately. After people started putting that on for a while, the food at the restaurant I went to stopped coming. When it did come back, it was disappointing. There must be some connection between that white stuff and the food.
Ah, I wish humans would go back to being white like before. Then food would surely become luxurious again.
They say that crows have the intelligence of a six-year-old child, so I think they must be thinking about things like this.
If you think about it, maybe crows and I feel the same way. I've had to endure this for so long, it's just too much.
This week's pairing
This is the menu for the reopened Bokumo.
Chicken liver paste. I've made this before, but I changed the recipe and presentation completely.
Thanks to you, it has been very well received. I am so happy to hear people say, "I've never eaten anything like this before!"
Any wine would work well with this dish - sparkling, white, orange, rosé, or red - but if I had to pick one, it would be this.
Collaboration Wines Impression Red 2017
Collaboration Wines is a very small-batch winery run by a young female winemaker.
This Bordeaux blend is unclarified and unfiltered. It has a lot of sediment. It is very mellow, has a subtle flavor, and a long aftertaste.
Combine it with liver paste and you're in for an infinite loop.
