最近、長い間働いた会社をやめて、日本そば屋を始める人が増えているそうだ。今年の4月、奥さんと二人で中村駅前に小さな店を開いた「そば屋しんしゅう」のご主人、①森さんもその一人だ。「収入は減ったけど、今はやってよかったと思っています」と、森さんは言う。
②そば屋を開く人が多いのはなぜか。そば屋は、てんぷら屋やすし屋、中華料理店やフランス料理店などに比べると、あつかう材料の種類も少なく、作り方もそれほど難しくない。また、最近は健康に気をつける人が増え、外食の時にそばのような体にいい食べ物を選ぶ人も多くなっているからだ。
森さん夫婦は、一年ぐらい知り合いのそば屋を手伝いながらそばの作り方を勉強し、自分の店を開いた。だが、いつも同じ味のおいしいそばを作り続けることは本当に難しそうだ。
「そば屋しんしゅう」の開店は午前10時だが、森さんは朝6時には店に入り、準備を始める。そして、店が終わってからも、毎晩おいしいそばの作り方を熱心に研究している。「お客さんの『おいしかったよ』という言葉を聞くと、疲れも消えるんですよ」と、森さん。その横で「③大変ですよ。夫とけんかをしても、店ではにこにこしていなければなりませんから」と、奥さんが笑う。
サラリーマン時代にはできなかった経験をしている森さんは、今、そば屋の経営を心から楽しんでいる様子だ。いろいろ苦労はありそうだが、これも人生の一つの選択だろう。
AI translation, cross-checked between two models.
Recently, there has reportedly been an increase in people who leave companies where they have worked for many years and open Japanese soba restaurants. Mori-san, the owner of “Soba-ya Shinshuu,” who opened a small shop with his wife in front of Nakamura Station this April, is ① one of those people. Mori-san says, “My income has gone down, but now I’m glad I did it.”
Why are ② so many people opening soba restaurants? Compared with tempura restaurants, sushi restaurants, Chinese restaurants, and French restaurants, soba restaurants use fewer kinds of ingredients, and the cooking methods are not particularly difficult. Another reason is that more people have recently become health-conscious, and many now choose healthy foods such as soba when eating out.
Mori-san and his wife spent about a year helping at an acquaintance’s soba restaurant while learning how to make soba, and then opened their own shop. However, it seems truly difficult to keep making delicious soba that tastes exactly the same every time.
“Soba-ya Shinshuu” opens at 10 a.m., but Mori-san arrives at the shop at 6 a.m. and begins preparing. Even after the shop closes, he spends every evening diligently studying how to make delicious soba. Mori-san says, “When I hear a customer say, ‘That was delicious,’ all my tiredness disappears.” Beside him, his wife laughs and says, “③ It’s hard work. Even if I have an argument with my husband, I still have to keep smiling in the shop.”
Mori-san, who is now having experiences he could never have had as a company employee, seems to be genuinely enjoying running his soba restaurant. There seem to be many difficulties, but this too may be one of the choices we make in life.
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