In today’s rapidly changing world, many people who have traditionally stayed in their present jobs for a long time have suddenly made changes in their work in search of a more rewarding life. Kazuhiko Abe is one such person. He is the owner of Made in Hands, a gourmet burger shop in Hiyoshi.
After graduating from the University of Tsukuba Graduate School, Abe received a position at a major foreign consulting firm. There, he gained practical experience in a wide range of areas, including improving the efficiency of client companies’ IT-based operations and supporting their global expansion. However, he had decided from the beginning that his life roadmap would be to open his own restaurant after studying in a company that would give him a broader view of the world. Although his career appeared to be forward-looking, he says he had no doubts about his plan to quit. When I asked why this new path appealed to him, he gave me a simple answer. While at university, Abe invited friends over to share his cooking skills, and with these experiences he became more and more enthusiastic about the joy of making people happy and their deep appreciation for his homemade food.
Abe ventured to open a “specialty restaurant” with a specific food genre, but he had always been undecided about what to serve. An izakaya (Japanese-style pub) or bistro would require handling a wide range of ingredients, such as meat, fish, and vegetables, and the cooking process would be too complicated for one person, he thought. Furthermore, Abe was worried about the surplus of ingredients and the risk of food loss. “This was something that concerned me every day while working part-time at an izakaya,” he recalled. However, if there were too few variations, the restaurant would lack appeal, so he continued to search for possibilities with eager eyes. The turning point came one day during his third year at the company during his lunch break. Having missed the normal lunch time break, Abe noticed that many of the usual restaurants were already closed. He finally stumbled into a gourmet burger joint. Although he had heard of gourmet burgers before, this was the first time for Abe to actually eat at such a shop. The basic ingredients of a burger are usually the same: meat, bread, and vegetables and yet, Abe was mesmerized by this shop–just changing the sauce, cheese, bacon, or other ingredients of the burger became a whole new culinary experience. At that time, he felt that this was exactly the kind of product he was looking for.
After resigning from his job, Abe trained at a gourmet burger restaurant in Tokyo and spent his days off eating and researching various restaurants before opening the restaurant of his dreams in September 2016. As the name of the restaurant suggests, the bread is handmade from flour and baked daily. The bacon is aged with a lot of time and care and the patties are made from 100% beef and are served topped with a secret sauce.
The process of establishing a restaurant from scratch must be an exciting one for someone as particular as Abe. The knowledge he gained from working in various job environments is still very much present today. He is quick to understand his customer’s wishes and apply them to his menu, and at the same time exploring his own quest for new menu variations. Made in Hands is sure to offer customers exactly the appeal and excitement Abe instills in his own recipes.