Tokyo life starting with painting

Chapter 240 Could it be that we have entered a black shop (8000 words)

"Welcome to come again next time." The owner of the Japanese restaurant smiled and sent away the customers. Then he looked at the almost full store, narrowed his eyes and smiled.

Before, he was still worried about the bleak business of Washokutei, with a sad look on his face. He didn't dare to breathe loudly when facing the famous chain restaurants nearby, for fear that the few diners in his family would be lured away by these chain restaurants.

In addition, he only had a small amount of profit to open the store every day, and it cost money to purchase goods. There were also labor costs to keep people in the store. This made him almost not persist at first, and he was about to give up.

But it's different now.

The owner of the Japanese restaurant looked at the hanging sign and sighed inexplicably.

It was a signature plaque given to him by Higashinoji last year. The owner of the restaurant just thought that Higashinoji's calligraphy was really beautiful and rare, so he kept this small sign.

As a result, no one expected that with this small signature sign, Washokutei’s reputation would quickly spread throughout Toshima City.

——Higashinoji, the original author of "The Lonely Gourmet", has been here before!

Such similar rumors made the owner of the Japanese restaurant a little surprised, even a little stunned - was the young man brought here by Konoe Ryoka originally so famous? Is he a famous food critic?

‘Lonely Gourmet’, is this the name of Higashinoji? At first he thought it was Konoe Ryoka who brought her boyfriend over to eat and drink.

He flipped through a lot of magazines about food, but he couldn't find anything. Not to mention Higashino, there wasn't even a food critic named Higashino.

This made the owner of the Japanese restaurant completely confused. It wasn’t until his daughter saw what he was looking for and answered the question that the owner of the Japanese restaurant knew why he couldn’t find any trace of this ‘Higashinoji’——

"Higashinoji? Isn't that a cartoonist? The one who is very popular recently."

"cartoonist?"

A cartoonist?

The owner of the Japanese restaurant is really puzzled.

He had indeed heard Higashino mention his identity as a comic book artist, but what does a comic book author have to do with his store? He is not a famous food critic.

For this reason, he even made a special trip to read the comic "The Lonely Gourmet" by Higashinoji, and then——

"I did this?"

"Is my cooking so exquisite? Does it look so delicious? Gudu."

The owner of the Japanese restaurant cooked a meal for himself as he watched.

The food in the comic is very realistic and looks like a small and exquisite family. It makes him, the shop owner, a little hungry.

And the restaurant owner also discovered it.

Higashinoji drew a lot of real-life pictures. Anyone who knows a little bit about the pub street in Toshima District can basically tell where it is at a glance.

Many fans of Higashinoji's comics came to him because of this.

This group of fans became new diners, giving the Japanese restaurant a second shot of blood and allowing it to continue to grow. In the first few days when "The Lonely Gourmet" was serialized, there was even a queue to come to the door. .

That's how it is with people.

Seeing that the business of this store is so good, others will naturally think that this store must indeed taste good, so they will also take the initiative to follow suit.

As time went by, the people who followed the trend dispersed, because the restaurant owner’s craftsmanship was indeed very good, and new diners gradually became old diners. This is also an important reason why the restaurant is still full today.

But the Japanese restaurant owner knew.

It was Higashinoji's "The Lonely Gourmet" that brought new diners. It is not an exaggeration to say that Higashinoji revived this unsustainable store. To this day, I still watch "The Lonely Gourmet". Visitors come to washokutei to eat.

This also shows the toxicity of "The Lonely Gourmet".

It's just a pity that Higashinoji has never been to Washokutei since that time. This makes the owner of Washokutei want to say thank you and not have the opportunity to entertain him in person. This can be regarded as a big worry of the boss.

So he specially made a plastic layer, wrapped Higashinoji's signature and hung it next to the menu, as a way of expressing his gratitude to Higashinoji.

Pity.

what a pity.

The owner of the Japanese restaurant looked at Higashinoji's signature sign and sighed secretly, then turned to ask his daughter to help entertain him.

"Isn't the store full now?" Washokutei's daughter couldn't help complaining: "Are we still waiting?"

"Ask the guests who come in to wait a moment, or politely ask them to go to other restaurants to eat. In short, you can't be rude." The owner of the Japanese restaurant asked, and then added uneasily: "Understood?"

After finally climbing out of the predicament, he paid special attention to what his customers thought.

"knew."

Seeing his daughter standing up reluctantly to prepare for the reception, the owner of the Japanese restaurant next to him couldn't help but shook his head, lowered his head and continued to cook.

But before he put his hand to the kitchen knife, he heard his daughter's voice at the door: "Sorry, guest, our store is temporarily full."

oh? A new customer coming so soon?

The owner of the Japanese restaurant looked up in the direction of his daughter to see if she would politely persuade the customer to leave.

"Is that so?" The visitor was a young man, accompanied by a woman in professional attire. At this time, he was smiling and talking to the professional woman beside him: "The business here is already so good." Hosokawa Editor, it looks like we’ll have to come back next time.”

With that said, the young man and the professional woman planned to leave.

Wait a moment.

Isn't that Higashinoji? !

"Wait a moment!"

The owner of the restaurant called out, startling the other guests. Then he walked out of the bar, hurried to the door, and stopped again: "Please wait a moment, guest."

"Huh? But the waiter in your store asked me to wait just now." Higashinoji was also confused by the fussing Japanese restaurant owner - wasn't it the waiter in your store who asked me to wait a moment or go to eat somewhere else?

Why did you suddenly stop me?

"That's not the case." The owner of the Japanese restaurant smiled cheerfully at Higashinoji, and then looked sideways at his daughter with a stern face: "It's so beautiful, what did I tell you just now? I didn't tell you that guests are coming. Are you going to invite him to our private dining room inside? What's the matter with you? Are you driving the guests outside?"

"Ah?" The girl who was called so beautiful, wearing a navy blue headscarf and an apron, opened her eyes wide, with a puzzled face: "Dad, you just clearly..."

"Don't talk back. If you talk back again, I'll ask you to help at the bar." The owner of the Japanese restaurant glared.

"Oh." The girl lowered her head and stopped talking back.

The bar was really busy, and at this time, many people wanted to cook bird skewers and other dishes to go with their drinks. She would rather stand at the door to greet guests than smell of barbecue all over her body.

But she was really baffled.

When did we have more private seats in our house? Isn't it the table that their own families use to eat? The environment is indeed pretty good, with tatami mats and cushions, and it's much more spacious than outside.

But when did our own dining room become a dining room?

She really didn't understand.

After criticizing his daughter, the owner of the restaurant smiled again and said to Higashinoji: "Please come in and walk inside."

"Since you have a seat, you're welcome." Higashinoji nodded with a smile and said to Hosokawa Koharu beside him: "Let's go, Editor Hosokawa."

"Okay." Although Hosokawa Koharu was surprised by the shop owner's overly enthusiastic attitude, she still nodded.

Seeing Higashinoji and Hosokawa Koharu enter, the shop owner returned to work, and from time to time directed his daughter to ask Higashinoji and Hosokawa Koharu inside what they needed.

What about the menu, hot towels, etc. It can be said that the service is extremely attentive.

The regular customer next to him also smiled and asked, "General, do you have private seats here? I've never heard of them. My colleagues and I would also like to have private seats next time we come over."

General, which mainly means ‘an important person in a certain group’ in Japanese, therefore also means restaurant chef in Japanese colloquial language.

"That's probably not possible." The Japanese restaurant owner replied with a smile: "The private seats inside are only open today."

Indeed, this is a privilege.

It's not easy to meet Higashinoji once, so I have to treat him well no matter what.

Then something inexplicable happened to Higashikata.

At first, he felt that the waiter came very frequently, and the reception was very friendly and the service was attentive. He almost didn't ask if he wanted to put something into his mouth.

When we got to the back, the food ordered by Higashinoji arrived, and Higashinoji was ready to eat it, but when he took a look at the dishes, he felt something was wrong.

Others are small and exquisite, usually cooking in a small bowl. Why did a small bucket suddenly come to him when he arrived?

"What's going on?" Higashino asked, pointing to the keg.

"Ah, ah. That is actually the tableware used by our store. Don't worry, we won't overcharge customers."

The waiter who was called Zhenmei answered.

"What about this dish? I don't remember ordering it?" Higashino pointed to the garlic tenderloin on the other side. This dish can be used as a staple or side dish. It tastes pretty good, but he hasn't ordered it. .

"This is a bonus from our store. Our store is holding an event today."

"Really?" Higashino raised his eyebrows, wondering if he had gone to the wrong store.

Could it be that you have encountered the kind of unscrupulous restaurant where you clearly didn’t order anything, but the shopkeeper suddenly served you a lot of food, and shouted out a sky-high price for the check regardless of whether you finished eating.

But that’s not right either.

Is the brand outside really a Japanese restaurant brand?

Did I remember it wrong? But my signature is still outside.

The more Toyoshi thought about it, the more he couldn't understand.

It's okay if one thing is wrong, but it's a bit strange if everything is wrong.

Next to him, Hosokawa Koharu was also a little confused, so he stopped his chopsticks and simply asked: "I'm sorry, can you call the general in? We want to ask about the situation."

After hearing this, the waiter who was called Zhenmei immediately showed a look of 'please, please spare me'.

She was really tortured and scared by her father.

What is the situation?

Even the small miso-making bucket at home was taken out.

Isn't this too exaggerated?

She also felt strange, but when she thought about being criticized again later, she let out a long sigh, lowered her head, and walked out of the room looking a little downcast.

Not long after Zhenmei went out, the store manager’s hearty laughter came.

He walked in from outside and asked with concern: "What's wrong? Is there something you're not used to eating, sir?"

"It's not that I'm not used to it. Has the side dish become popular here in the Japanese restaurant? And it's also served in a 'bucket'? My friend and I thought it was a bit strange, so we wanted to ask." Higashino Shimi, the owner of the Japanese restaurant Come over and take the initiative to speak.

This made the owner of the Japanese restaurant cough twice. At the same time, he glanced at his daughter's innocent expression, and then helplessly explained the reason.

He first gave a general explanation of Washokutei's previous abjection.

Mentioning the changes brought about by Higashinoji, the Japanese restaurant has become a famous restaurant in this street of wine houses.

In order to thank him for his help, I came up with these crooked tricks of "pressing the head of a cow without drinking water".

His words made Touyoshi sigh with emotion.

To be honest, when Higashinoji painted "The Lonely Gourmet", he didn't actually think about what changes it would bring to these restaurants.

But by chance, I actually seemed to have done something good?

After learning the reason, Higashinoji and Hosokawa Koharu were relieved - it turned out to be like this, then you just had to say no earlier, there is no point in hiding it.

and

"I'd better make up for the meal expenses for these dishes." Higashinoji said with a smile.

Although it is true that "The Lonely Gourmet" brought changes to Washokutei and gave it a new lease of life, it was just something Higashino did unintentionally. He himself was not aware of these consequences at all. Therefore, he should be given Money is still given, and as a human being, you cannot ask for repayment of kindness.

But what Higashinoji didn't expect was that when it came to making up for the meal, the owner of the Japanese restaurant suddenly became serious and shook his head to express that he would never accept it.

"Higashino-san, maybe you don't know that the source of income for me and Zami's family at that time was this Japanese food restaurant. If the Japanese food restaurant can't open, it may be a problem for Zhenmei to go to school. At least you can eat here for free. This is me The only request.”

It wasn't until this moment that Higashinoji knew about it.

It turns out that the wife of the restaurant owner passed away a few years ago. He barely relied on the income from the restaurant to raise his daughter and gave her the same educational environment as her peers around her.

In other words, without Higashinoji's original "The Lonely Gourmet", the owner of the Japanese restaurant would not know what he would do.

That's why he was so concerned about Higashinoji's affairs today.

The other party's sincere words did not impress Higashinoji, but at least Hosokawa Koharu next to him was moved.

She nodded secretly at the side, and at the same time looked at Higashinoji——

I didn’t expect that Mr. Higashino’s painting “The Lonely Gourmet” could actually accomplish such a thing.

It's amazing.

No wonder it can occupy a place in the monthly magazine "Qingye"!