This time for “Lunch It-Tomo”, the manager of the café & restaurant “Panier” came to visit. It’s a Western-style restaurant located in the commercial facility KumaSUN Terrace on the west exit of Ono Station. Some of the children at Yumenomori even said, “I’ve been there before!”—a very warm welcome!
Although they can now cook anything as the restaurant manager, they said that when they were a student, “During my time at pastry school, I took exams many times,” and practiced making bread over and over again.
She said, “The reason I aimed to become a patissier is that I wanted to become a craftsman who masters what they love,” explaining how her passion guided the path she chose for her future and her studies.
She loved eating, enjoyed making things with her hands, and was drawn to delicate, detailed work—these were the reasons she pursued a career as a patissier. From high school through her time working at hotels, she honed her skills through participating in contests and taking technical exams.
When she first came to Okuma Town, she started by working at the Okuma Incubation Center (OIC), where she could meet many newly established businesses, in order to understand what the town needed. While working at OIC, she continued activities related to sweets, such as selling desserts at events and teaching cake-making classes. It was during this time that she learned about the new area where restaurants would gather, “Kuma-san Terrace,” and decided to open her shop, panier, there.
Was there an event that influenced the way you work now—how you approach your job and what you value?
Her current style, “working proactively while thinking about customers through sweets,” came about from the desire to use her skills in Okuma Town to contribute to the community. This motivation was strengthened by the words and encouragement of the people she met in Okuma.
She believes that “steady, behind-the-scenes effort will always pay off.” We received her passionate feelings for Okuma Town. Thank you very much!
