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Private Notes
Kanako is about to open a French restaurant, for the sole purpose of making herself happy with good food and wine. She recruits Iga, a waiter who is undervalued at his current restaurant. After Kanako declares, “I’m convinced that you will become a great waiter,” he decides to work for her. However, he quickly finds out that not only is the restaurant poorly located – it’s in the middle of the cemetery, far away from downtown and residential areas – but none of the other staff, such as former hairdresser Kawai, have ever worked at a French restaurant.
Loin d’ici has been open for a month already but the restaurant just can’t seem to draw any customers. Ozawa, the head chef, has gotten it into his head that his rich food is to blame, and he reacts by toning down his recipes. So Kanako, the owner, hatches a plan to boost Ozawa’s confidence and put the pizzazz back in his cooking.
A mix-up over reservations leads to chaos at Loin d’ici one night. In the midst of the confusion, Kan’s mother, Katsuyo, shows up and announces that she intends to take her son back home to Nagasaki. Kanako proves herself more than a match for the strong-willed Katsuyo, however, and the two women vie to keep Kan by their side!
One day, a pair of toughs appear at Loin d’ici and threaten Kanako. Observing the scene, the restaurant’s staff conclude the men are loan sharks who have come to collect on a debt. They begin to fear Kanako will be forced to fire one of them in order to pay back the money, and doubts surface about what sort of person Kanako really is.
One night, a mysterious character turns up at Loin d’ici. Suspecting him to be a newspaper food columnist, Kanako decides that the restaurant needs to raise the level of its service and puts Kan in charge of training Taichi, but with limited results. Just then, Kanako gets a new employee who proves highly skilled. Will Taichi find himself out of a job?
Maître d’ Tsutsumi, once manager of a gyudon (beef bowl) restaurant, proposes changes to how Loin d’ici is run after a chance reunion with his former coworkers. But his ideas meet with stiff opposition from Kanako. Then one day, a customer is stood up by her date and ends up eating alone, causing the staff to question the true meaning of hospitality.
Loin d’ici has been open for a year already and the restaurant is thriving. An unpleasant incident is resolved thanks to Kanako’s quick thinking, but Kan begins to question his role as head waiter. Kanako wants her staff to behave “professionally” and to please every customer, but what does that really mean?
One night, Yamagata, the house sommelier, comes to the front door to await the arrival of a special guest, his self-proclaimed “nemesis.” To everyone’s astonishment, the visitor turns out to be Yamagata’s doppelganger, and his visit prompts Yamagata to make an attempt to overcome a traumatic experience from his past.
Kanako has to take a day off from work to attend to other business. In her absence, her staff finds that the restaurant runs much more smoothly. Then, a man claiming to be a restaurant management consultant shows up at Loin d’ici offering to help overhaul the restaurant’s operations. But there’s a catch…
For his own personal growth, Kan decides that it’s best for him to leave Loin d’ici and join his parents in Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, a mysterious trio appears at the restaurant with an unexpected and unwelcome proposal. Is Loin d’ici’s long run of good fortune about to come to an end?
