Kenji of "Conne"

Since I have just posted about Mako-san who I had met over at Haikara-tei and the Yatai-mura, I thought it would be a good time for a relevant post.  In that previous article, I mentioned the manager of Haikara-tei at the time, a gentleman by the name of Kenji.  As previously written, we became friends with Kenji through our frequenting the enjoyable Haikara-tei during the mid 2000's.  It was a popular, local snack and Karaoke bar that also had a reasonable darts crowd.  I would some day write a post just about this place, but unfortunately I cannot find any pictures (yet) that document it!  They are out there though.  I know it.

So Kenji was always nice to us, and the day came when we found out Kenji had moved on and opened up a place of his own.  It was an Izakaya near Oimachi station called "Conne".  Soon after Kenji started this place up, Mako-san went over and began working with him.  It seemed like a two person operation.

What I did not know at the time was that Kenji was quite an accomplished chef.  Over at Haikara-tei he always seemed to be at the cash register near the door to take care of peoples bills.  No, Kenji could indeed cook, and we enjoyed quite a number of his fantastic dishes over at Conne during the brief two year (approximately) period we frequented his place.  Chicken wings cooked in Coca-Cola and a wonderful Natto salad were two of his great dishes that immediately come to mind.  Here is a picture of Kenji along with Rick from Alabama during one of our meals at Conne.

For some reason I am not sure if Conne is still in operation.  The Izakaya business in Japan, especially near the train stations is very tough business.  I remember when I walked out of Oimachi Station the first time to go to Conne there must have been 15-20 Isakaya's between the station exit and Conne, all along the same road!!!  How do you differentiate?  How do you develop a loyal clientele?  How do you break in from scratch!!!

Kenji is still around somewhere, and one of these days I hope to run into him again.  If I do, I will certainly let you know.