A circle of friends connected by goo-touch! The “FIST BUMP” corner of the radio program “GRAND MARQUEE” features people who live and enjoy Tokyo in a relay format.
On July 12, Masahiro Tsunokawa, owner of the Koenji restaurant “Wimjikal”, was introduced by Irvin of the curry-loving unit “Tandoori’s”. Mr. Tsunokawa is also the owner of “Curry Mason,” a brand that sells curry-related goods, and we asked him about his encounter with curry and his passion for it, which led him to open his own restaurant.
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Fateful Ethiopia, which I met thanks to my senpai
Takano (MC): According to Mr. Irvin, he is “a worse curry fanatic than myself” (laughs).
Tsunokawa: Maybe I am a maniac, but I am a little different. I don’t go out to eat at many curry shops, but rather, I am obsessed with one curry shop, and I continue to follow it to this day.
Celeina (MC): Let’s unpack that as well. First of all, let me give you a brief profile. You originally worked at BEAMS and became independent at the age of 32.
When you turned 40, you suddenly fell in love with “Ethiopia,” a curry restaurant in Jimbocho, and went there almost every day. The word “curry mason” came to his mind like a revelation, and as if guided by it, he started producing apparel and curry shop goods. You opened “Wimjikal” in Koenji, taking over a store that was run by an acquaintance of yours in the Corona disaster.
Takano: What do you mean? (laughs) Let’s start with Ethiopia.
Tsunokawa: My senior colleague’s atelier was in Jimbocho, and he took me to Ethiopia for lunch because he said, “There’s a curry shop I like. Until then, I thought curry was just like ramen. I was so shocked that I went there almost 365 days a year for the first year.
Takano: You went that many times?
Tsunokawa: At the most, I went twice a day. So in total, I may have eaten there about 1,500 times. But I still don’t know why I got hooked on it. I eat and eat and eat, but I still don’t know what it is.
Takano: You mean it’s an attraction that you can’t verbalize?
Tsunokawa: It’s like I keep having that feeling of “I want to eat it again” right after eating it.
Takano: Ethiopia” is very spicy. It’s a little bit spicy.
Celeina: I’m really curious about it! I’ve never had it.
Tsunokawa: It is a curry restaurant where professional curry chefs go. So there is no way for an amateur like me to go there and understand it.
Takano: You can choose the level of spiciness. How about you, Kadokawa-san?
Tsunokawa: Recently, I set the spiciness level to about 30 times. People who really like it go back to 0, but there is a 100-times spiciness option in the back.
Takano: Is that so? I didn’t know there was such a thing as an under-the-counter menu.
Celeina: I’m really curious about it, but I’m not very good with spicy food, and my limit for commercial curry is medium-hot. How spicy should I go?
Tsunokawa: If it’s medium-hot, I think I can go with 0 to 5.
