CAFE COMPANY

Takeshi Wada

MID CAREER

Takeshi Wada

The Coffee Guy

VIDEO

The most important things are coffee and family.

I'm Takeshi Wada. I joined Cafe Company in 2001, since when we first started. I like nature and hiking. For me, the most important things are coffee and family.

Q: Your relationship to food?

I decided to focus my career on coffee after the earthquake of 2011. I want up with some friends to the devestated Tohoku area and made coffee for those affected there. Seeing how much joy can be brought to someone with such a simply drink made me decide to make coffee my life work.

Q: How did you come to join Cafe Company?

It was by coincidence. During university, I had worked in restaurant kitchens, and found it so fun, that I decided to become a chef. However, after a while I got antsy and decided to drop out of school and travel the world.

When I was backpacking around the world, I came across many types of cafes and fell in love with that culture. After returning to Japan, I was living in Koenji and just happened to walk by the first Planet3rd Koenji on its opening day. I liked the atmosphere and people there and was reminded of the cafes I saw in my travels. I thought, "It's my destiny to work in this cafe!". I applied for a job then and have been here since.

wada_coffee_middle11.jpg

"It's my destiny to work in this cafe!"

Q: What are you doing now?

I now help open new cafes, and in general am in charge of all coffee sourcing and coffee quality control.

Q: Done any traveling recently?

Last year, I traveled with my family to the coffee producing East Timor. My kids loved experiencing the nature, and the way those coffee growers lived in the mountains.

wada_coffee_middle22.jpg

Q: What does community mean to you?

I think community is the underpinning of society.

Q: A word for those thinking of joining Cafe Company?

The one thing I can say about Cafe Company is that you won't find such a strange collection of talented people anywhere else!

CAREER / PROFILE

Dropped out of college in 2000 and joined Cafe Company in 2001 as a part-timer.
Shops worked: Planet3rd Koenji No.1 (Part-timer) → WIRED CAFE Dining Lounge Roppongi Hills (Full-timer) → A971 (Manager) → CAFE SALVADOR Marunouchi (Manager) → The WIRED COFFEE ROASTERS (Producer)
Favorite food: eggs
Favorite drink: coffee
Favorite vegetable: carrots

VIDEO play