Rica Maezawa took an indirect path to becoming the chef and owner of washoku (Japanese-style) restaurant Nanakusa in Tomigaya in Shibuya Ward.
As a child, her parents ran an unagi (eel) restaurant in Ibaraki Prefecture. The experience left her thinking that restaurants were far too much work.
"I would see my parents working from early morning to late at night and I thought, 'I'll never work in the restaurant business.'"