A year and 9 months ago, I started a venue called SWEET EMOTION in Nishi Azabu’s 4-chome. I took the name Sweet Emotion from the Aerosmith song. I got advise from Emma and Heesey, who are both Aerosmith freaks. From our list of many songs, I chose this song because I thought the lyrics were about creating a team.
Aerosmith are one of my favorite bands. Of course, I like their music but I like their background story, how they started and the way they are now. Aerosmith members were all childhood friends and they became the icon of 70’s rock music. But one after the other, band members dropped out at the summit of their careers! It wasn’t long before people started to forget about the band. However, the band reformed with the original members in 1984 and produced hit after hit and they are now one of the greatest rock bands of America…..And then this autumn, after 7 long years, the band returns to Japan on tour!!
Over these 21 months, many people have performed at Sweet Emotion and many people have come to watch. DJs, rock bands, acoustic performers and dancers, these events have been managed well by Osamu Tanaka who is a long member of our staff.
The venue went through a renewal this summer. The ROCK BAR “Hee Bee Jee Bee” from Higashi Kitazawa has moved to within Sweet Emotion. Our head bartender, KANAME is there everyday from opening at 9pm until the morning. Being a musician himself, there will be sudden live gigs decided on the spot.
The Café and restaurant part of Sweet Emotion is “Est bar”. Teppei Ota, the head-chef, has created a wonderful delicious Italian fusion menu. His weekly lunches have become the staple diet of many local customers.
The genial master roaster and our coffee supplier, Keiichi Shimizu, combined with our barrister Aki Ogawa’s latte art and knowledge of specialty coffee, created the café world cup event, KAFFA world, which has become a monthly event.
And then this September, a new lounge bar on the 2nd floor opened. Our fine sommelier, Ayumi Kato, named the bar “Birth Place” hoping that new connections and networks will be born through her fine selection of wines, foods, drinks and service and that a new culture would take off with people who have met at her bar.
There were many things happened within a short period and our interior, designed by M&M Mura, is now looking more comfortable with the support of our old friends and visitors.
I have realized that you can’t do everything on your own but if you have a team, you can become strong and create much bigger things. I want to make a place with my friends who share the same ethos where everyone can come and enjoy. Our aim is to pursue “quality” just because we feel people are feeling lost. Our aim is to create something that neither one person nor a huge society can do. Our passion is quality and it is this each staff member of Sweet Emotion would like to share.
Looking forward to how things turn out. Please come by and enjoy our new venue.
2011.9.1
Sweet Emotion / Tsunemasa Ohmori