Rude awakening

Another reason Shoji felt needed to work so hard was to earn enough to support her little sister who has an intellectual disability. But she admits how she ironically ended up too focused on her work.

“I was living with my family, but I didn’t realise my father had been hospitalised, and I wasn’t with him when he died,” she laments. Though aware of the seriousness of his condition, she felt she had to prioritise her work at the restaurant. It was only when she was at the morgue to see her dead father that the “ice-cold” realisation hit her. She knew that if she kept on working the same way, she would do the same to her mother. And that’s when she decided to leave her job at Florilège.

She worked other industries until a regular customer of Florilège who loved her cakes asked her to create her wedding cake. She quickly realised how much she missed cooking, how she could not think of doing anything else. She started a catering business and, little by little, the business grew, and she became determined to open her own place.

Shoji admits she still feels sorry for leaving chef Kawate so suddenly, noting how unprofessional she must have appeared. “He might not forgive me, but as his disciple, to get the title of Asia’s Best Pastry Chef is something I can dedicate to him.”

Fashionably forward

It's not difficult to see how Shoji also draws inspiration from iconic fashion houses and designer handbags. Her strawberry cake, for example, takes its cue from Louis Vuitton’s Damier print. Another of her signature cakes is the rose-shaped mango tart that’s presented in a square box; it comprises a sablée cookie base, vanilla bean custard and mango slices shaped as rose petals.

She also likes to use Yuki Usagi strawberries from Saga, red Sakura Momo strawberries from Tokushima, and white Shimizu Hakutou peaches from Okayama. “For me, Japanese seasonal fruits are like the precious stones,” she explains, and they are essential to her creations, which is also why she is very careful about even the slightest change in the flavour. These would be heavily dependent on the area the fruits are grown and the seasons. She adds that other considerations, such as how the fruits are cut for easy consumption and their presentation are just as essential to her creations. 

(Related: Who is Cho Hee-sook? Meet Asia’s Best Female Chef of 2020 and Owner of Michelin-Starred Hansikgonggan)

“I love fashion, too,” she declares, before expounding on the similarities between working in fashion and the culinary arts, in particular the long creative process, which includes the making of trial versions of the final products. Both, she says, look glamorous, but are tough industries to work in.

One might even add that dining trends are changing as quickly as trends in fashion. In fact, Shoji believes the restaurant of the future will adopt a more “haute couture” approach, with a stronger focus on the individual diner. It also helps, she notes, to have an iconic chef who is always at the restaurant to cook and host diners.

When asked what her dreams for the future are, Shoji replied with a smile: “I don’t have dreams. To be honest, I hate the word. I only have ‘targets’—like being Best Female Chef.”