Happa to Mame

When was Poznań's Happa to Mame founded?

Marcin: It was created on our joint initiative, mine and Shota's. When Shota and I met, he said he wanted to create a place with a real Japanese feel. As I have advanced ADHD and act very quickly and enthusiastically, it was a great idea. I quit my existing job and other activities to focus on this one project. And I liked it because I've been interested in Japan since I was a kid, initially in manga and anime, then more broadly in culture and food. Japan is my hubby. And the idea of Shota came at the right time.

What made you decide to open a second location in Warsaw?

Marcin: At first Happa was only supposed to exist in Poznan, because it's our city where we have friends. Then there were a few signs to go further afield to somewhere with more opportunities. We thought maybe we had done everything we could in Poznań. Shota was initially reluctant, but eventually let us convince him. We gave it a try.

Shota, what did you do before coming to Poland?

Shota: I moved to Poland in 2017. Before that I travelled a lot, lived a bit in Canada, a bit in Australia, did different things, worked behind a bar, in a karaoke club, in Muji, in a lot of typical Japanese places where you work with people, I learned a lot and that knowledge I could transfer here.

And you, Marcin, what did you do before Happa?

Marcin: I had nothing to do with catering before either, apart from working behind the bar. I ran a shop with everything for growing cannabis. So we combined our business and marketing knowledge. We are an unstoppable machine, a perfect mix of characters, we know exactly what we want, that's why Happa is the way we want it to be.

Happa is open from 2 to 7 p.m. What do you do before then?

Our working day starts much earlier. In Poznań we were open from 12 to 9pm - that was tough. From the beginning a lot of people came to us because we were a novelty, a curiosity. And then when Mr Robert Makłowicz came to us, and "Maciej je" did an episode about us on youtube, we weren't able to make such a volume of sweets, the interest was so huge. We prepare all the sweets fresh every morning. We make all the syrups, lemonades and more from scratch. This takes more time than working in the premises, and we also believe that it is impossible to smile at customers and be genuinely nice for more than five hours a day. I wouldn't want to force my employees to work longer hours. We think money is important, but we've agreed that it's enough if the pub is open for five and that's it. So in Poznań we are open four hours, in Warsaw five.

Tell us what good matcha means?

Good matcha tastes good. It doesn't taste of algae, it's not bitter and it doesn't smell of fish. Ceremonial matcha is very delicate, culinary matcha, which is used to combine it with different things, is more intense. Shota is very well versed in this and had access to the right people, thanks to whom a few years ago we met real growers from Japan who grow green tea in the same way as hundreds of years ago. And they managed to bring it to Poland, which is why we have the best matcha in Poland which comes from Shizouka.

What do you recommend for people who want to start their matcha adventure?

The best way to start is with our matcha latte. We also have a super high quality ceremonial matcha, you drink it in a black, in an espresso amount (about 80 ml), it is the equivalent of a specialty coffee - such matcha has a lot of health properties, you can delight in the nuances of taste. And if one wants to drink matcha for the caffeine, then culinary matcha is ideal. She also has a lot of health properties. Our ceremonial matcha comes from one of Japan's best plantations, which serves the imperial castle.

What further plans do you have?

We want to create a centre for Japanese culture to bring Japan even closer. For now, we have done it through the stomach. Now we also want to focus on Japanese products. There are people in Japan who want to show in Poland what they do there in their regions, Japan is, after all, very culturally rich. So we want to give people in Poland great Japanese products at good prices. We invite everyone to Happa, we are not just a place that serves matcha, in our place you will feel Osaka.

Happa to Mame

Hoża 43/49, 00-681 Warszawa

Augustyna Szamarzewskiego 17, 60-514 Poznań