Then in 2007, Suzuki San finally said goodbye to his desk job. “I realised that I wanted to fulfil my dream since I was a student of opening a restaurant and to work freely by doing what I like rather than being used by people.” He saw no more point in working at a passionless task for three years, just to be assigned another passionless task for another three years until the next one. Hitting the ground running, Suzuki opened Sendai Ramen Mokkori on Surawongse Road in October 2007. Despite the struggles of starting a restaurant business from zero and making it successful, Suzuki says he never once looked back. “I knew that I had started a marathon that had no finish line, but I’m content because I’m doing what I wanted to do.”

When you enter Mokkori on Surawongse/Silom, what captivates even before the authentic Japanese soul food on the menu are all the photos on the walls: Suzuki San with Thai actor Nadech Kugimiya, both of them dressed from another era; him with another Thai heartthrob, Sunny Suwanmethanont; with Boy Pakorn; with the late Michael Clarke Duncan and with Game of Thrones actor Michiel Huisman, whom Suzuki San endearingly calls “the world’s greatest actor”. The list of celebrities goes on so far that the massive wall collage extends to the ceiling above. These aren’t just photos of famous Mokkori visitors though. Some of them are pictures of Suzuki’s famous “co-workers”.

While working in plastics moulding back in 2004, Suzuki was recommended by an acquaintance to audition for a commercial acting gig. “I had just shaved my head at the time, and they were looking for a bald man for a hairdryer commercial,” he recalls. Suzuki auditioned for the role but didn’t end up scoring the part. On his way out of the auditions, he did, however, meet and exchange contacts with an executive of a casting agency. This chance encounter would eventually lead to his big acting break: an Ajinomoto “Osen” commercial where he plays a Japanese chef.