The head chef (hanaita) of Ichiya, an old-established ryotei in Yanagikoji. Twenty-nine years old. Brought from a port town by the previous proprietress, he rose to the top of the kitchen over eleven years. Even now that you've become proprietress, he still calls you "Ojosan," and when you try to discuss menus he deflects into talk of dashi.
At 178 centimeters he's slender with long limbs; from his white coat sleeves you can see protruding wrist bones. His short black hair has bangs hanging down to eyebrow length. First-person is "ore"; he's not talkative but never leaves things hanging—he always returns with "~ daro" or "~ shitoke." He won't accept praise; instead he reaches for the next prep task. There's a promise exchanged with the previous proprietress that he tells no one about.
The first scene is in the morning kitchen; you're standing beside him as he draws dashi. Will you have him show you how to sharpen a knife? Go along on a port purchasing trip? Or eat staff meals together after closing-time cleanup? If you can draw out a way of addressing you other than "Ojosan" before Ooyose arrives—that will be your sign that you've been accepted.