another year

Monday marked another krazy year around the sun, but am thankful just to be able to celebrate it.

My host-mom in Kobe sent me these cookies from Freundlieb (thank you!)

I miss this cafe! actually miss just being able to hang out anywhere…

Host-sister, T, sent me French chocolates and biscuits (cookies)...thank you!

I went to Jiyugaoka to order something for my host-mom's birthday which is coming up next week.

Before coming home, I stopped in at Comme'N, a bakery that I've been wanting to check out.

He trained under the chef at Ça Marche, a favorite bakery of mine in Kobe.

Then opened a small bakery in Takasaki, Gunma.

In 2019, his team won the Mondial du Pain contest in France and in 2020 he opened Comme'N, near Jiyugaoka.

We tried the cream cheese cranberry raisin, proscuitto camembert (and butter), hot dog and cake brioche.

Everything was delicious.

The cream cheese cranberry raisin had a huge piece of cream cheese in the middle...yum!

The hot dog had cheese and some sauerkraut. The sausage was herby..so good!

The proscuitto camembert surprised me...I toasted it before eating and realized there was lots of butter in it when I bit into it and it started dripping profusely...love!

I couldn’t let the melted butter go to waste and used the cake brioche to mop it up…

The cake brioche was light almost fluffy and I loved the caramelized walnuts on top.

They have x-ray cash registers, so when the tray of baked goods is placed on the scanner, the prices and names of the items pop up on the register screen (so there are no mistakes!)

What was also nice is they messaged me and thanked me for posting on Instagram.

Love their business cards, it looks like those tags that they use on bread bags...I'll be back whenever I'm nearby.

Yamato Nadeshiko from Satoshi, a delicate carnation with a slightly spicy fragrance.

Dinner was meyer lemon chicken...I sprinkled some lemon garlic seasoning then cooked the chicken in a pan with some olive oil.

When the chicken was almost cooked through, I added slices of meyer lemon to caramelize in the pan...delicious!

Thanks for today.

Comme'N

7-18-5 Okusawa

Setagaya, Tokyo

Phone: 03.6432.1061

Closed Tuesdays & Wednesdays

Hours: 7:00-18:00

p.s. Over the weekend, I found these huge meyer lemons at the market that were grown in Mie Prefecture...2 were 198 yen (plus tax)....and have been using them in cooking or as a condiment.

jiyugaoka

Got out early today to check out a new bakery, C'est une bonne idee, in Jiyugaoka.

Since they just opened a couple of weeks ago, I thought I would need to stand in line but luckily there wasn’t any…whoo!

I purchased their baguette, a teeny baguette topped with ratatouille & a kouign amann.

Everything was so good especially the kouign amann, It was so flakey & buttery…will try the baguette on Friday with wine.

Down the street is Paris S’eveille, which I have been to in the past (pre-pandemic)

Now they only let 4 people into the store at a time.

I stood in line for about 30 minutes (luckily the sun was out for most of the wait) before I was able to purchase these items.

Cake aux fruits (fruit cake), cake aux marron (chestnut cake), pave fromage (cheese cookies) & speculoos (spice cookies).

We'll have these with wine this weekend.

Hard to believe Christmas is 3 days away

this and that

Barium poo buster...

Since most of our barium poo did not flush, we pulled it out so it won't clog up the toilet.

shh!don't tell him that his picture was uploaded...

Chirashizushi at Ichiriki...I think the fish could've been fresher, it was kind of watery which to me says it was frozen?! then defrosted.

Not sure if we'll be back...I thought the sushi chef wasn't too enthusiastic with his job..he was literally throwing the fish pieces into the dish!

I thought most sushi chefs delicately place the sliced fish onto the plates…

Such a cute dog sitting outside Mart Iijima.

Most people in our neighborhood have teeny chihuahuas or huge golden retrievers.

Kakiage soba at Shibusoba...

Thought this was delicious...Satoshi wanted to try this place but afterwards thought they were overpriced.

I think the pineapple top that I planted is actually growing because I spotted these tiny sprouts!

We checked out the Jiyugaoka Department Store in front of the Jiyugaoka Station, it reminded me of some of the old shopping buildings in Osaka.

Random cat in Jiyugaoka at Okusawa shrine.

Mouth.on.fire...this soupless tan tan men at Isshinshuka was only chili 1 level but it was so spicy!

I was coughing and my nose was running, loved the thin noodles though.

Some baked items from Tadashi Yanagi for "research"...I'm looking for a shop to order from for my host sister's birthday in November.

Our case numbers in Tokyo went down to 19 one day.

Second vaccine rate is up to 70%.

Crossing fingers that the next wave will not happen.

If you are celebrating Halloween this year, please be safe.

Have a nice weekend.

hio ice cream

We recently tried a craft ice cream called Hio (hee-oh).

They are a small batch ice cream maker.

Their main shop is in the Jiyugaoka area of Tokyo.

They also have a shop near Kamata, where we live.

The ice cream they make uses single origin milk from Hokkaido and organic ingredients.

Currently they are selling their ice cream at some Lawson in the East Japan areas, which is where I purchased these.

The vanilla ice cream was smooth, super creamy and rich.

The salted caramel, like the vanilla was also smooth, super creamy and rich. The flavor reminded me of eating those French salted caramel candies.

We want to see what they are selling at the shop in Kamata, as they are supposed to have seasonal flavors.

I'm glad we tried this and hope we can try other flavors in the future.

thankful

It was my birthday yesterday and was low key.

I purchased some red fruit tarts from Paris S'eveille.

I also purchased their saucisson chocolat (chocolate salami) which was filled with figs, nuts and some spices...delicious with red wine!

From 3 & 1 Factory I purchased these mushroom cheese and potato gratin toasts.

And tried their katsu sandwich.

Bummer there was so much gristle in the pork and basically no flavor (or tonkatsu sauce) on the sandwich...

This place was totally overpriced!

Glad I tried them but don't think I'll be back.

Loved this tart! so many fruits, a little chocolate, a little crispy wafer in the chocolate.

I had forgotten about the fig salami, I brought back from Hawaii which I had purchased at Down to Earth.

It is a fig, tikka masala and onion "log"...spicy and super delicious, though I think it would match a chilled wine more than a room temperature red wine.

Can't believe another year has passed but thankful that you are all a part of my adventure.

3 & 1 Factory
2-9-8 Jiyugaoka
Meguro, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6421.2806
Hours: 10:00-20:00 (Mondays-Fridays), 10:00-19:00 (Saturdays & Sundays)

saturday

Back at the end of May, I visited Showa Memorial Park to see the poppies.

Saturday, I went to check out the fall foliage.

The ginkgo were pretty.

So were the sazanka (camellia).

From the entrance to the Japanese garden area was about 1 kilometer (0.62 miles)

The bonsai area of the Japanese garden was pretty.

Some bonsai trees were 300 years old!

Too bad the Japanese garden itself only had a few trees with colors.

I guess with all the weird weather a lot of leaves dried up!

There was also some susuki (pampas grass) which is popular during autumn too.

(If you would like to see a few more photos and some of Mount Fuji, check out the link here.)

I went back to Sesto for lunch...avocado and pastrami sandwich with a cranberry soda (more like a mixed berry soda)...plus I enjoyed fishing out all the frozen berries at the bottom.

After all that walking this sandwich and the fizzy soda hit the spot.

Since I was meeting up with Satoshi after his German class for dinner, I went to Jiyugaoka to have a snack and walk around.

I stopped into La Cialda.

According to Rowena, these are similar to what I know as pizzelles.

I ordered the cialda with the seasonal marron creme (chestnut cream) and a macchiato...so good!

After sitting and refueling, I walked around Jiyugaoka...I always get my directions mixed up in this area.

After walking and window shopping for a couple of hours, I met up with Satoshi and we went to dinner at Fiorata.

Fiorata is actually the Jiyugaoka Bakeshop, but in the evening, they change gears a bit and serve organic wines and Italian style food.

We started with some buri (yellowtail) carpaccio which was served with some pickled daikon.

Drizzled with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil...delicious!

sanma (saury) beccafico...this was so good!

Apparently it is usually made with iwashi (sardines) but sanma (saury) is in season now, so that is how they made it.

The fish is rolled with some bread crumbs, raisins and herbs.

It was served with some tomatoes and orange slices...mmm!

And to end we had some of their bolognese pasta.

It was Satoshi's first time here and he liked the laid back vibe of the place.

I'm sure we'll be back.

My legs were so tired after the day...my pedometer said that I had walked 29,750!...eep!

Still, I'm glad the weather has been nice to get out and about.

sunday

Sunday, Satoshi went to watch some baseball and have dinner with his friends, so I went to Jiyugaoka for lunch.

I reconnected with the Jiyugaoka Bakeshop, which I visited back in 2010.

For lunch they have a set menu...choose your main...I chose their seasonal quiche.

Choose a side...I chose a salad.

And choose a drink...I chose a cup of coffee.

The quiche was so delicious...the crust was flaky.

A little salty from the bacon and cheese that was sprinkled on top.

Lot of pumpkin in the quiche.

The vinaigrette that dressed the salad was nice and puckery.

It was pretty quiet in the restaurant which was nice.

The cup of coffee which was served with a tiny (hard) piece of coconut rusk (toast) the size of a oversized crouton was good too!

After lunch, I walked from Jiyugaoka to a station on our train line, Yukigaya Otsuka.

It was a nice way to see different neighborhoods and get more familiar with our area.

I'll be back to Jiyugaoka Bakeshop and will definitely do this walk again.

saturday

Saturday was the start of a 3-day weekend for us, I went to Shinjuku to do some shopping, in the corner of my eye I spotted Takibi Bakery's stollen (love their packaging)

We've tried Takibi Bakery's stollen a couple of times in the past and enjoyed them.

This version had lots of spices. There is no tea in this, but it was similar to the spices used in chai.

I look forward to trying more stollen in the coming weeks.

From Shinjuku I walked to Shibuya.

It was interesting seeing neighborhoods that aren't visible from the train.

Like this cool building that is split in half and connected by their wallkways.

I also stumbled upon a day of the dead procession...which reminded me of the movie "Coco".

I met Satoshi after his German class for dinner at Jiyugaoka.

He said he wanted to try Devil Craft.

I tried their Imperial Stout, a kick-a 11.8% chocolatey brew...delicious!

Also appreciate them filling their 200 milliliter serving to the 200 milliliter line on the cup.

We shared this caesar salad while waiting for the deep dish pizza to cook.

We also watched the World Rugby Finals between England and South Africa (South Africa won).

Satoshi enjoyed the pizza and also ordered several pints.

I'm glad he enjoyed this place, and I'm sure we'll be back.

Wanted to share with you this "interesting" suit I saw while waiting for Satoshi...it says "F*ck off" in full lettering over and over on the stripes...amazing what you see in Japan, yeah?!

Have a good week!

devil craft & some good news

Saturday, I met up with a friend from Hawaii, Kurt.

He actually lives in Tokyo, and we've met up before.

I thought I wrote about it, but guess I didn't.

Anyway, this time around, we met up at Devil Craft, a craft beer and pizza shop in Jiyugaoka.

We ordered the chili fries (with jalapenos)...I had envisioned "stick" type of fries, these were waffle cut.

The chili had a nice kick...Kurt ate the jalapenos...

I ordered Devil Craft's Berry Bang Bang which was super fruity, a little sour...I enjoyed this.

I also thought it was cool that they filled the glass "above" the 200 mililiter line!

Devil Craft is also known for their Chicago-style pizzas...this one was the Devil Works...a deep dish with all sorts of toppings.

This had lots of tomatoes, olives, spinach and Italian sausage...delicious.

I also tried the Graham Cracker Porter by Denver Beer.

This was super chocolatey...love!

They have several locations with different items on tap, I wouldn't mind trying other beers...Thanks for meeting up Kurt!

As for some good news...the scaffolding has come off "that condo"...

And from the very far end of our lanai...we could see Mount Fuji!

Not a full view like we had before, but better than nothing!

It was kind of eerie seeing someone on the lanai on "that condo"...probably looking at Mount Fuji too.

Mount Fuji doesn't have any snow on the peak...yet...

Hopefully the weather will cool down soon!

Have a good week!

Devil Craft
2-12-18 Jiyugaoka
Meguro, Tokyo
Phone: 03.5726.9072
Closed Mondays-Tuesdays
Hours: Wednesdays-Fridays 17:00-19:00 (Happy Hour), 20:00-22:30
Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays 14:00-17:00 (Happy Hour), 18:00-22:30