stefano anna

When I went to Kichijoji, I also checked out Stefano Anna, a tiny shop that sells homemade Italian baked goods.

The owner learned about different sweets in Italy then opened up her shop when she returned to Japan

There are all sorts of cookies!

And desserts in the refrigerated case 

I tried the sbolorona and coconut biscotti

It was my first time trying sbrisolona which is apparently from the Lombardy area of Italy.

It was a thick cookie topped with lots of chocolate chips, a little sweeter than Japanese cookies but I loved the crunchy texture of this 

The biscotti was surprisingly light! too delicate to dip into coffee, very crisp, and coconutty! love!

They have an assorted cookie set and cannoli that I'd like to try...I’ll be back.

Stefano Anna

2-36-4 Kichijoji

Musashino, Tokyo

Closed: Mondays

Hours: 10:00-18:00

sakura walk (inokashira park & meguro river)

Since our water would be turned off for the day, I went to my physical therapy then headed out to Kichijoji.

And had lunch at Kugutsuso, I ordered it with a scrambled egg...Omucurry...1720 yen (tax included)

Their curry isn't very spicy but has lots of spices and is very tasty, I'm glad I tried this.

Their iced coffee is strong and comes in this cute cup...it is metal so your iced coffee is super cold!
 

After lunch I went walking around Inokashira Park.

It was nice but a bit warm.

And then on the way home I got off at Meguro and walked along the Meguro River.

We've visited this area before, I think it was during the pandemic, love the view from here, video here

And this time, I walked from Meguro towards Gotanda.

It was a little krazy with people, but not super crowded like Nakameguro is.

Was lucky to catch a group going out to see the cherry blossoms by boat, video here

I'm glad the blossoms have held up, they expect rain on Friday and over the weekend.

Hope you have enjoyed this season as much as we have.

kugutsuso

Been wanting to visit Kugutsuso for awhile now.

 

It is a cafe in the basement of a building...super steep steps!

Dark interior, like you are in a cave. 

Jazz music playing

I went before their lunch time, so I ordered their bread pudding, which comes with coffee...1300 yen (tax included)

Delicious! there are slivers of apple here and there and raisins

And their coffee was delicious too, nel drip (flannel filter) style.

Choose between “strong” or “soft”.  

Apparently “soft” is the more popular choice, I chose “strong”.

My coffee came in a teeny demi type of cup.

When I left there were people waiting for seats...I want to try their curry next time...I'll be back.

Kugutsuso

1-7-7 Kichijoji Honcho, Shimada Building B1

Musashino, Tokyo

Open daily 10:00-22:00

*cash only

back to kichijoji

I wanted to send something to my host mom for her birthday next week, so I went to Presqu'ile last Thursday.

Since they open at 11:00, and I was about 30 minutes early, I decided to buy something for lunch, and went back to Boulangerie Epee

The last time we visited this bakery was pre-pandemic

Their sausage danish was delicious! the sausage was meaty and had a nice snap, there was a slightly sweet glaze on it and the danish (puff pastry) was flaky...love

Their kouign amann was different from others I have tried, the caramel was on the harder side but the pastry was super flaky

I spotted their carrot cake as I was about to pay...glad I purchased this, it was moist with a lot of walnuts, the cream cheese frosting had some lemon zest in it...love!

After ordering something at Presqu'ile to be sent to my host mom, I walked back to the station 

And stumbled upon this area

And this cute french restaurant

It was a nice day but the air was icy.

Still I was glad to be out and about.

kichijoji

1st time back to Kichijoji since the pandemic (I think).

I wanted to send something to my host sister for her birthday, so I went to Presqu'ile
 

On the way, I stopped at Linde to pick up something for lunch, because I had it on my “to try” list

They are a German style bakery, so it was nice to see different items from most Japanese style bakeries.

Their muesli bread filled with a slice of sausage, apple and camembert cheese...so ono!

the nuss tarte reminded me of Kurumikko

They have a cafe above their bakery, I wouldn't mind eating here…1002 yen (tax included) for both items

For dinner, I wanted to try Satou's menchi katsu

Apparently they are the first one to make the round menchi katsu version.

If you are not familiar, menchi katsu are fried hamburger

Huge! 300 yen (tax included) each

Loved how juicy these menchi katsu were, lots of onion too

Their croquette 200 yen (tax included) each and filet katsu 320 yen (tax included)

Love how the coating does not fall off and stays crisp even after reheating.

Satoshi said the filet katsu was delicious too (I put my half into the freezer)

Haneru's butter baby castella...500 yen (tax included) for 15

So buttery!

Still so many places to explore in this area.

We'll be back to these places and the ones we still want to check out.

Linde

1-11-27 Kichijoji Honcho

Musashino, Tokyo

Open daily: 10:00-18:00

Satou

1-1-8 Kichijoji Honcho

Musashino, Tokyo

Open daily:10:00-19:00

*cash only

Haneru

Kirarina Kichijoji 2F

Musashino, Tokyo

Open daily: 10:00-21:00

presqui'le chocolaterie

Been wanting to try Presqui'le Chocolaterie's chocolates.

They are located in Kichijoji and is not somewhere we often find ourselves.

Luckily they were at Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi for a pop-up.

I picked up their (clockwise) chocolat orange (chocolate cake with orange peel), maple financier (maple flavored cake), cardamom sable, tigre chuao and galette nantaises 

Everything was delicious.

My favorites were the cardamom sable (cardamom cookie covered with chocolate and topped with cacao nibs), tigre chuao (a moist cake with a dollop of chocolate in the middle and cacao nibs on the cake) and galette nantaises (buttery cookies).

Hope to get out to the shop to pick up some of their bon bons to try.

Presqui'le Chocolaterie

2-15-18 Kichijoji Honcho

Musashino, Tokyo

Closed: Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Hours: 11:00-19:00

sakura walk (inokashira park)

Yesterday was one of the only days with a "sunny" mark in the weather forecast (other days started out sunny but was expected to get cloudy in the afternoon).

I got out and about early and went to Inokashira Park.

The amount of boats/swan paddle thingies in the pond was krazy!

The sun was out and it was warm but every so often there was a cool/cold breeze.

I bought a bacon avocado baguette and a pistachio bread filled with sakura flavored cream cheese from Boulangerie Epee and found a bench to sit on and have lunch.

The baguette was delicious with a decent amount of avocado and bacon.

The pistachio bread was soft and the sakura cream cheese was lightly flavored...nice.

I hope to go back to have lunch at the shop next time I'm in the area.

My lunch view.

Only a couple more days to enjoy this season...way too short but I'm glad I've been able to get out and about to explore different cherry blossom areas in Tokyo.

Boulangerie Epee
1-10-4 Kichijoji Minami-cho
Musashino, Tokyo
Phone: 0422.72.1030
Open daily: 9:30-23:00 (closes 22:00 on Saturdays & Sundays)

asagaya & kichijoji

Sunday, we went to visit Satoshi's friends at their cafe called Taizankan.

Lunch was their curry rice.

Just the right amount of spice and it was great catching up with them.

From Asagaya, we walked one station over to Koenji.

The area under the train tracks have been cleaned up and there are cool event spaces for everything anime (animation) related.

Another area we saw was the Koenji Apartment with hipster eateries and shops on the bottom (I want to go back to try the coffee shop and craft beer shops).

We caught the train to Kichijoji and walked through Inokashira Park to have crepes at Cafe de Lievre.

Lots of the leaves have fallen without even changing color...boo!

Though there was still some with color...hope to come across some reddish ones soon...

inokashira park

Last year, we said farewell to Satoshi's friend, Gen.

Since then, his family moved out of his company housing and back to Kichijoji, which is where his wife, Kinuko is actually from.

Ever since we moved to Tokyo, Kinuko and I have been trying to coordinate getting together and finally were able to last Thursday.

From the Keio Kichijoji station, Inokashira Park is about an 8 minute walk.

The park is huge!

This was the first time I've seen canned bread and cat purses in a vending machine.

And super spicy snacks.

We had crepes at Cafe de Lievre while we chatted and watched all the doggies out for walks and rides in their strollers.

Even though this was the first time Kinuko and I had actually sat down to chat, I'm glad we were able to find some things in common.

Hopefully we'll be able to get together again more often.

Satoshi also wants me to bring him here, so we'll be back.

Inokashira Park
1-18-31 Gotenyama
Musashino, Tokyo

Cafe de Lievre
1-19-43 Gotenyama
Musashino, Tokyo
Phone: 0422.43.0015
Hours: 10:30-19:00