焼き物散歩道...(in Nagoya)

One of the many potters in the area

There are many old kilns in this area

an old advertisement poster for curry

名古屋行こうよ！(Let's go to Nagoya!)

Going on the shinkansen Nagoya station all lit up for the holidays.

Our friends house in Nagoya

Hitsumabushi, one of the popular dishes of Nagoya. They cook the unagi over charcoal in this restaurant. It's eaten in three steps. First with the rice mixed with the unagi. Then top it with green onions and nori. And finally, you add hot dashi with fresh wasabi. I liked with the dashi. Tried it at a couple of restaurants in Tokyo but it wasn't the same.

Ramen Museum

This is the ramen museum in Shin Yokohama. It has a small retail store on the first floor with a small section where they actually make the noodles for the various shops and in B1 there is various ramen shops which feature the ramen of various districts of Japan. My favorite is the kani miso butter ramen. But you actually have to go to Sapporro to try that ramen.

Sapporro Ramen and Sapporro beer, perfect combination.

It's official....Tokyo is the best place to eat in the world.

The famous Michelin Guide for restaurants has come to Japan and published its first guide to the restaurants in Tokyo. For those of us that live here this is not new to us. With over 100,000 restaurants to choose from alone in Tokyo and only 150 restaurants mentioned in the guide, surely, there are more worthy restaurants to mention. Here's a clip from the Japan Times.

The Michelin Guide named Tokyo the "world leader" in gourmet dining, awarding three-star status to eight restaurants in its inaugural edition for the capital.
The dining guide gave two stars to 25 restaurants, and one star to 117. Michelin awarded stars to 150 restaurants in all.
"Tokyo has become the world leader in gourmet dining, with more 'stars' than any other city," Michelin said in a release. The city boasts 191 stars in all. Professional evaluators for the guide anonymously visited 1,500 establishments for a year and a half to compile the list.
Paris boasts 98 Michelin stars and 10 three-star restaurants. London has 50 stars with one establishment at the top rank. New York has three three-star restaurants and 49 stars in all.

Gateaux

I had just received the new gateau magazine and it has pictures of the recent Yogashi pastry skills competition which involves decorating a cake in less than two and a half hours utilizing, rolled fondant, sugar pulling and blowing, marzipan work, royal icing work, and chocolate work. There were 77 entries with top 5 winners.

L'Automne

One of the publications of Super Patissier Book that features the desserts of the patisserie L'Automne.

No it's not a purse. It took me two hours to get home from the cake shop so they packed my cakes in an insulated case. I like the way they pay attention to details here in Japan.

L'Automne, located in Shin Akitsu right behind the station. 1 1/2 hour from Yokohama. One of the farther cake shops that I've visited.

Food for thought....

If you have ever noticed that every world competition in pastry, whether it is the World Pastry Team Championship, or the Coupe du Monde in Lyon, France, Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, or the World Chocolate Championship, Japan is always in the top three. There is a reason why Japan is always in the top three.
While the pastry culinary programs are similar in Japan in terms of length wise, in Japan after you graduate from a culinary school, this does not automatically give them any position in terms of being a pastry chef or a pastry sous chef, for that matter. They start at the bottom and after 7-10 years perhaps a pastry chef de partie position.
In Japan, people here get paid salary with a paycheck once a month. The only hourly positions are part timers. Salary position entails 12 hour days minimum with 6 days off a month(consider yourself lucky if you get 8). And in the hotel system, it is customary for everyone in the bake shop to clock out and return to work for another 3-4 hours. This makes it a total of 15-16 hours a day in the pursuit of perfecting their technique and honing their skill in pastry. They are picky in every aspect that envelops towards the making of a confection. Even something as simple as a tart shell envokes full concentration. Nothing is guessed, everything is weighed and measured. Ever wonder why the Japanese, when they come to America to compete, they go looking for the nearest japanese store to buy items like eggs, sugar, and flour? Simply put, their products are far more superior than America's. Quality eggs in Japan can go as much as .60 each with a great difference in yolk color and richness to the strong protein qualities of the albumen. I've seen eggs where they cracked it open on a plate and stuck toothpicks in the yolk and the yolk did not break, holding up the toothpicks.
Most of the Japanese that are sent to compete in these world competitions are not even know in their own country unlike Vincent Pilon, Stanton Ho, and Stephane Treand whom we all know in America. At any time, Japan has a line of people whom are competition ready. Competition level in Japan, itself, is extremely high with as many as 75 entries in one district. Pieces are judged by A,B,C category.

Coupe du Monde 2007, Japan 1st place

Naomi Mizuno, Word Chocolate Masters winner

ずっと友達

Konno-chan, "peace"

Marie-chan "Let's speak English!"

Sugamono-san, "Good Guy!"

Miwa-chan, Bingo!

Kentaro-san, ～乗り行くよ！

Akito-san, patisserie がんばれ!

Yuusuke-san, 飲みに行くよ！

My time here in Japan is almost up. Along the way I have made many friends most of whom are at work. Many thanks for the experience and the memories. まことにありがとうございました!

Cacahouete Paris

Cacahouete Paris in Naka-Meguro. The Pastry chef is Jerome Quesnel from France. If you notice some of his cakes look like Pierre Herme's cakes. That's because he worked at Pierre Herme's shop in France. Also competed in the Coupe de Monde, Lyon, France, 2005. Nice small cake shop with an open kitchen. I actually saw him working when I went there to try his some of his pastries.