es-car-go!

we tried a new little place tonight. A small nameless french-japanese bistro, about 15 mins walk from the apartment. We had some very nice comfy fall food. Started with house wine, I had a decent merlot chris had a mediocre cab... but not horrible. We had a cheese plate and then Escargo! YUM. I like mine a little more simple, less basil-pesto, more butter garlic. BUT these were nice.

mains were Chicken in a pot (kind of tomato stew in a mini casserole) and Chris had a steak with mushrooms.

some nice crusty bread. Definately a place I will go to again!

I forgot to pick up a business card when I left so I will have to update you with address and "real" name soon.

food blog round up

one of my favorite Food Blogs in 101 Cookbooks. Wonderful stuff and some of the most gorgeous food photographs on the net. Recently the blogger over there, Heidi Swanson, did a round-up of food blogs she recommends! There were some real winners on her list. I did some major grazing on all the sites she posted.

next month

My hubby and I are headed on a christmas adventure next month. Since joining Fujimamas I have worked every christmas, one year we even had to move an office ALL day and then work that night... ! Recently the travel we have done has been either politics or work related and often with other people so this time we are getting away on what I hope will be a super romantic holiday. We are going to Vienna and Prague for Christmas on a fancy tour. Usually i don't like the tour kind of thing. But it is nice this time because since we are so busy we don't have tons of time to plan this trip and everything will be taken care of for us...

the plan looks like this

Vienna & Prague Christmas: 8 Days Escorted Tour

Picture-perfect scenes from olde world Europe await on this winter wonderland holiday to the Vienna of the Imperial Hapsburgs and to beautiful Prague. Stay at deluxe hotels, attend classical Christmas concerts, wander about Christmas Markets brimming with crafts and warm spiced wine, and see the sights of historically rich cities. Gypsy music mixes with the concert piano, the old embraces the new, and Christmas-time is simultaneously bustling and peaceful.

* 3 nights at the Sacher Wien Hotel in Vienna
* 3 nights at the Radisson SAS Alcron Hotel in Prague
* 6 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 6 dinners

Highlights

* Visit Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral and Hofburg Palace
* Dine at Schonbrunn Palace and attend a holiday concert
* Tour the Vienna Woods
* Enjoy Christmas Markets at Vienna City Hall Square, in Baden of the Vienna Woods, and in Prague
* Explore Prague's Old Town, Wenceslas Square, St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague Castle and the old Jewish Quarter
* Attend a symphony or opera performance in Prague
* Enjoy free time in each city

Itinerary

Day 1 - Depart
Board your overnight flight to Austria.

Day 2 - Arrive Vienna/Christmas Market
Welcome to Vienna, Austria's refined capital on the Danube River, known for its coffeehouses, for the Hofburg and for the waltz. Transfer on your own to the hotel, then in the mid-afternoon, visit the Christmas Market at the Rathausplatz (City Hall Square), where the Viennese come to stroll among elaborately decorated trees, to look for crafts and to enjoy Gluhwein (warm spiced wine). Your elegant Viennese hotel sits in the very heart of the city on a pedestrian street.

Day 3 - Hofburg Palace/Vienna
Walk (the best way to experience Vienna) on the pedestrian Karntnerstrasse to medieval St. Stephen's Cathedral, symbol of the city, and to Hofburg Palace, the Imperial Palace of the Hapsburg dynasty, to visit the Treasury and see the crown jewels. This afternoon, explore the hilly Vienna Woods, inspiration for Schubert's music and Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. Visit the former royal hunting lodge at Mayerling and wander the Christmas Market in Baden, which is also known as the Advent Mile. Dinner is out on the town this evening.

Day 4 - Vienna/Schonbrunn Palace
Your morning is free in Vienna. This afternoon, see the Baroque masterpiece Schonbrunn Palace, which is often compared to the palace at Versailles. About 40 of the Palace's 1400 rooms are open to visitors. Stroll the Christmas Market on the grounds before enjoying dinner in the Palace's Cafe and a concert in Schonbrunn Palace.

Day 5 - Czech Republic/Prague
Travel through the rolling Austrian and Bohemian countryside, hopefully white with fresh snowfall, en route to Prague. This beautiful city is known as "a symphony in stone," where Charles VI ruled as King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor and amassed wonderful Gothic landmarks, including Charles Bridge and St. Vitus Cathedral. Dine out on the town this evening.

Day 6 - Prague/Old Town/Old Jewish Quarter
Begin city sightseeing with a walk to the Stare Mesto (Old Town) Square to see the Astronomical Clock on the Old Town Hall. Explore the Jewish Quarter, the best-preserved complex of Jewish monuments in the whole of Europe. The Old-New Synagogue dates from the 13th century and the Jewish Cemetery has a fascinating variety of Renaissance and Baroque tombstones. This afternoon, see Wenceslas Square, Charles Bridge and the meandering Vltava River.

Day 7 - Christmas Day/Prague Castle
Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce! The morning is free for anyone wishing to attend church service. This afternoon, visit Prague Castle, the complex of monuments standing as the symbol of the nation. St. Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace, St. George's Basilica and the Golden Lane are all here. This is Christmas Day and as a finale, attend an opera or symphony performance this evening.

Day 8 - Conclude Prague

I hope to do LOTS of eating and blogging about eating.
should be fun. One of my missions is to find some great christmas things at the traditional markets! and we are staying in the Hotel Sacher- home of the sacher torte! reports on that for sure!

exciting events on the horizon

Well, the election is behind us! WHOO HOO. the dems did great and there was much celebrating- "We drink from the keg of glory, Donna... Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land." ...

And in the rest of my life the fall-food season is jumping into high gear. This weekend my friends over at Orca International are helping me launch the Fujimamas saturday school. A tribute to the Hip Tasters program in San Fran. We will be doing Sat. School classes. this first one is on how to gain confidence in blind tasting. telling your wines apart without seeing the labels.

Also, this week, I finished my first piece for the new to launch in dec. Being A Broad magazine. (published by the dynamic and wonderful Carolyn Pover) this is a mag. that will be targeted to foriegn women living overseas. My piece was on a few reccommendations of Sweet Indulgences that women can treat themselves to during the crazy-care-for-others holiday season. I will post the info when the magazine comes out.

AND I am fast into working on another piece- about cooking in IBK's or Itty Bitty Kitchens, with a review of a book by the same name.

Then NEXT week. we are into THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!! My restaurant has already take reservations for over 450 people for our 4 seatings on thurs. and fri. PLUS caterings pick ups and deliveries... we are up past 500 portions! WOW this will be the biggest year ever. Will report as we go along. We officially start serving Turkey Lunch from thurs. 16th... and gear up from there.

Our Democrats Abroad group will also have a thanksgiving party on Wed. night before thanksgiving... so I am going to be triptophaned out...

Should be a fun two weeks.
YUM

great post for election day- over on Cheese n Things

Tuesday, November 07, 2006
What are you doing reading food blogs?
Get to the polls and vote!

posted by jamie at 7:57 AM 1 comments

who are they kidding?

The Japanese government, in an act of true hypocrisy- is complaining about Japanese restaurants overseas that they say are not really good enough to call themselves Japanese! Why is the hypocrisy- Because Japan if FULL of fake or Japanified Italian, French and American restaurants as well as any other cuisine you can name. Food "Adjusted" for Japanese taste... I understand the idea of Certifying those you think are good- but agressively attacking those restaurants that you think aren't Japanese enough... Seems just wrong.


Here is the story from AP.

Japan planning crackdown on food-fakers worldwide
Sat, November 4, 2006

TOKYO -- Are the chefs slicing the raw tuna correctly? Is the rice sticky enough?

Tokyo is launching a crackdown on restaurants abroad that bill themselves as authentic Japanese, but fall short of Japanese culinary standards.

A panel of food experts was appointed Thursday to discuss a certification system that would presumably certify restaurants that serve dishes served in the true Japanese tradition.

The system would promote "authentic Japanese culinary culture" abroad, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

"There are many restaurants overseas that call themselves Japanese, yet use culinary techniques and ingredients far removed from those of authentic Japanese food," said a ministry statement.

Disney as a leader takes a stand on marketing junk food for kids

Recently as some folks who know me, know-- I was very disappointed in the Walt Disney co.'s via ABC's right wing ties in producing the TV propaganda piece "Path To 9/11" but I am also fair enough to give credit where credit is due. Disney is taking a HUGE stand, and fantastic steps forward on dealing with America's peddling high fructose corn syrup and saturated fats to children.

from the NYTIMES
Disney Says It Will Link Marketing to Nutrition
By LANDON THOMAS Jr.
Published: October 17, 2006

Buzz Lightyear and Lightning McQueen will not be endorsing junk food much longer.

Walt Disney, addressing the growing concerns of parents over child nutrition, said yesterday that it would curtail the use of its name and characters with food items that did not meet new nutritional standards. The new guidelines would limit how much sugar, calories and fat could be in snacks and foods marketed by companies that Disney has licensing relationships with.

The move, which comes at a time of mounting worry about childhood obesity, is likely to put pressure on the company’s competitors to follow suit. Left outside the scope of yesterday’s initiative was any mention of the considerable advertising for junk food products that is carried on Disney’s television networks, especially Toon Disney and ABC Kids.

But the policy change was broadly hailed by food industry experts, who saw it as an important statement in the increasingly vocal debate over what parents want their children to eat and what the food companies are trying to sell to them.

You can read the rest of the story here. (though you need to register.)

take away around the world!

I always read food news, food politics, trends, keeping an eye on what is what. Found a funny story today. As an american I have always thought of taking home leftovers a right. I don't often do it, because I almost always forget about them, either on the table after they are nicely packaged for me, or in my refridgerator back home which means they become some kind of science experiement- till I finally come across them again and throw them away. But many of my friends and family are take away converts. Doggie bags are more than common for Americans.

Living in Japan, I found that to be not a universal expectation. It makes sense actually as fish, a major ingredient in many japanese dishes, and the heat here in the summers would make for a dangerous left-overs combination. But I never really thought more of it after that.

Today I came across a story examining the "doggie bag" responses in 7 countries. They ranged from tolerance, to totally expected to flatly refused- (here in Japan.) The Russian response surprised me.

You can read the story here. at the Post Gazette from Pittsburgh.

I loved the response in Singapore! And the French- totally what I would have expected.

food news from Wired? and the high tech area of Akihabara

TOKYO -- A new dessert sold from a roadside stand in Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district is drawing crowds with its unique taste -- exactly like that of freshly fallen snow. this story from wired
This is the Money Quote from Chris Kohler's blog

...it's basically ice cream but with a mouth-feel that is almost exactly like snow. Snow. Eating snow is awesome. It's one of the best parts of being a child. Sno-cones are shaved ice, which fail to capture the airy, crystalline feel of snowflakes. But damn if the Japanese haven't figured out how to do it with ice cream. It's really amazing. And apparently you can only get this stuff in Akihabara, as far as I can tell.

here is the shop link...only in Japanese but I am on a mission to go try this. will report back later!

browsin the blogs

took some time after working brunch today to browse the food blogs I like, and those reccommended by the food bloggers I like... here is my round up

Learned more about the Bakers Edge pan from C&Z I especially liked the story about the pan as written up on the GILDED FORK.

and over at eggbeater- I enjoyed reading about the farmers market and enjoyed browsing the eggbeater bookshelf at powells.

I saw these shots and was wondering why I don't live near the Menlo Farmer's Market?!
Fall is the hardest time for me living in japan. I really miss the fall food from Pa. where I am from, and the whole idea of farmer's markets anywhere...

illustration at top from here

from Mr. Tea- my hero

Thought this was a great post over on Adagio Tea's newsletter "the Tea Muse" on what is the difference between the many basic kinds of tea- he is such a rascal...

Black tea, White tea, Oolong tea and Green tea all come from the same plant - the Camellia sinensis (also related to the genus Camillia parker bowles - second cousin, twice removed). The processing can be compared to my activities during Labor Day weekend:

Black teas are heavily oxidized, like Mr. Tea after a day at the tanning salon. Oolong teas are semi fermented, Like Mr. Tea after a day on the beach. Green teas are like Mr. Tea after an hour in the sauna and a 1/2 hour massage. White Tea? Like Mr. Tea after the spa, without a massage. Maybe a facial.

Red Tea is from a plant called the Red Bush. This tea, as well as all Herbal Teas, is called tisanes. They are not really tea, but like tea go very well with hot water and a mug, on a patio watching a sunset.

Now you know the difference between these teas, and have a clue as to how I spent my weekend. Now off to the drugstore with me - must find something for this horrendous sunburn.

Extra crispy,

Mr. Tea

I used to be a strictly black or green tea gal, but have been finding some great teas of all varieties that really suit different moods and times of day! We drink RedBush tea at night- no caffine! And one of my new favorites esp. with asian fusion food, is a really good jasmine. Tea is a great ritual and spiritual thing in our house. And I really enjoy "tea-time" at all different times of the day!

the Kitchen Diaries

I am still trying to get all my wine dinner photos together. Will share them with you all soon. IN the meantime, today I thought I would tell you about a book I am reading- experiencing really. Nigel Slater's The Kitchen Diaries. A gorgeous Heafty book, with a silk ribbon page holder, lovely photos and rich relaxed writing. I am browsing it day by day, as Nigel wrote it, and dreaming of more leisure time so I can actually try out some of his tasty recipes.

The Kitchen Diaries, is more like a daily love affair with food, markets, and yes the occasional battle with not wasting the things collecting in your fridge. It has been fun so far. he is quite charming a real. You can see more about the book on The Nigel Slater Site. I am reading in the Sept. section now. seems very lush and real. Not your average cookbook by any stretch. I want to get his previous book Real Food soon too.

wine dinner countdown

The clock is ticking... today- tonight actually, in the restaurant I work in (Fujimamas) we are preparing for a wonderful wine dinner. We will be having winery owner and wine maker Alex Sokol-Blosser as our guest. And we will be serving a fantastic course menu paired with his wines.

As I type this, I am finishing the menus for printing, Our wonderful chef Mark Vann of Fujimamas Tokyo and Kona, Hawaii- is downstairs in the kitchen creating the wonders that our guests will get to taste tonight- we are making the table cards, planning the seating and generally doing the 1000 little things that go into this kind of event.

One of my very first fancy glass posts was about one of our wine dinners. They are truly wonderful experiences. I have some butterflies in my stomach- always the case before a big event. But I feel confident this one will be a winner.

We are Sold Out for seats tonight- and I think it will be successful... updates tomorrow. Thanks go to Orca International for bringing us the great wine maker and helping us put on this event.

end of summer ramblings

It has been so long since I have paid attention to my dear fancy glass. And I have missed it greatly. What a crazy summer. Work Stuff, Travel to the new Restaurant in Hawaii, catching up on personal stuff and just plain swealtering in the Tokyo Heat have kept me from some of the things I really like to do for myself- like this blog.

But I am going to dive back in!

Another thing I am catching up on is listening to some of my favorite podcasts. Food and otherwise. One of my favorites in A fantastic food podcast EATFEED.COM!
And this morning I listened to a great podcast from july about Ice Cream. You can listen Here.

My favorite part of the show was about the fact that Penn State University, which is near my hometown, has a Creamery- and they sell their ice cream online! Wow. Now I am sure they will not send it all the way to me here to japan. But it would be fun to send this to friends and family for summer birthdays next year. Anyway- they have great fun flavor names, and a cute site at http://www.creamery.psu.edu/

They also talk about the old tradition of the Ice Cream Social- which I am thinking of doing somehow someday- As many of you know besides food, and my restaurant career I am also "into" politics. So I am thinking a huge Americans overseas Ice Cream Social in the 2008 election cycle might be a great get out the vote/ voter registration event?!

Ok, so ending my summer ice cream ramblings- promising to myself- and any of you who are reading this that I WILL be writing more often again from now!

more soon.

tickled my fancy

Everyone knows I am a tea lover. I like the adagio-teas webnewsletter TeaMuse. And there is a section about tea-art. I loved this little story and photo this month. really tickled my fancy. read about it here. I will post the photo later- the blogger photo editor is down today- sigh.

Long time and fruit by the foot

It has been far too long since I have written here. Busy life in the restaurant biz. but actually I have been having some nice food and doing some good food-things.

Out recently for Italian and a small place in the neighborhood called "Mar" - very tasty bread and olive oil. Been exploring a bit and trying different places. We also went back to the Gazebo Cafe and my favorite local mexican- Junkadelic. But I have been lazy - not taking the camera not writing.

Last night we had really delish Sushi, just basic orders, salmon, sweet egg, eel, tuna, and a big veggie Futo Maki, or fat rolled sushi. Next time will take photos for sure. Sushi is a summer time food for me, never in the mood for it in cold weather.

IN the restaurant we did a fun course dinner for a club called the Good Grub Club- you can read about it on the Fujimamas Blog www.fujimamasfoodies.com

But what inspired me to write today was that my husband sent me a link to a great page from McSweeney's "new food reviews" I especially liked the first part-

Fruit by the Foot
-Submitted by Michaelanne Petrella

The new Fruit by the Foot variety pack has three kinds in one box—strawberry, berry tie-dye, and "color by the foot." Each piece has a serrated "squiggly fun" line down the center, allowing you to pull the fruit (fruit? i guess it's fruit) in half and eat each side at different times. Color by the foot is a bad name for a flavor—it sounds like I'm eating foot-flavored crayons—so they put an asterisk next to it on the box that tells you it's "naturally rainbow punch flavored." I've never had rainbow punch, but I'm guessing that it consists of cherries, bananas, star fruits, raisins, peanuts, and onions. It looks trash-colored and makes my teeth hurt. I ate four boxes in two days.

You can read the whole set at Reviews of New Food.

"flying veggies"

This one sounds a bit too much like an old Monty Python skit. But I thought it conjured great imagery and as we come out of the golden-week holidays here in Japan/ and Cinco de Mayo in the USA--- thought I would share.

Mexicans mark "cinco de mayo" with flying veggies

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - One of the few places in Mexico still celebrating Cinco de Mayo, thanks to an enduring family tradition, did so on Friday with a tequila-fueled fiesta of cannon firing, flying vegetables and forced haircuts.

It marks the defeat by Mexican troops and local Indians in the central state of Puebla of an invasion by a much better-equipped French force. A subsequent invasion succeeded in occupying Mexico City and briefly installing an emperor.

Firing homemade shotguns loaded with gunpowder, hundreds of men dressed as female Indian peasants with blackened faces, straw hats and embroidered blouses fought mock running battles against French invaders in white bloomers.

Cannon blasts on both sides gave signals for the troops to run at each other, pelting each other with vegetables and French-style baguettes while swigging beer and tequila. Captured foes were held down and given haircuts.

You can read more at Reuters.com

in search of scone

 

No I did not eat all three of these...

Friday was a day off, and I decided to drag hubby and tm along for some exploring in tokyo. A few years ago I found this great antique warehouse with a cool cafe. I really had a GREAT scone there- I had recently figured out that it maybe was near our apartment (I had lived elsewhere when I found it the first time by bus) So we set out to look for adventure and SCONES.

It was great. The shop is called Globe. And it is very different from most small antique shops in Tokyo. It is huge. 4-5 stories high. cafe downstairs and gorgeous outdoor garden area. I really felt like we had a little afternoon away in Europe or the UK.

We had a nice lunch and the VERY yummy scones above. From right to left. Rum Raisin, Plain, and White Chocolate Latte. I was the plain. (wanted to judge based on my scone searches in other spots- and needed to use the Plain one as a control)

I especially loved the whipped cream and marmalade they served with these delicious desserts.

Definately want to head back there again. ALso on the way home we went to a great little park, AND found a wonderful wine and cheese shop. I am sure that the shop will feature in future fancy glass posts.

GLOBE ANTIQUES/ Ikejiri 2-7-8. [on Mishuku-dori, just south of Route 246] Open 11am-8pm daily. Tel: 5430-3550. read more at Bento.com 

Eating by the Rules

One of the things that is interesting about living abroad is the various customs, rules and etiquette that varies culture to culture.

In Japan here are a couple of table rules- as spelled out by a Japanese person- (hence the cute grammar?!) My comments below each point...

1. Blowing your nose in public, and especially at the table, is considered bad manner.

It is OK however to snuffle, snort and make other noises to keep your nose from running! This is one that is always SHOCKING to foreigners who find the snorting noise MUCH more distasteful than blowing your nose!

2. It is considered good manner to empty your dishes to the last grain of rice.

in Some Parts of Asia this is NOT true. It is polite in China to leave the last few grains of rice- shows that you were given an excess from the generous host of the meal.

3. Talking about toilet related and similarly disappetizing topics during or before a meal is not appreciated by most people.

I would assume this one to be universal!

4. Unlike in some other parts of East Asia, it is considered bad manner to burp.

though I hear older Japanese business men do this ALL the time. And strangely, burping is rude but Spitting loudly anywhere on the street or even in a train station is A-OK!

5. After finishing eating, try to place all your dishes in the same way as they were at the start of the meal. This includes replacing the lid of dishes which came with a lid and replacing your chopsticks on the chopstick holder or into their paper slip, if applicable.

I like this one, very neat and tidy! easy for the host to collect the dishes and looks much better. But then I have been here for a long time, and perhaps this shows I am becoming acculturated in my host country.

what to make?

Foodies come in a few varieties... the cooking kind. (I used to be this kind) And the restaurant and eating out kind. This is what I am now. My husband and I, when we still lived in the USA were the cooking kind. We haunted the Reading Terminal Market, practically living there every weekend. And We cooked up a storm at home as well as going out.

BUT- living in Japan has been a challenge for cooking. There are some very big challenges. Kitchens are small and ill-equipped, Storage space is non existent, Refridgerators are small, and I can't read Japanese kanji very well so finding ingredients and know what I am buying has been very hard. On top of that, many ingredients are just different enough to wreak havoc on a USA scaled recipe.

So all of these challenges, combined with the fact that I work in a restaurant which has made bringing food home or eating a work an easy substitute for cooking from scratch has changed us and I miss the simple pleasures of cooking.

Today I stumbled upon CookingBytheNumbers.com. You enter your stuff from what is in your fridge and your cupboard and it sends back some basic, simple stuff you can make from what you have right now. My fridge and cupboard are quite empty this week. We have eggs, milk, bread, and butter... but still some good things came back from my query. I think this type of site might be just what we need to get back to trying to cook some simple cozy stuff at home. I intend to give it a try and get back to you on the results next week.

If you are a beginning cook the site also features basic skills on SkillsBytheNumbers. We'll let you know what we think...

cupcake crazies on video

Here is another example of the Cupcake Craze! the mecca of cupcakers - the Magnolia- folks lined up waiting.... wish I was there...

cupcake heaven under the cherry trees...

ever since I started reading the Cupcake Bakeshop- I've been obsessed. I work in a restaurant, Fujimamas... and seriously since I read about all the fantastic creations by Chockylit- I have been bugging my pastry chef to try cupcakes in our pastry case. I think more sophisticated cupcakes would be a hit with all the young ladies who come to our restaurant! So I pestered, bugged, and printed out recipes week after week.

Finally in honor of Cherry Blossom Season here in Japan- He finally gave in and made me gorgeous, delicious cupcakes. The picture of the cupcake above is how they looked, AND the trees are the ones lining the street along the river where I live. This is one of my favorite times of year in Tokyo, largely because that is what I can see right out in front of my apartment.

The Cupcake was filled with strawberry filling - the icing lightly flavored with Sakura liqueur (sakura = cherry blossom in Japanese) They were perfect! We sold some at the cherry blossom festival on my street AND we ate some as well.

I still hope I can get him to try some of the other ideas we've been discussing, afterall Cupcakes are becoming a real trend in the USA and I think we could bring that trend to Tokyo!

this is from a piece in the SF Chronicle talking about the new trend-

Those who inhabited Manhattan could get instant gratification, heading to the illustrious Magnolia Bakery in Greenwich Village for one of its pastel-topped treats -- it took a little longer for the cupcake craze to take hold out West.

Now, the Bay Area is peppered with cupcake bakeshops and businesses (see Page F5), and at least eight cupcake cookbooks have been published in the last two years.

It's almost surprising that it took us this long to figure it out. Really, what's not to love? On a purely functional level, cupcakes are portable, they're small, and they're easily personalized.

other places to spot the trend

Columbia News Service
The Sex & The City Tour
All Cupcakes All the Time
Cupcakes are All the Rage from NY to LA!

your fortune is brewing...

a bit of fun over at the republic of tea. get your fortune read from your tealeaves and find out your chinese zodiac animal if you don't already know it.

As a rule I love loose tea not tea bags, but the folks at the republic of tea- offer great loose and bagged tea. some of my favorite flavors are-

British Breakfast
and
Vanilla Almond

they have other fun stuff too, like great books, and tea pots and lots of good gear for "lovers of the leaf" I want to try the new artisan teas with the Jerry Garcia Art inspired labels.

made the front page of chopstick cinema

I love the blog chopstick cinema... and have been intrigued for months with celestes's requests for chopsticks. Living in Japan, there is an ample supply here, so last month in preparation for spring I picked a lovely cherry blossom inspired pair to send to her.

today she featured my chopsticks and the fancyglass in her new month of food and film... the food being Japanese, the film being Memoirs of a Geisha.

thanks, Celeste, hope you enjoy the chopsticks! I will be sure to send another pair soon.

reflections on a wine party

In the beginning of march we held a big wine tasting party at Fujimamas. The snaps above were shot with me and the two guests of honor. Eric from Dunham Cellars and Charles from K-Vintners.

My friends Jeff and Jan at Orca International were the wine importer/distributor hosts- and they pulled out all the corks as it were. We had over 50 wines to try from their catalog, and a 4-5 from the two VIPS above. About 100 people came and everyone had fun, but no one had too much fun if you know what I mean.

This was all by way of kicking off a Tokyo Tradition. For the last few years March has been Washington Wine month. During which there are many wine tasting parties, and events to feature the wines from Washington State.

I had a great time, and I think our guests did as well. We had great tunes from a couple of DJ's from the online radio wonder Samurai.fm and the two guests Eric and Charles were very charming!

all this fun tasting and experimenting has me looking forward to more wine adventures in the future.

from Dunham Cellars I reccommend
Dunham Three Legged Red

and the Dunham Cabernet Sauvignon VII (2001)

and From K Vintners
K 'The Boy' Walla Walla (2004)
Thanks Eric, Jeff, Jan and Charles!

Sushi at home

Living here in Japan, and visiting friends and family back home, it has been interesting to see how Japanese food makes it way to the states, and then even sometimes returns back to Japan somewhat changed.

Some examples are the rise in Traditional Sake sales and green tea sales in the USA- and then the creation of original cocktails stateside using these items that are now returning and are served in Asian fusion restaurant back here in Japan. Also note the introduction of green tea based items at the uber-popular starbucks.

When Most americans think of Japanese food, a big thing that they think of is Sushi. But here there are still often misconceptions. Sushi is NOT raw fish- that is sashimi. Sushi is a way of preparing rice with a vinegar. It is easy to make at home and then is used to make sushi rolls with fish or veggies or any other ingredients you like. Or Sushi rice can be used in negiri sushi, the little hand formed rice balls with fish or other items arranged on top. You can read about making some basic Japanese foods including sushi rice at home here.

More interesting reading via the Sushi Chronicles includes the History of Sushi. Short but interesting read. Enjoy!

hmmm??? I don't know about this one?

according to the kind people over at my love-to-be-addicted to product company...

“Coca-Cola Blak is a uniquely invigorating beverage that is full-bodied in flavor and as refreshing as you expect Coca-Cola to be,” said Katie Bayne, senior vice president, Coca-Cola Brands, Coca-Cola North America. “There is no other beverage available today quite like Coca-Cola Blak. Imagine the refreshing taste of an ice-cold Coca-Cola that finishes with a rich essence of coffee. Only Coca-Cola can deliver that distinct combination of flavors.”

I am DEFINATELY skeptical about this one!
read more at BEVENET

Sunday Night-DUCKFEST

YUM YUM YUM...
last night we went out with the Curewitz-Family. And TMac and My Hubby and I for Peking Duck. It had been far to long since Chris and I had enjoyed Peking Duck and this was a great restaurant recommended and chosen by mama-curewitz Who is Chinese and definitely knows her Duck!

If you want to know more about what Peking Duck is and how it is prepared- check out wikipedia.

We had the full three course tradition, Sliced duck skin and meat in the pancake crepe like wrapper with three kinds of sauce. WE also had the stir fried duck and then Soup make with stock from the Duck bones! It was delicious from start to finish.

Peking Duck Recipe

We did have one wickedly spicy salad! Too hot- Loads of chills!
Can't wait to go back there again. This branch was in Ebisu, near the station. "Chinese Cafe 8" Funny thing was the decor. which had all kinds of racy and sexual connotations. some kind of fertility connection! Very funny.

Primer of Japanese food

A lot of folks, when they hear the words "Japanese food" picture sushi shops, or exotic blow fish stories. But Japanese food has so much to offer from the simple and everyday to the very fancy and sublime. Living in Japan now since 1997, I have grown to mostly love the home-cooked everyday kinds of Japanese food.

recently I stumbled across this very good site just talking about some of the basics from rice, to miso, to sake, to green tea. Great site if you want to browse and learn a bit of the broad range that makes up Japanese cuisine. go to TheBlackMoon.com

Itadakimasu! (Japanese for "let's enjoy eating" kind of like Bon appetite")

Fujimamas Kona

Well, I have been here just under a week. Our company Fujimamas has our new location at Kailua Kona on the big island! just finished up, (or almost) rennovations. And getting everything localized for here in Hawaii. Menu is mostly the same as the tokyo flagship with a few things changed to reflect local ingredients and tastes. Gorgeous outdoor dining area and very funky space.

My job this week is to assist the owners and new management team in some PR legwork, and get the word out. It has been really fun. The Bar is especially exciting with a simple but dynamic drinks menu including some fantastic martinis and saketinis. I am certainly going to take some of the recipes back to the Tokyo Fujimamas. More shots of food and interiori on the way.

It has been exciting to learn about branching out and localizing a brand. And I am learning a lot. There are plans for other Hawaii locations and types of Fujimamas. And right now we are working on some of our own signature dishes and styles. Including, Fuji-Sushi! Soon we might be opening a Fujimamas BBQ joint as well!

very exciting!

in the catagory of what NOT to do

I have a soft spot for Brown Sugar Cinnamon Poptarts. I know they are not good for me, and I know it is super-packaged food. But I love them. I actually thing they are the only true poptart. (though sometimes I do like the strawberry frosted ones too) We can't get them easily in Tokyo but recently they are becoming a bit more available- there is a supermarket that carries import foods and we have recently been able to get them there.

But... a poptart cannot be forgotten in the toaster oven on high with out dire consequences.


I was working away on the computer and spent quite a bit of time wondering what the acrid smell was before I remembered that I had indeed been making myself a poptart to have with my morning tea. Needless to say, I have no idea how a poptart tastes in the condition but I thought it was interesting to see how the frosting pulled away from the edges and made beautiful bubbles.
YUM

the redbook cafe

Tokyo is a very large, cosmopolitan city, and cafes are getting more and more common, but they are still not of the variety and quality that you　might expect. So finding a nice arty, independent cafe is always a pleasant surprise. And finding one in my own neighborhood was a JOY! The Redbook is a little 12 seat cafe/bar, one couch, some bar stools around the counter, and one smaller table for two. I went there today to do some thinking and catching up on my writing. The interior was all designed and decorated by the female owner. She is young, very artistic, and seems to be quite down to earth. Nice little coffee/tea/and cocktail menu. Moves easily between sunny afternoon cafe spot to cozy bar. Dark green walls, wine red highlights, and very yummy cafe mocha. The best is that she serves the coffee drinks in a bowl-cup. I love those and they are far to rare. I remember in my Philadelphia days, two cafes, the Supreme Bean, and the Last Drop Cafe both had deep wonderful bowls for cappuccinos and lattes. Nothing better than to wrap your hands around a bowl of creamy steamed milk and coffee on a cold winter day. Today at the Redbook, I Got some writing done... nice afternoon off place. And only 10 mins. from my apartment.
definately going to become a regular.

kit kat and cross blog pr

In the "interesting candy release" world of Japan... there are many foriegn brands that release for Japan only flavors. One of the metro bloggers wrote about Wine Flavored KitKat Here Haven't tried these myself yet. I will give an update if I find them somewhere. One of the other strange aspects is that even when they release and promote special flavors here they keep the mistique by making the supply small and trying to build up demand.

Special Edition/ Limited Time Only

One of the things I like about living in Japan food wise is the sense of seasons and time in what is available. Fruits are available seasonally, for example; my favorite peaches can only be found in july early august. It keeps things special and changing and new, and generally the taste is better because instead of forced hot house produce you are eating fruit when it grows naturally.

Peaches in Summer, Mikan *Tangerines in Winter, Japanese grapes in the fall with the Fuji Apples... and so it goes.

this special edition mentality often gets taken to extremes however. Young japanese shoppers will line up for hours and spend hundreds of thousands of yen for a limited edition LVMH bag. And in a less expensive but even more interesting example... there is limited edition candy. each year, almost every month, in the convienience stores there is some special limited box or bag or bar of candy. The ones shown above are from last month... already gone from the shelves. I didn't think much of the pie alamode but the cappuccino one was actually pretty yummy.

I note that this kind of marketing is expanding back into the states as well. Starbucks used to only have special edition drinks in the USA for christmas... in japan a few years ago they started having all kinds of limited drinks at the Starbucks here. But I read recently that USA starbucks is creating more special menu items too.

I Love Gingerbread latte's by the way, and the GL season went by far too quickly this year.

I wonder if the special edition candy, coffee, etc. is not a reaction to tapping into the speedy lives we all lead and our desire to slow things down, make the time special. Smell the flowers? Anyway, more on special candy as I spot them.
-ls 

Catching up on Christmas and New Year's Blogging

Being in the restaurant business means I do more serving of holiday meals than eating them. But I have to say, I really enjoy making people happy and bringing them a delicious meal when they are celebrating with family and friends. And my hubby and I do get creative about schedules and still find time to have some holiday fun ourselves.

This year he came to the restaurant at 9pm after I had seated the last reservation group, on Christmas and we shared a great Christmas dinner. Roast Beef, Yorkshire pudding and mashed potatoes. YUM. We brought in a bottle of wonderful wine to have with dinner. A Mathews Cellars reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, from Washington state. It was perfect with the dinner. A little short in the finish, but really elegant and went terrifically with the roast beef.


For New Year’s Eve- We closed the restaurant at 7pm on 12/31… So, home I went to a tasty dinner. In my family back home in the states New Year’s traditions harken back to my Mother’s side of the family who were of German Decent or as they were known in Pennsylvania- "Pennsylvania Dutch" which actually came from the name for germany in german DEUTSCHLAND, not Holland!. Our new year’s dinner this year was just like I would have had with my Grandmother when I was growing up. Pork, Sauerkraut, Mashed potatoes… we forgot to get out the apple sauce but I also brought home some bisquits. Terri came over to enjoy New Year’s eve with us, she really enjoyed the dinner, And we had snacks, watched a movie and made popcorn after.

New Year’s Day- the restaurant is closed! this is the one day of the year we are not open... Chris and I Slept in Soooo late…. Ahhh.


Then we made Belgian waffles with strawberries. Perfect, decadent breakfast, Our little toasted sandwich and waffle-maker did not disappoint. Later it was out for a late lunch, and then we went to the movies to see KING KONG! I loved the movie, and I really think Peter Jackson is a genius. So all in all, my holidays included lots of hard work, but fun and good food with my husband and friend as well.

Modest fun and delicious…

The photos did not come out well. I was in too big a hurry to eat. But the food was yummy and it made for a very nice evening with my Hubby.

We were facing our usual dilemma of trying to figure out what to have for dinner after a long day at work. For foodies, I must say, our evening fare is not all that inspiring during the week nights. But we had the idea as we stood near the crossing in Shibuya to do a “Tokyo Department Store Picnic.”

Let me explain… The first floor or often Basement floor of most department stores in Japan and also many train stations, is a food floor. Not a food court like they have in the USA/ fast food and all that… but a food floor of small booths of different kinds of prepared and unprepared / gourmet/ and down home foods. From 60$ Melons (OUTRAGEOUS) to humble rice balls to imported chocolates/ you can find it all. It is my theory that the outdoor markets of Japan moved inside because of all the rain. So it is a lot like being in a very clean, bright, chic inside version of an outdoor Asian market.

I will follow up with more food-floor posts in the near future. But for this outing we were focused on some quick take out dinner fare.

A bit of this and that, with some coins and a few bills in my pocket and we had a lovely dinner. Some of the features were a miso-basted fish / crab fried rice / steamed Chinese Shumai dumplings/ and a very yummy simple tuna rice ball (Onigiri) This was from the Tokyu Food Floor at Shibuya Station.

By the way… at this spot you can also buy from Dean and DeLuca / Starbucks / Godiva and other world wide well known shops.

Lots of fun. And the best is, if you go just before closing time at 8pm, you can get discounts on a lot of the fresh prepared foods. 

still no time .... argh

well, this end of year season has just been crazy at Fujimamas. No time to think. and I keep losing my camera charger in various black holes around my desk at work and our tokyo tiny apartment... so even when I have had some good holiday food experiences I've had no camera to capture it... very frustrating. Anyway the restaurant is doing well. Lots of company parties booked for christmas and the end of the year. good catering schedule, lots going on. So many foodbloggers are writing great holiday posts though, I am jealous.

I had a day off today, even though it was a friday. I was a bit selfish, but then I had not taken any time off for 13 days, so it was time. I was getting cranky, never a good sign.

I bought some great teas today from a gorgeous little shop. Cha No Yu in the Hiroo neighborhood of Tokyo. This was after going to the popular foriegn foods supermarket National Azabu. I got some tasty holiday treats, including cookies, egg nog and some bagels for breakfast tomorrow morning before I head back in to do the opening shift at the restaurant. I also stocked up on food magazines and wrapping paper, since they have a sort of book-store-card-shop upstairs.

Anyway, not much going on except work work work. But hopefully i will save up some good stories and get back into posting here as soon as we finish up this big holiday rush.

Oh and in other news, I will be headed over to work for a couple of weeks in Hawaii, in Fujimamas new restaurant in Kona, on the Big Island. We were already written about over on chowhound So I will have some new hawaii adventures to relate I hope.

ok, bed time.

ben and jerry's blogthing personality quiz

You Are In a Crunch Ice Cream

The perfect combo: a completely nuts person who likes to be touched

What Flavor Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Are You?

How did you spend your Friday Night?

This weekend I had quite an experience. A team from our restaurant went to a huge convention center event to run a food booth. This was not any event though, but an annual all night RAVE called Electroglide. So that meant we would be selling food from 9pm at night till 7am in the morning.

We did this same event two years ago, along with 9 other restaurants, but this year was quite a bit different. First off, the event itself was larger. Roughl7 20,000 people attending. And then this year, instead of 10 food stands there were only 4!

we decided on a nice menu of 3 kinds of things served on rice. Vegetable Thai Curry, Beef and veggies, and Chicken Terriyaki. So far so good.

After a week of prep in the restaurant, at the same times as preparing for service for thanksgiving dinner for 300 the day before--- we loaded up our vans, and headed to the convention center spot, Makuhari Messe, about 1 hour outside of tokyo. Arrived, set up, and were feeling really good about ourselves.

Until...

we started service, our booth was instantly popular (we were also selling vanilla brownies!) and the masses started to swarm. Suddenly, two things happend.

1. We ran out of the rice we already had cooked much faster than we thought we would.
2. the large rental rice cooker we brought BROKE! and we had only one small one left!!!

so now with hundreds of people lined up in front of our booth, we had nothing but brownies and beer!!!

My boss drove all around the area and came back with noodles, and we quickly switched to noodles, while still making rice in the small cooker and selling it as quick as we could make it.

This kind of crazy frenzy went on for about 8 hours! when exhausted and having sold any food we could come up with, we finally finished the evening. We sold thousands of beers, hundreds of waters and orange juice, thousands of brownies, and then we all collapsed. My husband and two of my friends came out to work the event with us. We had a total staff of about 20 people. We definately learned a lot from this, and hopefully there will be a next time! But it was one of the craziest nights I've had in the food business... 

a japanese blog and the return of the Madeleline

the Espresso car I wrote about and photographed before... the one in the old citron, was gone from our neighborhood for a long time. Chris and I really missed it!

The young man who owns and runs it is so nice and a pretty serious coffee guy. He told us before he was going to a new spot in Daikanyama, an neighborhood not too far from here. But we were spoiled having him so close by and we never made it over to the new spot. Then suddenly today he returned. And I found out he has his own Madeleline blog over at http://madeleine2.exblog.jp/ It is in Japanese but you can get a sense of it if you use the online translator at Babel Fish!

anyway, it is great to have him back in the neighborhood- I had a chance to enjoy a cappucino tonight. It was fun to check out his blog too.

yes, I do still eat...

it has been a sad state of affairs here at the fancy glass. I realized today it has been almost a month since I have written...!

the Restaurant I work in has been busy, as have I. and though I have been eating, I must admit food adventures that would inspire me to write have been few.

The news is good though, this week will be Thanksgiving. And once again, our restaurant Fujimamas will be making sure that americans living overseas in Tokyo will not go turkey-less. We are already sold out for two seatings in our 170 seat restaurant!

So pictures of turkey and pumpkin pie are coming soon!

*Lauren

Chocolate Porn

In 2000 when I visited Spain for the first time, I was in a small cafe somewhere and had chocolate in a cup... there is no other way to describe it. It wasn't hot chocolate or cocoa... it was as if someone had melted a whole candy bar and kept it liquid and served it up. It was an amazing experience. When I went back in 2002 I searched and found this amazing drink/dessert again. And found actually that some breakfast places served it with sweet and cinnamon churros.

This explanation is from a Spanish portal site I saw recently

"Hay Churros"
If you spot a sign in Spain saying 'Hay Churros' at breakfast time go in and ask for 'Chocolate y Churros por favor'. What will arrive is the thickest cup of hot chocolate you have ever seen with a plate of deep fried 'fritters'. You eat this by dipping the churros in the chocolate (this is perhaps not for weight watchers).

you can find a recipe here

So when we went to Barcelona last week I was eager to show my friend Terri this dream in a cup. After visiting the Sagrada Familia, the cathedral built by Gaudi, we meandered up the lovely old streets. We found a pastry shop with streetside tables and ordered a cup to share. Terri immediately dubbed the cup full of hot pudding like chocolate "Chocolate Porn" which is a pretty apt name... It really does spoil you for regular old hot cocoa.... The Cup we had was from a menu of different types. I chose the merangue one which had little dollops of crystalized eggwhites and sugar sprinkled on top. I definately do not want to wait years again to have this treat. So I will be trying the recipe at home, now that I have found one!

Here's to Chocolate Porn!

Traditional Fish Stew in Copenhagen

My Husband and a friend and I just returned from a short trip to Barcelona Spain for a political conference. Due to some crazy travel agent named Shazad (don't ask) we had to get to Spain via a one night stay over in Denmark. We got in to the very nice Copenhagen airport in the afternoon and then checked into the Hilton connected to the terminal. It is quite easy to get a train from the airport to downtown Copenhagen and so we decided to go in search of food adventures. It was a bit brisk and windy, but the city was lovely at dusk. We walked past the famous Tivoli gardens/park, currently closed until closer to Christmas... And then down through a main tourist and shopping area. Getting jet laggy, a bit cold and quite hungry We made our way to famous Nyhavn Street (pronounced New Hown), with it's canal to the sea. Found a cozy little place with friendly if a bit odd staff. And I had some fantastic fish stew. Served with cheese, crispy bread slices, and a spicy mustard sauce. We had main dishes after- but this stew is what I will really remember. Kind of a mix of flavors like a creamy bouillabaisse. Very warming on a chilly Denmark night.

Another Blog thing quiz... what kind of candy are you?

this is mine, click the link at the bottom and find out yours.
*Lauren

Snickers

Nutty and gooey - you always satisfy.

What Kind of Candy Are You?

Local Roasting

There is a wonderful tiny coffee bean shop near the train station where I live in nakameguro. They have terrific beans, lots of choices and they roast them for you while you wait.

The best part is it is by no means some big commercial affair. It is a small older Japanese couple. On our last visit the Man who runs the place told us that he has been in this business all his life as his father was a coffee trader too. The wife was so funny, when we asked what kind of coffee she liked- she said Oh- I am not the coffee person it is all him, and so we said "well, what do you like to drink?" She answered quite promptly "BEER!"

when asked "What Kind?" The answer came back just as fast... "All Kinds!"

So the fella, roasted us some fine beans. He roasts and prepares the beans based on what kind of coffee making devise you are using. In our case, we are a bit old fashioned. Chris makes espresso in a little stove top brewer like This one!

So we got a nice dark roast and they poured some lovely coffee for us to try while the roasting was going on. Very nice folks. We will definitely go back there!
They even sell fair trade coffee.

Sleepy update on our DINE FOR AMERICA event

Well, I wanted to post before bed to say that thanks to our guests, and thanks to the owners of the restaurant where I am director- that agreed and supported the idea. Fujimamas was successful in our efforts to host a Dine For America event, and raised about 800.00 dollars USA to send to hurricane Katrina and Rita survivors, struggling to put their lives back together in the aftermath.

Being in Japan, and with the dateline and all those time zones, we were one of the first restaurants to hold our event. Some 17,000 restaurants are signed up all across the USA and in various countries around the world. You still have time to go out and make a reservation at a local restaurant check for your favorites at Dine For America

thanks to everyone who came out to eat at fujimamas tonight, and all the encouragement. If you did not get a chance to go to an event you can still support the effort by donating directly to the Dine For America campaign page