World Barista Championship Outcome

Congratulations to Mr. Hidenori Izaki from Maruyama Coffee for winning the World Barista Championship! He is the first champion from both Japan and Asia. What an honor!

The WBC was last week in Rimini, Italy. You can read more about his win and the WBC here and here.

Cielo Pancake Cafe

Can't go wrong with dancing sign pancakes

We have businesses coming and going all the time in our neighborhood. Mostly bars and restaurants are opening and closing, but this sweet little spot opened up this March. This cafe is Cielo, "Chaaro" (チャーロ) in Japanese. The fact that we saw the word "pancake" and didn't immediately run into this shop is surprising. But once we did make it there, our thoughts ended up on both sides of the spectrum.

I'm going to level with you. So get ready. The coffee was not good. The iced coffee wasn't any good either. I used copious amounts of cream and sugar, which is uncharacteristic. The place was a bit dirty, too. The floor was gross and there were ants. At first glance, there's really not much going for it.

But we would go back.

How, you say? The service was impeccable. The server wasn't just sweet and nice. She was accommodating. She was hospitable. She went the extra mile.

Shall I share the many examples?

When we first arrived, there was a TV on with a show in Japanese. She immediate switched on an American movie. I think she's a psychic too - or a wonderful sort of stalker - because she turned on X2, one of my favorite movies. 

Notice the chips! Notice the chips!

Once she gave us our plates, she held our kid. She just took our kid and played around with him! Both of us were able to enjoy our food without competition from our 7-month-old. And neither of us had to play the game of be-a-jungle-gym-while-inhaling-food.

We were caught off guard by the thoughtfulness of her doing that. And a little bit touched, too.

The food itself was delicious. I ordered banana chocolate pancakes and was so tickled to see banana chocolate chips on my plate. Fantastic! I honestly don't even remember what my husband had - I was too enamored with my own dish. French toast or something without banana chocolate chips, that's all I care to know.

Since our visit, I've walked by this cafe multiple times. Three times I've seen the same waitress and she's recognized me, said hello, and smiled at our son. I'm so utterly torn on this place! Was it immaculately clean? Far from it. Was the coffee good? H to the no. But would I go back for some good pancakes and a chance to support their wonderful service? In a heartbeat.

Well, at least her wonderful service. Maybe I'm just becoming a fan of this one particular waitress. But she makes some mean pancakes and knows how to take care of some folks.

Cielo is located on Odakicho, two streets parallel to highway 16 intersecting Blue Street, between Claps Hair Salon and Hotel New Yokosuka. You can't miss it as it's a small but bright red building. Find them on Facebook here. English menus available. And complementary English movie time. 

Sio Cafe: A New Gem

Driving around Yokosuka gives a new perspective. Before we purchased a car, our scope (besides the Naval base) was any path we would walk to a train station or place close to home we would wander. Now, whenever we drive to a friend's house, my eyes resemble that of a three-year-old - darting back and forth at the new world I'm seeing!  Ha.  

Really though. We've made some great discoveries from our drives. A few weekends ago, my eyes were instantly drawn to a sweet little cafe that's actually very close to our house. Thus ensued weeks of my poor husband having to endure my verbal processing on when and how we could make plans to go there.  

Ok, this weekend we could go for a walk on Saturday and then go to the cafe!  

Maybe after we run those errands we could stop by that cafe!

Hey, after lunch can we try that cafe??

Finally, he told me that it wasn't going anywhere and that it would all be ok. I probably did need the reassuring; the place looked cute enough to make me desperate to experience it. Was it love at first sight? May have been.

And oh my lucky stars, I finally walked in their doors on Saturday afternoon. Sio Cafe (シオ カフェ) is their name, it turns out. I do have to confess, though, that I left my sweet man of a husband at home fast asleep on our rocking chair. But time was of the essence as my son's nap time was fast approaching. There have been times in the past, just like on Saturday, when Curt would come home exhausted, pass out, and fall quickly and deeply back to sleep upon attempts to wake him. I've gone many places without him when this situation occurs. A friend's birthday party. Errand running. You name it, I've probably left him to hibernate in peace while the rest of the world (including me) continues to operate. There have even been times he didn't realize I was gone. I guess that's what you call a Navy coma.

Anyway. Maybe it was wrong to go without him, but I think he'd rather I do that then mention the cafe in every conversation from here on out. 

AND I plan to take him back there. Let me commence in telling you how great my experience was. It literally started at the door. Their store front is a row of sliding doors. A row of sliding doors! So not only can you enter at any point, but they can open all of the doors and suddenly have an open air cafe. Wonderful!

The inside was so little (i.e., Japanese) - probably at capacity of 14 people or so - but the ambiance was so fresh and light that it felt much larger. I was greeted instantly, given a cup of water and told about my options in English. By, I might add, a woman who looked like the Japanese version of my daycare lady growing up. Kelly, is that you?? Since the menus were in Japanese, she helped me make my decision verbally. She was so kind and I was impressed by the many options I had. They serve lunch items (a few of which I scoped at other tables - creep!), curries, cakes, scones, and coffees, of course. I noticed that they had the perfect balance of a professional yet homey third place.

I guess you could say it was all I dreamed and more. I ordered their dessert set of the day - New York style cheesecake with blueberry sauce - with an iced coffee. It was delicious and the presentation made me feel wonderfully dainty and girly.

Another tidbit? They sell jewelry. There's a small tagboard of earrings and necklaces to be purchased. Fun to buy, I'm sure, but also pleasant to look at. They were also offering a knitting class later that day. Cute? Sooo cute.

If you're in Yokosuka and want to visit, Sio Cafe is located on Highway 16 just past city hall. Take a left at the Seven Eleven outside of Womble Gate, continue on 16, and you'll see them on the right just after the cement park in the middle of the city. A walk from Womble Gate would take ten minutes or less. Also, check them out on Facebook.

All The Small Things.

You know, sometimes it's just the little things in life. We've already raved about our beloved neighborhood coffee shop, but one of our favorite things about them is so simple.

Sometimes we stop in for a quick (really by 'quick' I don't mean quick, I just mean less slow!) cup of coffee or tea and forgo their delicious pastries --- and seriously, they are amazing! It takes twenty minutes to get a scone because they bake it for you right then. I melt right along with my chocolate scone every time. I laugh when Starbucks heats up my baked-who-knows-when cookie. But then again, I laugh at myself when I inhale it. Ok let's be honest here, warm pastries are just delicious. 

Anyway, I'm getting off track. Mmm scones. 

Whenever we only order a beverage, musetto throws in a teeny, tiny, delectable cookie. It is the perfect touch. After two years of unrelenting love for this cafe, I still give a little squeal of delight whenever one of these ends up on my table. It's like the first time all over again. Maybe they put serum that makes you forget inside them. Because I never expect it, even after 20 or so delicious cookie experiences. 

Something so simple! And probably takes next to no work at all. But that itty bitty cookie presented in a pretty little dish that I want to pinch is sometimes the highlight of my afternoon. Yes, it makes me smile that much. 

Just call it the adult Oreos and milk.

Jidohanbaiki Cheeky

Japan is bustling. Everyone is moving every which way. The fact that everyone is going to and from work is so apparent. Men in suits. Briefcases. Exhausted faces. Train cars that are dead silent as everyone unwinds. For some, that means being slumped over in an after-work cat nap on the commute home (how do people always wake up right before the train hits their stop??). 

Midst this chaos, Japan is genius with its coffee. Sometimes you just don't have the 10 minutes to stop in to a coffee shop and have your handmade latte thrown into your hand (and then your face). And conveniently situated shops don't possibly have the capacity to handle the volume that Tokyo's work life provides. 

Down the street from our house and very tempting.

My favorite drink is offered in the center one for ¥110.

What a steal!

Enter the best vending machines you will ever know. In Japan, they are jidohanbaiki. They are everywhere (highest per capita, in fact), promising that you can get the soda, water, juice, or coffee you're needing for ¥150 or less.

The convenience, variety and accessibility aren't even the best parts. Oh, how I wish the US would adopt vending machines like these! Most jidohanbaiki offer drinks hot. Yeah, you heard me right. Any drink with a red price label will come out in a warm aluminum can. Makes winters more bearable, that's for sure.

I've lived in Japan for two and a half years, and there are still varieties of vending machine coffees and teas that I haven't tried. When trying something new from a can you can't fully read, you'll find yourself reacting anywhere from wow, that's freaking delicious! to huh, not so bad to ugh, I think my body might reject this one. But once you find that favorite, it's glorious! Mine, like pretty much every other American here, is the hot Georgia's Original coffee. I can't possibly describe it in words that are worthy. But let's just say it's perfectly warm coffee that's dressed to impress (cream? Sugar? I really have no idea). I guess you'll just have to come over here and try it for yourself.

Sarutahiko Coffee

We have been quite busy. Clearly. Since our last post was umpteen years ago. Besides, oh - having a kid - we have had frequent goodbye and hello adjustments, as deployments have been about every other month. 

But today our new life as parents met our former life of coffee shop explorers and our future aspiration of owning our own. Whenever we're in a shop, I always tell our four-month-old to get comfortable, because hopefully part of his childhood will be more or less lived in one. But usually that occurs in a Starbucks or Tully's. 

But today. Oh, today. We ventured back onto the old road and sought out a little indie. We trekked up to a district in Tokyo we've rarely been and spent some time in Sarutahiko Coffee. When I first laid eyes on this little shop, I felt equal delight and dismay. Delight, because it was so adorably cute and small. Tiny as a shop can be, and cute as a button. Dismay, because it was so challengingly cute and small. We're parents. We come with a diaper bag stuffed with space-consuming cloth diapers, a soft carrier than can make agility more complex, and - oh, right - a kid. So when we first showed up with our appropriately hungry and tired infant hoping to settle in for a cup of joe, a hearty Breastfeeding session, and an ample nap, we took one look at the seat's-taken scenario before us and started weighing our options.

This gave Sarutahiko a chance to shine. A barista was instantly at our side to not only open the door for us, but offer us standing room, if we would take it. We walked away hoping to check again in an hour and that same barista chased after us to offer freshly open seats. Now that's good hospitality. 

We were able to squirm our way into 2 of the 14 seats in the place and check out the offerings. Their menus are in both Japanese and English (accommodating yet again, yeah!), so we were able to order easily. My caffe mocha was delicious and not overpowered by syrup, and Curt's single origin Burundi coffee was prepared via slow pour, resulting in a clean and citrusy taste. Nice and smooth.

The beans used to make his cup were extracted from the cherry using the natural washing process (cherry is pulped, soaked, fermented, washed, and dried). And you know, it made for a great cup of coffee. 

Sarutahiko Coffee gets an A+ from the Gaynors, according to their brew and their good hospitality. Overall, we had a good experience there, save for the screaming episode in their little bathroom (wait, infants don't appreciate things being dropped on their heads during a diaper change? Weird.), but I imagine if their staff are this accommodating for a ragamuffin bunch like ours, they must do everything they can to create a good atmosphere all the time.

If you're interested in visiting this shop, take the east exit out of Ebisu Station. We took the JR Yamanote Line. Sarutahiko is only a few blocks walk, and is easy to find on Google Maps. 

The Griffin

A few weeks ago, we ran into the Griffin of Olde Towne Fredericksburg, Virginia. When we saw the words "coffee shop" and "bookstore" on the same sign, we knew we were going to get sucked in. This idea is not only genius (coffee shop?! AND book store?! Together?!), but it was implemented here so perfectly. The Griffin has the layout of an old house - rooms here and there, hallways, a large living space. The various sections of books were segmented and the same went for the seating. A table with chairs in what might have been a sitting room (surrounded by shelves of books). A kids area that was a space underneath the stairs (surrounded by shelves of books). Two cush chairs with an end table in a wide hallway (of course, surrounded by shelves of books). Depending on where you sat, you'd get your own little alcove. A cup of coffee in hand staring at a wall of books? What is better, my friend, what is better. I often find myself overwhelmed at bookstores, with the urge to move here and move there, craning my neck to see what's on the bottom shelf. But when you're sitting down without a single inkling to move (i.e., latte in hand), you have all the time to eye up a thousand books.

Kudos, Griffin.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for their coffee. Good brews were clearly not their focus, and it was about the equivalent of what you'd get at a hospital kiosk. Though my husband had the regular brew, I had the basic mocha, and was all but impressed. It was overly bitter and overpowered by the undersweet mocha powder.

Yes, definitely go to the Griffin for books and ambiance. But avoid for good coffee.

 

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