Fans of mingei, traditional folk art, will want to visit the former house of Kanjiro Kawai in Kyoto. In the back of the home is his kiln for firing his ceramics. The house also includes many lovely mingei pieces on display as well as the rooms of his home. It was lovely to visit on…
Month: January 2025
Kyoto Lopia Supermarket
Part of our travel routines is visiting local supermarkets. It’s so much fun. We try and avoid chain supermarkets because they tend to not carry much local products. But, I do make an exception for Lopia, which is a discount supermarket from the Tokyo area. It has a huge shop in the basement level 2…
Nishi-Ogikubo Manoma
Delighted to discover Manoma in Nishi-Ogikubo for a recent working lunch. The simple menu consists of a variety of curry with rice, drinks, and a few sweets. My favorite was the vegan dal curry, but all were oishii delicious. The caramel pudding was rich in texture. Notably the brightly lit cafe has comfortable seating, both…
Kyoto Ki
Ki 汽 in Kyoto serves Lebanese cuisine in a charming space on Kiyamichi Dōri street near the Kamogawa River. Natural sunlight fills part of the space. The communal table is topped with dried nuts, squash, and a delicate green that divides the table. Outside of the restaurant smoke from the grilled meats fill the air….
Kyoto Kintame
Long ago I lived in Monzennakacho in Tokyo. A short walk from my home was the most charming tsukemono pickle shop from Kyoto called Kintame 近為. Kintame sits just in front of Fukagawa Fudodo temple. I often went to Kintame for the bubucha-zuke lunch. More than a dozen pickles is served with a grilled fish,…
Yumiko Kano
Elizabeth Andoh sensei took me to vegetarian cooking classes with Yumiko Kano about twenty years ago. Kano sensei is a prolific cookbook author with over 30 cookbooks, in Japanese. I have cooked from many of her cookbooks over the years and have learned so much about the many expressions of vegetables and unique cooking techniques….
Food Sake Tokyo 