It is starting to get colder. I hope you can spend this winter warm. This time, again, I am taking about food. I hope you enjoy it.
I like very much having tea time. When I came to Tsu I kept looking for a place where I could spend some time and that could be refreshing. So I found Tea Cozy (ティ―コージー). Since I found this place on 2017, I try to go every month. I think this is a very comfortable place to spend some hours alone or in company of a friend. I would like to write about this experience here.
The general way to drink tea is looking at the menu and ordering some tea or coffee, a snack or a cake and stay there appreciating that relaxing time. However, at Tea Cozy this experience is totally different. I will explain.
Yumi-san opened Tea Cozy in 1996 at tsukannonjicho area in, near the Tsu Kairaku park and her alone is in charge of the place for 25 years. Here she introduces the costumer the countries that Yumi-san has visited, the cities where she had lived, the temperature and scent of various landscapes that she saw, the sounds and music she has listened to and everything she felt during those times as tea time. Thus, for Yumi-san, from the moment when somebody enters the tea house, this person becomes a “Traveler”.
As she wants everybody to feel like you left Japan and traveled abroad, every month she creates a new, unique theme of tea time. This means that the decorations inside and outside the house changes, as well as the teapots, cups, dishes, music and the furniture display. Every change accompanies the theme of the month. It seems like you left Tsu or even entered inside a book and is diving deeply in another world. For me, this is a magical Tea Time, something I have never experienced before.
The service consists in: an entrance, a principal dish, a dessert and of course, the tea. All the handmade food she serves were learned with local residents (and not in a cooking school or internet). Also, sometimes the menu is not available on her site in advance. Therefore, as the theme changes, the tea time is a surprise. The traveler will not know the menu till going to the shop, which increases the expectancy and curiosity of the costumer for the tea time.
For an example, this month theme was “Russian Christmas”. I was experiencing the Christmas in Russia looking at the decorations and listening to Russian songs, while drinking tea and eating Russian traditional handmade foods and cake.
First, she served a Russian traditional soup called solyanka. It was hot, full of vegetables and meat. It is a little sour, but was very good. Then, she served piroshki. This is a kind of bun filled with a juicy meat mixture. It seems like a doughnut and was delicious. She served it with salmon and salad. The tea was a “sweet Christmas tea” and the dessert was vanilla icecream with shaved ice and a cake. She said when she travelled to Russia it was the first day of snow and had this dessert idea. She also gave a Russian biscuit gift.
The house was full of Russian and Christmas decorations. There were matryoskas, teapots decorations and a charming Christmas tree.
As the costumer is a traveler, they can have their own “tea passport”. Also, when leaving the place, she will stamp it (the stamp also changes monthly). In addition, the costumers can meet the dog (named Cozy) inside the house. She is in charge of saying “hello” to the costumers when somebody comes in. Sometimes, she accompanies you to the door to say “goodbye”.
One day I want to travel the world. Till then, I am collecting postcard from all over the world. Maybe, for me, this desire to “see the world” was a perfect match to this “traveling tea time”.
<英語>
One year ago I found a cake shop with a written: 本日100円ケーキのサービスデー. I stopped by the shop, bought one piece of cheese cupcake, and eat inside. When I finished, the owner said 「また休憩しに来て下さい」That was a very warm and impressive service for me. The cake shop name is Ikkado. My friend told me that the cake shop named Ikkado always gives a service day in the first day of the month. I think that’s a very good campaign. Since that time, I keep coming to the cake shop every month in the first day. Ikkado is easy to reach. Nearby Tsu Station, it needs around 20 minutes to go there by bicycle from Mie University.
Ikkado has an interesting history. This cake shop was built in 1936 and now the shop is managed by the second and third generation. While the 100JPY service day has been held every month since 1984. Tsu citizen may be familiar with cake shops Ikkado 「一華堂」, Sankado 「三華堂」, and Kyukado 「九華堂」. They surprisingly related each other; the founder of Ikkado worked in Sankado and the founder of Sankado worked in Kyukado. So, they brought the name by: 1/3 from the shop before. The name of the Kyukado cake shop was derived from a park name in Kuwana City; Kyuka Koen 「九華公園」.
While Sankado and Kyukado was with French style of cakes and confections, the theme of Ikkado’s Confections is “Swiss Sweet”. This is because the master now like Swiss and the confections. He went to Swiss twice when he was young and learnt the Swiss sweets in those visits. He said he likes the natural view and beauty of Switzerland with beautiful mountains. The characteristic of Swiss Sweet is the using of nuts and the texture that a little bit hard and crunchy. These are examples of swiss cakes from Ikkado.
When I tried the swiss cakes, I could taste the delicious nut and the texture of the cakes; crunchy outside and soft inside; so classy. For me, I think it is perfect to eat the cakes with green tea.
Other than the 100Y cakes service day, Ikkado is also famous for the castella; Yolkless Castella 「ヨークレスカステラ」. This idea was started by the using the remaining ingredients of making cream for cakes while they only used the yolk. The unused egg whites then used to make the castella. Day after day, people become to like the yolkless castella. The Castella fans make Ikkado needs to produce more Castella. Now, the remaining egg white is not enough anymore to make castella. The master needs to buy egg white from another company; the maker of mayonnaise, Kewpie. I tried the yolkless castella. It tastes so soft and mild. It is melted as soon as it enters our mouth. I think it is can be good for all ages, kids to old people.
As an Indonesian, I can say that we also like cakes and sweets. Like Japanese, Indonesian people eat cakes for deserts or snacks in teatime. I like cupcakes because I can taste several kinds of cakes without buying the whole cake. My favorite cake is cheese cake. It is always be one of my cakes every month in Ikkado. Although Ikkado is a take-out cake shop, there is one table in the shop where I like to spend time eating cake for a while. I always bring my own tea. I am always looking forward to enjoying my cake time in Ikkado every month to start the month; hope it will be a sweet month.