day 019

this was a total travel day, beginning at 3:30AM in osaka ... in case you want to rehash the details, take a look here (click)



// bob couldn't decide between eastern or western breakfast, so he had one of each



// when in tokyo (stopover between osaka and frankfurt) ... tokyo banana!



// doner kebab for dinner in griesheim

kind of a boring day, but we all have one of those now and again, don't we

day 18

to the relief of our families, we booked ourselves on the earliest flight out of osaka to europe. it would be the following morning, so we had one day to soak in as much of osaka as we could.



// different style okonomiyaki being prepared for us at our table.



// and done, ready to eat. so good.



// then it was time to browse mecca, i mean muji.



// just another day along shinsaibashi-suji



// gorgeous interior of shinsaibashi daimaru



// smoke-filled yakiniku restaurant for dinner



// grillin'



// grill storage, on the street just outside the front entrance



// soft cream!



// and soft cream sundae

day 17

as planned, we took our flight from sapporo to tokyo. but instead of staying in tokyo, we got on a train straight for osaka. the train was standing room only, but we made it.



// we saw these curry crackers all over sapporo. and finally caved at the airport by buying a whole box.



// so. good. no joke. get them if you ever find them. hoard them, even. yoshimi curry curry sticks.



// when in osaka ... takoyaki

day 16

this was our last day in hokkaido, so we just took it easy and ventured around town a bit



// did a side-by-side tasting of a couple hokkaido milks. unfortunately, neither were awesome.



// while walking outside, it started snowing like crazy. fluffy fluffy snow.



// for dinner, we had genghis khan bbq. when you walk in, you don't even have to order, unless you want a beer. they bring you a plate of meat and all the sauce, veggies and sides. sit, grill, chow down. oh, and leave your coat in the closet.

day 15

not to waste an opportunity to meet at least some japanese artisans, we took a day trip to asahikawa



// fueling up before our train ride to asahikawa



// the prettiest train station greets us upon arrival in asahikawa



// a stop at brown box shop which showcases tons of asahikawa's wood craft



// then a stop for lunch



// i went with the pizza



// after lunch, we visited the asahiyama zoo where we got up close with penguins



// and an orangutan debating whether to fling poop at us



// our first workshop of the day, tanno and tanno



// then studio arms



// then a machine shop, where they had some fun experimental pieces



// then creer, the workshop of naoto (our guide) and his father yukio yoshida ... the most gorgeous coat rack ever. it will be in our home one day.



// yukio showing off a personal project



// aj trying out yukio's chair ... it fits so perfectly



// a stop at ramen village to end our day



// a bowl of asahikawa ramen ... excellent end to a long chilly day

day 14

our thoughts regarding our next steps were changing by the hour. at this point, we were thinking of rearranging the order of the japanese cities we would visit to delay visiting the danger zones. meanwhile, our parents just wanted us out of japan asap. obviously, the news we were getting in japan was playing out very differently back home. but we really didn't want to be glued to the tv/internet all day. so we ventured out some in the neighborhood.



// for snacktime, i chose to go with mini croissants, sold by weight



// my 152JPY ($1.86) worth of croissants



// aj's 500JPY ($6.11) worth of juice ... we would not soon forget that fancy fancy juice

day 13

we were still following the news, and it looked like we were still safe where we were. we continued to just enjoy our time in sapporo.



// after a long day of window shopping, we trudged through maruyama koen to a special destination



// destination: to see this lovely lady (owner of barnes)



// she treated us to the world's best-tasting soft cream x 3

day 12

this is the one-year anniversary of the big tohoku earthquake. we were doing our laundry when it happened. i remember looking at the washer drum and wondering why it was agitating even though i hadn't put in any coins yet. then i realized what was going on. we each stood in a doorway until the building stopped moving. it felt like a whole minute or two.

we definitely knew it was a big earthquake, but it wasn't really new to us since we are cali kids. not understanding what they were saying on the news was a little bothersome, but by the looks of the maps they were showing, we figured we were safe from any resulting tsunami.

everyone else seemed to be going about their day as usual, in the hotel lobby and out on the streets, so we followed suit. we figured it was just another earthquake, though quite strong.

here's a quick look at our day to show how unaware we were of the impending damage from the tsunami.

/ / /



// croquette platter for lunch (there need to be more croquette restaurants)



// crab master with our crab for the night, which he would prepare in at least five different ways



// including semi-sashimi

day 11

// the best donuts from mister donut



// aj found a really cool magnifying glass



// this seafood vendor gave us a ton of generous samples including that delicious uni



// italian dinner at picchu, 100% prepared by that one guy ... more uni!

day 010

// after traveling half the day to sapporo via tokyo, all we wanted was some ramen. butter corn ramen.



// and soft cream, of course (jeez, i look exhausted in every single picture)

Picchu

Chef Carlo from Roberta's suggested that we check out this place in Sapporo...so of course, off we went! It's a tiny Italian place tucked away in an area right in front of the Nijo Fish Market. Couldn't have been more than 12 seats or so, and it was just the chef and his assistant. Chef pretty much did all the cooking, while the assistant mostly ran and cleaned dishes and handled all of the front of the house biz. So yeah, pretty much a one man show kitchen-wise.

The fun part of Piccho though was that instead of being a generic "Italian" joint, or even recreating a specific region of italy, instead the food seemed more like what would happen if you took italian methods of cooking, but applied it strictly to local foodstuffs. This being Sapporo's spring, there were no tomatoes or basil to be found on the menu.... But there was crab!



This was a pure crab sausage, with crab broth. And somewhat like Carlo's cooking, its simple structure puts a spotlight on the quality of the (very few) ingredients. No meat glue, no fancy techniques, just crab meat stuffed into a casing, delicately cooked, and sauced with itself.

Another interesting dish was our first one:

Shirako, lightly burned and served with a bit of dashi and olive oil. People at home seem to freak out about shirako (cod milt), and I even read one blog supposing that it was some kind of trick that the Japanese like to play on American tourists...After Corey Lee served it at Benu, suddenly it became some sort of symbol of bourgeois excess and foodie trophy. Never mind the fact that great Japanese restaurants in SF like Koo had been serving it to their regulars for years before places like Benu even opened. Ah yes, it's not a news story unless the 7x7/SF Chron crowd "discovers" it. (Hi Ed!). Anyway, ridiculousness aside, in Japan, it's food, plain and simple...a seasonal treat amongst many delicious seasonal treats. Having it torched was a new preparation for me, and the dashi and olive oil definitely put it into a different context.



Again, this being Hokkaido...chef served us an uni risotto. Given that uni pasta has been around at home, and even in (nicer) western kitchens for a little while now, you'd think that the leap to uni risotto would be an easy one. However, Picchu's uni risotto definitely had something to say. Instead of just being a creamy, savory, and rich flavor to give weight to the rice, here, it becomes a delicate balance of textures. At Picchu, the rice is more al dente than is typical, and it gives you the opportunity to contrast the texture of the uni versus that of the rice. It was a nice way to maintain all of what makes good uni good uni...

Quite a few more dishes came, and all of them delicious and interesting. *clicky* Best part about the meal is that it was really reasonably priced at 4,000Y per person. A good deal in any country for a chef's tasting menu. Foreign methods applied to local ingredients and sensibilities...tastes good to me!