To-Fu Cafe Fujino

Located in Roppongi, an area that is definitely not my favourite in Tokyo, the To-Fu Cafe Fujino is nevertheless well worth a visit. As the name reveals all dishes feature Kyoto-style Tofu or Tonyu = soymilk in some form and always at its best! I love the milky, light, pure and slightly nutty taste of soymilk and at this place you can enjoy it in most delightful ways. Be it sweet like in one of their fantastic soymilk parfaits, ice creams or even soymilk donuts, or savory as fried Tofu cubes in their vegetarian set meal - it is always such a pleasure!
As I wrote before Kyoto is the place for all things Tofu and so it does not surprise that all those wonderful dishes are prepared in the style of the former capital of Japan. The casual but stylish cafe is run by the reknowned Tofumaker Fujino who really knows how to do his job! Believe me, the parfaits are just like those in my dreams! I love their standard Tonyu Shirotama Parfait, with the clear flavour of the soymilk soft-ice and the sticky little riceballs, the sweet azuki bean jam, some cake and all drizzled with brown sugar syrup... (just have a look at the photo above^^).
But please also check out their seasonal specials! I had a Matcha Parfait there more than three years ago and I am still talking about it.. you name it: it was superb!
And last autumn I had the pleasure to make the acquaintance with their Maron (Chestnut) Parfait and it was love at the first sight.



However, as I said they do not only have magnificant desserts, the cafe also offers some savory dishes. What makes them especially great is the fact that they state all the ingrediences in detail not only in Japanese but also in English on their menu. This makes it so much easier... And the vegetarian one was absolutly awsome, with fresh, high quality vegetables, a delicious soup with cooked Tofu cubes, a fresh salad with a nice selection of fried mushrooms, pickles, rice and of course fried Tofu that was just perfect! It had a beautiful golden colour like honey, with a texture too good to be true and taste that topped all my expectations by far!



So if you happen to be around Roppongi Hills, drop by and indulge yourself with all the best that can be made of soybeans.. from Kyoto with love!

To-Fu Café Fujino
Roppongi Hills Beauty Plaza, Tokyo [click for Map!] the address changed: the new To-Fu Cafe is on the 6th floor of Marunouchi building near Tokyo Station!
open daily from 10am to 11pm.

Happy Holidays :)

Have great and yummie holidays and a happy new year!

This cake was from the café and shop Sunday Brunch in Shimokitazawa. Not a specific vegetarian place - but their cakes and tartes are a dream! Although they are not quite cheap, rather something for special occasions.. just right for christmas :)
They also have branches in Shinjuku and Kichijôji, but I've only checked out the Shimokitazawa café which is very nice.

Sunday Brunch
2-29-2 Kitazawa Setagaya-ku [click for map]
Tokyo

Yomogi Pesto

Since I spend some time on the countryside at the moment, working at a holidayplace with a little farm, I get lots of fresh, local foods. I have some chicken here, that lay an egg for me from time to time, which I really appreciate a lot. There is a chestnut tree in the garden and although I feed most of the chestnuts to the horses, there are still a few also for me.
Unfortunatly Akebi season is over, but at least I had some of this strange but healthy and sweet fruits when I first came here.
In the last days I cooked a different dish every day with the huge squash/pumpkin (whatever it was exactly.. I don't know! It was dark green outside, whitish light green inside with lots of seeds and it was bigger than a basketball) that we got for free from farmers around and I still have some of the fantastic home-pickeled umeboshi some ladies gave us as a present...
And today I thought about doing something with the forest of Yomogi (mugwort) that is growing all over the yard. Since I don't have an oven here, I can't bake Yomogi Pan, I have no idea how to make Yomogi Mochi and Yomogi Udon were a little too much work for me today. So I made something simple and quick yet delicious: Yomogi Pesto!
I took a handful of Yomogi leaves, washed and chopped them finely. Then I mixed them with 2 big cloves of garlic that I had mashed and added a fair amount of seasalt, sesame oil, a few spoons of kinako
(which came quite handy as a subsitude for ground nuts, that I didn't have here) and a little black pepper.


I tried some of this with the squash risotto I had for lunch, just about half an hour after I made it and it tasted pretty good already. However it became even better after a few hours in the fridge, when it was really soaked and the oil is full of the fragance of the herbs. The next day I had it with pasta and it was fantastic! Such a fresh and intensive taste! Wonderful!
Another favourite of mine are the combined flavours of Yomogi Pesto and potatoes... mmmh, just a little bit of the Pesto with roast potatoes makes such a simple dish so delicate.
Don't hesitate, eat the weed and be happy ;)