Someone once asked what my favorite food was and I said, "toast."
It was a joke, but not really. Toast equals breakfast for me and breakfast leads the day. Toast! Toast! My kingdom for a piece of toast. Chewy toasted bagels — one of the things I missed most when I came to Japan.
Back then, a "morning set" at a kissaten consisted of acid-burn coffee that raped your mouth and a slice of spongy bread, thick as an airport novel and just as substantial. It was tanned rather than toasted and came with marge.
Back then, a "morning set" at a kissaten consisted of acid-burn coffee that raped your mouth and a slice of spongy bread, thick as an airport novel and just as substantial. It was tanned rather than toasted and came with marge.
In the early 00s, when young Japanese who had gone off to Paris and Berlin to study breadmaking started returning to Tokyo and opening little bakeries, life here got immeasurably better. Then the professionals came: Joel Robuchon, Francis Holder, Eric Kayser.
Now there is better bread in Tokyo than almost anywhere. La Boutique Robuchon in Ebisu has sublime croissants, Paul in Yaesu offers chewy pain au levain, Kayser in Mita makes ciabatta and pain de yuzu, the best local twist yet. Heaven is toasted pain de yuzu.
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