Mar. 4, 2013

Sapporo - Tokyo

After a very snowy day and night, we were greeted with perfectly sunny skies and -12 degree cold at 7 am in the morning. Here are some views of Sapporo from the top of the Prince Hotel.

We ate a buffet style breakfast in the hotel and then ventured out. Luca had some business to catch up with in his room, so Darrell, Lucio, and I were off to see the fish market of Sapporo. Chef Giulio came to pick us up and guided us through the morning's destinations. The sunny morning drive definitely showed a snow packed Sapporo.

Sapporo's fish market is massive. Giulio drove us around the giant enclosed warehouse so we could see it. The market is not open to the public. Giulio told us it would be difficult to get us in for a tour without a permit from the city, so he took us to the next tier of the market, which is a wholesale section. It was filled with an amazingly diverse assortment of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks from the recognized to the "what the heck is that?" variety. For a seafood lover like myself, I was in fish heaven.

Strolling the fish market, we undoubtedly came across something tempting to eat...after all this is Japan. As we were headed out the door, we came across a group of people making a type of Shumai. They are a filled dumpling of sorts. These were made with scallop paste and very good.

We purchased a few things to try later, and then went down the street to see what a produce market had to offer. There were a bunch of very interesting things. When we found the flowering wasabi shoots we had to buy them. The market was stocked pretty well considering it was winter time.

Giulio then drove us to see Sapporo's newest department store called Daimaru. First stop was in the basement to see all of the food and drink offerings. We found some interesting wines, micro brews, cheeses, tomato sauce, tomato juice, and a few others all made in Hokkaido, so we had to buy them. Between the fish market, produce market, and now Daimaru we had a nice little tasting shaping up.

We were very impressed with Daimaru, but that wasn't out of the norm for Japan considering what we've seen in the Japanese markets so far. Everything was fresh, nicely displayed, stocked full, and very appealing. It was approaching 11 am and we had to be at the airport by 1 pm to make our flight to Tokyo, so it was back to the car and a quick drive to Bar e Ristorante Genovese to taste all of the goodies we purchased. Giulio made a stop at the Prince Hotel so we could check out and load our bags into his car. As I rode up in the glass elevator, I thought to myself how much it was like the elevator at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Santiago, Chile who's design is a round tower just like the Prince. Giulio took Darrell and our luggage to Geneovese. Lucio, Luca, and I walked over through the freshly plowed sidewalks. Upon leaving the Sapporo Prince Hotel I snapped a shot of a banner noting its 40th Anniversary last year. The hotel was built for the 1972 Winter Olympic Games held in Sapporo and has been wonderfully kept up over the years.

We were all very impressed with the products we tasted from Hokkaido. Giulio said that we should return to Hokkaido in the summer time to see the abundance of products in their best season. It was a point well taken, as we would love to do just that.

Our time in Sapporo was at its end. We gave Giulio our best thanks for a wonderful time spent with him and for his very generous hospitality. We waved goodbye as the cab driver drove off to the train station. It had pretty much clouded over by the time we left Sapporo, but there was no worry about any flight delays as the snow wasn't expected to start up again until well after our afternoon flight was to leave. I don't know if it was the instant love felt about Sapporo and Hokkaido island, but the train sure seemed to go pretty fast on the way back to Chitose airport.

We arrived at Chitose airport and checked in. Our flight to Tokyo was on time.

We said goodbye to a snowy Hokkaido with a very strong desire to return sometime soon.

Our flight went smoothly and we landed at Narita airport around 4 pm. Lucio and Luca went on their way to Chiba where they were exhibiting at the FoodEx show, which began the next day. Darrell and I hopped on the N'EX (Narita Express) train to Ikebukuro, which is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo. The N'EX is a newer high speed train which is the fastest connection between Tokyo Station and Narita airport. The ride was very comfortable and took us directly to Ikebukuro station and the Metropolitan Plaza right across from our hotel.

We went to the Metropolitan Hotel to check in and were greeted by Hiroko Ninomiya and her sister Reiko Kinoshita. Hiroko is a dear friend of Darrell's, who is a former Sacramentan and patron of Corti Brothers. Hiroko moved to Japan to live with her sister. Both sisters speak very good English and are the sweetest pair anyone could ever meet.

It was quick trip up to our rooms then the sisters took us across the street to a new restaurant they both like very much named Ayano inside the Plaza for dinner.

Our dinner at Ayano was superb! Sitting at the counter allowed us to see all the preparation and plating. Everything was very fresh, lively, and delicious. Although all of the food, so far on the trip, has been wonderful Ayano took the lead in what I think was the best yet.Full and contented by the meal, it was time to walk back to our hotel to get some rest for the night. We had a 9 am Bullet Train departure to Kyoto to catch in the morning.

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