Mar. 8, 2013

Back in Tokyo for Yoshiya store visits.

We started the day with a quick breakfast. Masa met us at the hotel then drove us to the Yoshiya warehouse and production center. The center produces ready to eats foods, butchers meats, trims produce, and processes other products for the twelve Yoshiya grocery stores in the Tokyo area. We wanted to see the facility and how they run their food production operation. We entered in the receiving area then walked around to their recycling area. Masa described the extent of their recycling efforts, which are very impressive. We then went inside to outfit ourselves in protective pants, jacket, hair net and mask because the Yoshiya food production areas are strictly protected to prevent contamination.

Masa showed us the various rooms where all of the fresh meats, produce, and prepared foods are processed for the 3 times daily delivery to the twelve Yoshiya food markets around the Tokyo area.

The care and precision cutting of the citrus was amazing. Very typically Japanese!

After our in depth tour of the Yoshiya production center, we retreated into a small office to taste a sample of olive oil, some delicious "sheller" almonds, and a few different variations of umeboshi, which are quite often referred to as Japanese salted plums, but are actually a type of apricot.

We were fascinated at how much and how diverse the production is at the Yoshiya center. The sheller almonds were one example of the many products which Yoshiya purchases in bulk and repackages into retail packs for sale in their markets. Next stop was to visit one of the Yoshiya store locations. When we arrived at the store, Masa pulled into a parking garage next door to the market. To me, the garage was yet another example of something very Japanese. The garage looked more like a monolith than something we might expect to park a car in. Cars enter the garage and pull forward into an elevator. They are then raised to an open spot and literally "shelved" on metal racks.

Corti Brothers has maintained a wonderful business and family relationship with the Yoshiya stores since the mid 80's. I was absolutely delighted to finally visit one of their stores.

After looking at the first and second floor sales areas, we followed Masa down a very narrow corridor to a break room so we could sample a few of the Yoshiya products. We tasted a very unique smoked salmon, baked salmon, roasted nori (seaweed), a quality soy sauce, a Japanese white wine, two different types of herring, regional strawberries, two different take home entrees which Yoshiya prepares in parchment to be heated and eaten, and a few different baked goods, some of which were developed by Chieko. Everything we tasted was of very high quality and delicious. Just another typical afternoon in the life of professional food & drink foragers...

The Yoshiya market was a text book example of a clean, well run, and vibrant food market. Very progressive with their offerings, and certainly always looking to improve what they offer. We said goodbye to the store manager and headed next door, so Masa could get his wagon out of the parking tower. Masa took us back to our hotel because Darrell wanted to see a California wine exhibit in the Tobu department store next to the hotel, which Hiroko told him about. We walked over to the Plaza center and went into Tobu Department store.

When we made it to the California wine exhibit, we were surprised to see the limited amount of wines. The exhibit seemed to be a little over billed, but there was an amazing silver lining. Just across the aisle and down the way about a hundred feet was an exhibit of very intricately hand painted porcelain by Buzan Fukushima. The exhibit immediately captured Darrell's interest. Fukushima sensei was at a small table in the exhibit just finishing up with a demonstration of his talent. When he was finished, Masa made introductions and the next thing we knew Fukushima sensei started to paint a card for Darrell. The demo began simply. As he and Darrell began to converse, the card became more elaborate. Fukushima sensei is an amazing master who even makes his own brushes from horse hair.

Watching a true master at work was amazing. We thanked Fukushima sensei and said good bye. The Japanese don't miss much. They certainly keep current with Hollywood and entertainment as seen in the DVD and BluRay offerings in the department stores, as well as things Disney. If you noticed a touch of Dixieland Jazz in the background while watching Fukushima sensei paint in the last video clip, you heard it because just on the other side of his exhibit was a Tobu department store Disney afternoon tea with art offerings and a Dixieland Jazz band visiting from Tokyo Disneyland.

We left Tobu and went back to the Hotel. Masa picked us up to drive to another Yoshiya store, which is located in the Kagurazaka District of Tokyo very near to the Tokyo Dome. The Kagurazaka District is an upscale area with a lot of regular shopping traffic and diverse restaurant offerings. Many foreigners and French expatriates live in the area due to the proximity of l'Institut Franco-Japonais de Tokyo. This Yoshiya store was about half of the size as the one we visited this morning, yet it maintained the same feel. It was very evident that this location benefited greatly from the food production at the Yoshiya Center, as it seemed to have the same amount of prepared foods which the larger store offered. I very much appreciated the larger location, but if this location was anywhere near my neighborhood, I would certainly be a regular customer of their sashimi, sushi, and prepared foods.

The last thing Masa showed us was the back room, which was very, very small relevant to the amount of space and goods sold in the store. He then led us out the back and down a small corridor to an adjacent building where we sat in a small break room to taste a few things.

After our tour of the store and short tasting, we walked the main shopping street of the the Kagurazaka District on our way to dinner at Masa's favorite sushi restaurant. We went down a few narrow streets lined with older wooden buildings where we saw the proprietor of a French creperie café standing at the entrance welcoming guests. Darrell shared a little bit of French conversation with the owner, then we made our way on to the restaurant.

It's true... McDonalds actually delivers via small three wheeled scooters in Tokyo.

Chieko met us at the Nakahisa sushi restaurant for dinner. Nakahisa is one of the Edo sushi houses in Tokyo. The restaurant was small with only one sushi chef behind the counter. The plates of sushi were very diverse. We were even served a bowl of delicious steamed clams in broth and frozen sake. The quality was definitely top rate.

Dinner was absolutely delicious! Everything was so fresh and flavorful with so many satisfying textures. When we returned to our hotel to turn in for the night, I found myself in need to walk off all of the day's consumption and wind down from the sensory overload. I decided to grab my cameras and take a stroll through the Plaza area to see what kind of activity a Friday night in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo would present.

Although the walk was only about 30 minutes, the people watching was pretty diverse. There were lots of young people, mostly Japanese and under 30 out on the streets. It was approaching 11:30 pm. There were a few solo street musicians, which I stopped to take a listen to. The Japanese love lights, and there were plenty lit up on this Friday night. The walk and look around did wind me down nicely, so it was up to my room for a good night's sleep.

~CLICK HERE: to continue to the next day ~