Jean-Paul Hévin: Safi

Safi, Chocolat Chaud Maron, and Gallette de Rois "Star" (?)

No running on Friday, but I missed cake some running days, so no guilt. Wen the the chocolate bar at Isetan and got a couple drinks and a couple cakes. The new cake (to blog about) was the Safi (サフィ; 618 yen +8%), which is a rich chocolate biscuit with layers of chocolate mousse flavored with orange, from Jean-Paul Hévin. Not sure what variety of orange it is, but not sweet, or at least that is the effect, which is not a complaint.  Also not complaining about the cocoa powder on top, but that stuff makes me cough I'm not careful, so I'm giving a warning here. That might be the only reason I'm not rating it great, but I am still looking forward to having again. In the meantime, there are special only-the-first-two weekends-of the-new-year cakes that I have to decide whether to try to get. 

I had a good part of the Galette de Rois "Star" (ガレット デ ロワ スター) and was not really feeling the greatness this time. It was still good. It came as part of a set with Chocolat Chaud Parisien for 1300 yen + 8%, which is less than the hot chocolate by itself. 

I got the Chocolat Chaud Maron, which has a definitely distinct taste (apparently chestnut) compared to the other types and was actually the cheapest, at 1080 yen total.

Today, I went out again, but just to Starbucks, where I got a Sachertorte, which is decent, which is better than another thing I've gotten at any of the other main chain cafés. Of course, I added whipped cream. This was the Starbucks near Omotesando (because Pierre Herme, which did not post it's end-of-year store hours, even on their door, was closed).

Today also had running, which as just 6 laps around Meiji Gingu Gaien, with the intention of keeping it above 11 km/h, although I caught myself slow half way through the 5th lap, so I sled up and ended up closer to 12 km/h for the last lap. Then I took a pretty hill-intensive route (even compared to Asasaka Palace course) following the Gaien Walk and managed to keep it well above 11.0 km/h for 2.4 km on the way for shopping. So running was about 1 km at 9 km/h, 9 km at 11 km/h and one lap (1.325 km) at 12 km/h. Tomorrow I may rest, but Jean-Paul Hévin has a special New Year's cake I want to get and one shop is open, so I may need to jog there if I don't get a walking partner to there.

Sadaharu Aoki: Éclair Chocolat

As planned, I went on Thursday to Isetan and got the Éclair Chocolat (エクレール　ショコラ; 540 yen) from the Isetan counter of Sadaharu Aoki. It was definitely good, but didn't make me want to learn to make éclairs.

The the run was the similar to other recent ones, being laps around the Meiji Gingu Gaien course. This time was 5 laps at 11 km/h. Going and returning, which are about 1 km each, were 9 and 12 km/h, respectively, so it was clear that I could keep raising the pace, which has been reinforced since then.

Running without cake

Had bad luck even before I got out running. I was in a hurry (for no reason, as it turned out), and bashed my arm on a door and then got a jacket zipper stuck and broke it (it was old and cheap, though), before getting to Anniversary and seeing that they were closed at 6 pm (which is on their homepage, which I looked at but apparently it did not make an impression). From there, I decided to do a run to Tokyo Midtown to check what Henri le Roux was up to, which turned out to be being permanently closed, as of Dec. 26. While I was there, I checked out Dean & Deluca, which is a kind of deli and café, and noticed for the first that the few cakes they have there come from other local shops (whose names I recognized except one). That could be useful information at some point, since Dean & Deluca has longer hours. Now the question in my mind is whether all Dean & Deluca shops have the same selection of cakes. This time I chose to go without cake. I might get something from Isetan tomorrow, regardless of whether I run, since I'm a couple days behind (although I've also done a lot of short training runs).

From Tokyo Midtown, I came back to Meiji Gingu Gaien and did a lap and a half of intervals, 12 km/h (1.225 km in 4 intervals) and 10 km/h, which was my speed for most of the run, which in total was about 9.5 km. I'm still 20% below my weekly running budget, since I've been doing more speed work than long runs. With the holidays coming, I'm not sure how much running I'll get to, but perhaps some.

Heritier: Mars

Yesterday's run was to try to do 11 km/h around Akasaka Palace, which is hard because, as the name "Red Hill" suggests, there are slopes (enough to put up sign for cyclist to watch their speed), so probably I'm going 12+ km/h down slope sometimes and -10 km/h up slope sometimes. I managed my target 1 2/3 laps (5.5 km), before I pealed off to do some shopping.

Today, I went to (Patisserie Francaise) Heritier, which is in Hakusan, in Bunkyo-ku. I got even more lost than last time I went, so I have to just guess about the distance there, but probably ended up around 6.5 km, in which case it was 10 km/h. After I got cake, I ran about the same speed for around 3 km, but then after I picked up 2100 of peanuts at Nikunohanamasa, I was slowed down to around 8 km/h, which is still pretty good, as I was carry things in both hands at this point.

The cake was Mars (マアルス; 540 yen).  The cake is kind of bowl of chocolate coating (though not noticeably chocolate in taste) studded with nuts full of a dried fruit mass that you shoot run into. It's definitely good and definitely interesting, but ultimately not particularly flavorful besides being sweet and a little rummy, so maybe a good shop but not a priority for a quick return.

Pierre Hermé: Flocon Plénitude

Yesterday's run was boringly like the previous day's: laps around Meiji Gingu Gaien at 11 km/h, just I did a fourth lap (5.3 km total), plus kept the speed up going home, but was a little slower coming. 

The cake (bought today) was from Pierre Hermé at Isetan, the Flocon Plénitude (フロコン プレニチュード ["plenitude of flakes"]; 864 yen). This is pretty complicated, supposedly: a chocolate macaron, chocolate ganache with chocolate in it, chocolate with fleur de sel (a kind of salt) in it, and chocolate mousse. It is a rich chocolate cake and everything harmonized well, except the dryness of the macaron (?) wasn't really working for me, as texture. Maybe if I had known what it was (I found the description online later), I would have appreciated it at the time. I was worried that I am overly biased toward chocolate, but I realize that I'm also critical of chocolate cake that doesn't live up to what I think is the best I've had, so I suppose those factors balance out. This was definitely a good cake, but not something I need again and so hard to recommend at the price. I would like something more exceptional than design from the half dozen shops that I am designating "superb". Of course, I already knew that holiday cakes made for shape rarely are great, so maybe I should have chosen differently, but the description is sufficient interesting, now that I've had a chance to read it, it still seems like the logical choice, so no regrets, except that the photo came out blurry.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Rêve

Jean-Paul Hévin: Rêve

Ran last night and got my cake today. The run was just 11 km/h laps at Meiji Gingu Gaien, that time 3 laps (1.325 km per), but also for the return home (but not there, which was about 9 km/h), so next is 4 laps. The Chocolate Bar at Isetan Men's Salon in Marunouchi was empty on Christmas around noon (although other people came in), which pleased be rather than shocked me, despite the crowds for cakes at Shinjuku Isetan. They had three special Christmas cakes, and we got one each, but that's spreading things thin, so I can just say that I got the Rêve (レーヴ; 859 yen + 8%), and small bites of the Kankan and the Fashion suggest that I had the best. Certainly, it was the same high quality that I expect there (all their cakes are very similar, unlike at the main branches, which have more variety in the construction), being chocolate and orange (versus cherry and just Venezuelan chocolate mousse).  The Chocolat Chaud Colombien (ショコラショコロンビィ; 540 yen + 8%) was also excellent.

Sadaharu Aoki: Sensuel

As expected, I couldn't resist cake and running. The running was just down to Meiji Gingu Gaien and two laps. The laps and coming back (about 3.5 km) were 11 km/h and going was 10 km/h, so I'm ready to do 3 laps next time I want a run after getting cake from Isetan (which I have plans to do, though not sure when).

The cake, from Sadaharu Aoki (サダハルアオキ) at Isetan, was Sensuel (センシュエル; 891 yen), which is raspberry and chocolate. I think the praliné layer at the bottom is hazelnut, based on the taste. The cake was the usual high quality and it seemed pretty good at first, though not one of their best, but the hazelnut aftertaste convinced me that the different flavors were really not harmonizing well, so this was just good for me and not something
I need to have again.

Shirotae: Ganache

Revamped my training run of 300 m intervals as 12+ km/h, since yesterday showed 11 km/h was too slow. I only did two intervals to start with (and the first one was too fast), then went and checked out Tokyo Midtown (which is getting more crowded), and then to Shirotae for cake. I got the Ganache （ガナシュ; 350 yen), as they did not have the rare cheesecake that I wanted and there was not much of a selection left. Being not far from home, I waited to eat it. Total running ended up about 4.6 km at 9 km/h, 2.6 km at 10 km/h, plus the two fast intervals (next week I plan to do four).

The cake was only okay. There is a little actual dark ganache (presumably) on top and very light ganache, maybe, on the outside to give it shape, but there is sponge cake inside, plus a cherry and a couple raisins. So there was a reason why I never bothered to post about them before.


I'm not sure whether I should get cake tomorrow, because I've got friends coming in and maybe we'll go out for cake (my preference), but I'm not going to force the issue. However, I want to run and I want some excellent cake, so I'll probably go to Isetan and visit Sadaharu Aoki. If I get more cake later, then I'll just do some running without cake next week.

Café Mikuni's: Gateau Chocolat

Managed to get to Café Mikuni's (カフェミクニズ) before they closed. All the recommended (おすすめ) cakes were gone, but they had Gateau Chocolat （ガトー・ショコラ; 650 yen), which the card said was a specialty, so I went with that. It is a very dense, firm mousse with icing. It uses the good stuff, Valrhona chocolate, and tastes like it. Just chocolate mousse is pretty plain in general but this passes the "excellent" test of being something that I would like to have again or would consider worth learning to make. That's only the second cake from there, so among the shops I'm currently calling "excellent", it is a top priory, but I think it's not such a priority that I need to go again tomorrow. Instead, I'll wait until they reopen after the holidays starting this Friday, which will be in February.

Besides to and back Mikuni's, running was just down to the Meiji Ginju Gaien course and one lap at 11 km/h. Actually, going home was closer to that than 10 km/h, so I'm swelling my high-speed part. On the other hand, the Mikini's part was half and half 8 and 9 km/h (due to having to run through a low point in Wakaba by the shortest route; it might be faster to take Shinjuku Avenue or otherwise avoid the low spot). No trouble from last Sunday's long run. However, with the holidays, I'm pretty busy with non-running things, so I'm not sure how much running I'll get in until the new year. I'll look forward to planning longer runs and keep building. I need basically marathon distance to get to and do the Shibamata History and Culture Course, so that's the immediate goal, besides visiting more-distant cake shops, but I'm not hurting for much closer ones that I haven't visited yet.

Au Bon Vieux Temps: L'Auvergne

Did a long not so slow run to Au Bon Vieux Temps (オー　ボン　ヴュー　タン) and back. There, I got the L'Auvergne (ローベルニュ; 648 yen). Mostly, it is strawberry mousse, with a more solid maybe cheese mousse (too mild to tell, but was white) as a center layer, and surrounded by a green shell with a gelatin layer that I'm not sure what it is (there was something written on the card, but it was Japanese phonetic French, probably, and it was very crowded in the shop, so I don't remember and didn't write it down. Thought "vert" something "ine", which doesn't match lime, or the french word for lemon balm, which was the guess of the only online mention I found. The taste was not strong, whatever it was, though it certainly added a kind of fresh taste (but not obviously mint) without obviously being mind (and it's not green tea). Anyway, it did not travel well with my running (no big shock, given the many small ones), which is not their fault (I turned wrong and ate at a farther away park than I had intended). It was good and certainly fancy (before I maimed it), but I can't say it was better than good (I have no interest in eating it again). Using my cut off, I've grouped this one with five other shops and the second-tier "superb" shops (which has not been transferred  to my map much yet), but it's really an outlier and eventually I'll set up a third-tier of the best of my currently "excellent" shops and it will probably go with them.

The run was on the faster-than-it-should-be side on the way out, averaging about 10 km/h. Coming back, was all around 9 km/h and slightly longer, because of search for a park and then swinging by Cuoca to see if they sold pistachio essence or oil, which they don't (their very pretty hulled pistachios are 400 yen for 20 g. I've paid half that rate for pistachio powder, so they might be relatively worth it, but I think I can get along without them. I might buy pistachio oil, which is cheaper and would go a long way, and try adding it to butter cream for macaron filling. First, I have lots of other ingredients to use up.

Update: I forgot to say I ran 26 km, compared to 16 km once last month at a slower speed. The test will be whether I'm okay on Tuesday.

Café Mikuni's: Mont-blanc

Finally got over to Café Mikuni's (カフェ・ミクニズ） for the first time. They open at 11:30, but around 11:50, they were full or almost full (seats 18) and the Chiboust Poire was sold-out, so I went with another recommended (according to a label on the card) cake, Mont-blanc (モンブラン, 500 yen), which shows how far I've warmed up to mont-blanc. It was definitely good, and I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say it was excellent. It was fairly convention, in that it had a small meringue core, with cream around that and then a nicely smooth (Tokyo-produced Japanese) chestnut paste outisde. It may just be that I like mont-blanc in general now and this one was acceptable, but I'd like to go back sooner than later. Actually, it has to very soon, because they'll close (aside from 3 days of distributing ordered Christmas cakes), from Dec. 23 to Jan 31. Not sure if they'll have anything just before closing, when I can get there easily, but I'll try (with a couple back-ups in mind). I've got a couple days yet.

For running, I took my cake back home and then immediately went out for some grocery errands. Total run was 9 km, with two-thirds of that at 9 km/h and the rest at 10 km/h. My plan is to try an LSR (long slow run) tomorrow, not so much to build up my endurance but just because my goal isn't close. It's fortunate that most of the best cake shops are within easy reach, but eventually, I'll going to need to get further out to revisit others and hit ones I've heard of but haven't visited yet.

Le R Cinq (ルエールサンク): Mascar Fraise (マスカルフレーズ）

Wednesday night, I visited Le R Cinq (ルエールサンク) and got the Mascar Fraise (マスカルフレーズ, 540 yen）. It was good (mascarpone) cheese and good strawberry filling, which went well together, so it was good cake. Maybe it's a good shop, but they only had two things recognizable as cake　（the other was green tea, I think), three or four tart-like pieces, that were fancy enough, but at least half a dozen things in glasses ("verrines" I suppose), so not really my kind of place, or I need to learn to appreciate verrines. I'd be interested in going early, to see what their baked goods are, since they open at 8:00, but it's not my side of town. Of course, I could get up early and go by train, but I'm not that interested.

There was also running, today, but it was a training run, which did not take long, and I did not buy cake, so I'm now caught up on reporting cake. As usual, the training run as on the Meiji Gingu Gaien course, and was just 4 km total, 1.225 of that at 11 km/h in four segment, interspersed by 9 km/h running and otherwise mostly it was at 10 km/h. Because of the short run, no cake buying, and no overtime work, I had time to catch up on dishes and then make canelés. Still working out how to get them right, in terms of how much butter to use in the silicone molds for the regular-size ones. This time I used 25% less and held some back to brush on afterward, to see how that works, and they came out of the mold about as well as last time (one stuck), and I baked them less and they still seem baked enough (though less baked), I'm trying to see if I can get the outsides less dry. Of course, if I want them glossy, I'll have to think seriously about using beeswax.

Pierre Hermé: Mont-Blanc à ma Façon (モンブラン・ア・マ・ファソン)

Cake Monday was by Pierre Hermé, via Isetan. I chose the Mont-Blanc à ma Façon (モンブラン・ア・マ・ファソン, 756 yen), so I'm not leaving mont-blanc as my last choice any more. This was excellent, with very nice chestnut cream/paste over cream, with small (dry) meringue anchor in the middle on top a butter (?) tart. Also, I left out the special part, which is the rose confit. It was interesting, but the flower sweet aftertaste was a bit odd, so I'm not ready to accept this is something I'm looking for.

The run was first to Ginza to check the Jean-Paul Hévin, which had the same cakes as Isetan, Tokyo Midtown, and Omotesando Hills (or at least the Safi, which is the one I haven't had and which isn't officially listed online or the chocolate bar menu at Isetan. Then I went to Le Rcinq, which I'll report on tomorrow. But gave me about 12 km total, split about equally between 9 km/h and 10 km/m (though actually the first half was too close to 11 km/h).

Jean-Paul Hévin (ジャンポール エヴァン): Orly (オルリー) Place de l'Étoile (プラスドゥレトワール)

Orly

Sunday afternoon, I went to the Jean-Paul Hévin in Marunouchi, because they have cakes the other shops don't. Of the two, the favorite one was the Orly （オルリー, 592 yen + 8%), which is chocolate cake (of course) and mouse with passion fruit ganache. Great cake.

The other, which is promoted on their home page as a special, is Place de l'Étoile (プラスドゥレトワール, 592 yen + 8%), which has a sablé bottom, and layers of coffee-flavored dacquoise and chocolate mousse. I'm still not a fan of coffee (especially the aftertaste), but the balance was not bad and it was still excellent cake, even for me.

Place de l'Étoile

Still one more cake there that I haven't had (Voyage; maybe three are constant and one, now the Place de l'Étoile, get's rotated). In fairness, this should perhaps be considered a separate cake shop from the other JPH shops, since there seems to be no overlap in cakes, but the style and quality are similar.

Today's run was along the same theme, as I visited the shops in Omotesando and Tokyo Midtown to see whether they have special exclusive cakes. I'm not sure whether it's special, but they both had Safi, which I've not posted on. Not sure whether I can get it at Isetan (tried to check, but the line was long, though I can probably just ask the person manning the door without going in, or it might be on the chocolate bar menu), and I need to visit Ginza Mitsukoshi again and see what they have there. Total, I ran 9.2 km at about 9 km/h. I haven't really had a plan to this point, but I'd like a long (maybe 25 km, although that's a big jump, so maybe walk the last 5 km) this weekend. If I do it Saturday, that only leaves me a shortish training run and a Ginza run this week, although I don't really need to do more. However, maybe I should try hold off until Sunday for the long one, since I can do a shorter run Saturday (maybe to a new shop) and then the long run Sunday and then rest Monday. Tomorrow looks like rain, though, so it wouldn't bad to rest then in any case.

Gerbeaud: Dobostorta (ドボシュトルタ) and Esterházy Torta (エゥテルハージトルタ)

Saturday, we went to Gerbeaud along Aoyama Avenue near Omotesando, on account of the Pierre Herme being under renovation. Still, I intentionly had prepared it as a back up. There was got the Dobostorta  (ドボシュトルタ, 630 yen) and a Esterházy Torta (エゥテルハージトルタ, 630 yen), which are both tortes and similar, but former is chocolate butter cream and the latter is not (perhaps, vanilla or cognac). I liked the latter more, for being sweeter maybe. It's nice to have this kind of denser cake once in a while rather than French cakes. Note that the for the former, this is the cake shown by Wikipedia, although I don't know that it is from this particular branch.

For a the running, on Sunday afternoon I went around and visited Cafe Mikuni's (first time to go up to the door, but didn't go inside) and Hertier (probably have been by here, but wouldn't have noticed it as anywhere special; also didn't go inside, but I could see inside; not very many kinds on cake) as future places to visit. It was 13 km total (I got a little off track and then decided to take an easier follow route coming back, or I could have done it in 12 km), at just within the upper bounds for 9 km/h. Still feeling like I'm running at my limit, as far as my left knee goes at least, so I'm not sure whether I'm going to have to give up running faster and just stick to 9 km/h as an upper limit. I'm certainly not intent on expanding my running budget while I've figuring this out.

Frédéric Cassel: Pure Euphoria

Wednesday, I did a training run which included running to Midtown and just a couple laps around the Meiji Jingu Gaien loop (which had a lot of people out, or was that Thursday). I was little worried about my knees through Tuesday, because I'm near my limit (not from an injury, just my general limit), but stretching was kept me just good enough so far. The training run was to try 11 km/h, which I was trying to do two 300 m stretches of, but it leaked over into 12 km/h on the second one. Other parts gave me 5.5 km of 10 km/h running, with a tiny bit at 9 km/h (it was supposed to be 8 km/h, for the intervals, but didn't managed to switch to that slow). It was a cake rest day (a lie: actually I made and ate pistachio dacquoise, which didn't come out perfect, but was very good).

Today, I ran to Ginza for Frédéric Cassel and got something that might have been named Pure Euphoria; all I can remember is that it began "Puru" (in Japanese) and ended "foria" or maybe "fonia" (it's complete slipping from my mind). I'll have to get back there this month with a pen if I want to find out (no photographs in the store). It's 756 yen, which is pretty standard, and is a vanilla white chocolate heart with strawberry cream inside (I think), despite the somewhat tart raspberry on top. Of course, to be a heart, it has to have enough gelatin (or be lighter than it was), which I tried to get beyond, but the rest was not really anything special, though maybe good, I suppose. The running was 9.5 km and I messed up my timing on the way back, so I don't know what my speed is on that shorter part (I took the long way there and stopped for groceries coming back), but the longer part was 10 km/h, so I'm just recording it all as that.

Frédéric Cassel needed a great cake to stay in the top spot with As a result, I have to bust them down a rank, which leaves on Jean-Paul Hevin and Henri le Roux on top. Frédéric Cassel will have to settle for being in the second tier with Au Bon Vieux Temps, Dalloyau, Paris S'eveille, Pierre Hermé, and Sadahaur Aoki. As a result, I probably won't be back there so soon.

Passion de Rose: Mille-Feuille Gianduja

Got my cake first. I had completely forgot that I had already posted about one cake from Passion de Rose (パッション ドゥ ローズ), also via Isetan, but that's okay, since this was a special Isetan-only cake, so I'm happy to have taken advantage of it.

The run was down to Aoyama Dori/Avenue to the Inner Moat, which I took from Mitakesaka ("three mansion hill", I think) to Boeniriguchi (with is cemetery entrance, though the pronunciation might not be right) and then back to Yotsuya. It was 10.6 km total and averaged almost 10 km/h, so now I don't have enough running budget left to be tempted to run again tomorrow. I'll go out again Wednesday and try training with a couple laps at exactly 10 km/h and a couple short 11 km/h stretches on a (reasonably) level track, though I'll probably stick to homemade cake.

The cake today was the Mille-Feuille Gianduja (ミルフィーユ ジャンドゥージャ; 679 yen), which presumably you can still get Tuesday (last day) at Isetan. The name pretty much explains it. The top filling is denser, but the fillings are are both gianduja (chocolate and hazelnuts). According to the Isetan site, one layer is gianduja buttercream and the other is crema gianduja maison (judging from the Japanese), though whose "maison", I don't know: lost in translation. I'm interested in gianduja, but not universally sold on it. The taste of very good, and I especially liked that the fillings were firm enough that you could cut through the mille-feuille layers without crushing the cake too much. I'll call this cake excellent.

Passion de Rose: Mille-Feuille Gianduja

Asterisque: Oar

Oar (from Asterisque)

Did a fairly uneventful daytime run to Asterisque and back. It basically was around 9.5 km/h, though going out was just shy of that and coming back was greater, despite carrying cake. I was trying to deliberately run 10 km/h, but the route has some steep slopes. I should say its an over 10 km round trip.

The cake was Oar (オール; 580), which is apricot with a hazelnut biscuit. The somewhat course dark biscuit did not really go well with the apricot gelatin, as far as the texture, and the flavors were not harmonizing either. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and call it good, as it was not that disappointing, but Asterisque gets demoted down to just good, which is not such a bad thing. Next I expect a first post on Isetan's current visiting shop, which is probably not better, based on previous experience, but is worth giving another try, just like Asterisque was.

Kenzo: Chocolat de Chocolat

The interesting part of the run happened before it. Ran long and fast Wednesday with no problems (well, no new problems), and then longer and faster on Thursday and had a disturbing pain in on the outside of my knee afterward and continually on Friday, though not where the previous problem was. I thought maybe I was going to have to rest until it disappeared, but Friday night, I reviewed a recent running program on knee pain. For my location, they just called it "Runner's knee" and showed one stretch, which I had added to the other one that I was doing regularly. That was the only advice they had, so I reviewed tried to follow the instructions exactly, which including doing each stretch for 20+ seconds, which I hadn't been doing. I stretched three times, and the pain was immediately gone like magic. I did get a slight echo of the pain later, so I've dong that stretch several more times then and today, but I was able to run almost 13 km today, keeping to 8 km/h, though that partially reflects the Saturday afternoon crowds in Shinjuku, even swinging out of my way northeast before heading west.

The goal of the trip was to visit Kenzo (洋菓子工房KENZO), which is over in Kamiochiai (within Shinjuku-ku). I didn't have high expectations for this, but someone at work recommended it and it's not that far, so I thought I should go at least once. They have the basic cakes of a Japanese cake shop, all very cheap. I got the Chocolat de Chocolat (チョコラ・ドゥ・チョコラ; 432 yen), reasoning that since they had three chocolate cakes, this was somewhat of a specialty. The cake started maybe good, then maybe just okay, and finally bad. The topping chocolate was not great, but okay as sort of candy chocolate. Having the whole thing in a plastic case so it could be crescent shape was inconvenient and should have clued me in, and the main body was such a weak chocolate that ultimately it was more like a cake that had been contaminated with chocolate than one that was intentionally chocolate. Finally, I just wanted to rinse the taste out my mouth, so probably won't be going back.

 

There are probably a lot of shops like this one (or visit any convenience store or grocery), which is why I'm not as excited about visiting random Tokyo Patisserie as I once was. Still, I've got plenty of ones recommend from sources that have given me plenty of multiple good tips in the past, so I'll keep trying. Next, though, I'm going to need to visit someplace I know has at least some excellent cakes.

Frédéric Cassel: Petite Gateau Juliette

Ran again to Ginza; really, one knee is telling me, I ran too much, though not specifically at the place where I was having trouble most recently. I ran 11 km at 10 km/h, which is too much and too fast. In fact, it's over budget until I adjust to make 10 km/h the new normal (though that still means my 9 km/h budget only counts 90% of the 10 km/h budget, so I sort of wipe out my previous gain in distance for the speed). I expect I'll slow down Saturday, but I still won't have a lot of distance left for Sunday if I follow my plan for a longer run to a new shop (I could use a shorter route, but not on roads I want to use).

Cake today was from Frédéric Cassel (フレデリック カッセル), the Petite Gateau Juliette (プティ・ガトー ジュリエット; 756 yen), which is mascarpone cream with strawberry and pistachios on top of cream cheese mouse, over a layer of pistachio crème brûlée (wouldn't have guessed that, but don't really know much about crème brûlée), on top of a thin strawberry layer, on (soft) biscuit. It was definitely excellent. Wouldn't mind making it myself, although the strawberry layer did not hold the upper layers in place, so it's good that I didn't try to run with this cake. This is "Petite" because there is a Christmas cake size of this. There were three other cakes that I haven't had before, but if the next is not great, I'll reorganize my rankings of shops putting this one with the current "near-great" shops, although I should probably call them something else if "great" just means having all or mostly chocolate cake. Unfortunately, it's not obvious how to rank adjectives. Maybe  "decent", "good", "very good", "exceptional", "superb", and "best" for what are now covered by "good", "excellent", "near-great", and "great".

Esquisse Cinq: Armagnac

Took the long way (down through Meiji Jingu Gaien to Aoyama Avenue) to Ginza. Stopped at Hibiya and then walked the rest of the way to Mitsukoshi Ginza, where Frédéric Cassel had already ended their November Inspiration cakes. Checking later online, and they will have a couple specials starting Dec. 1, so maybe I'll go back tomorrow. For today, I used my planned backup, Esquisse Cinq (エスキス サンク), which I had not bought from before, although Sweet Sonobe, has, so I added them to my list of places to visit a while back. They're in Tokyu Ginza Plaza, where they have a tea salon. I got the Armagnac (アルマニャック, 750 yen).

This was definitely good, elegant, and sophisticated. The base is nuts, though I'm not sure what kind. Seemed to be a mix, but something in the walnut or cashew and something about the shape of a pistachio, which might have been what that was, though I couldn't really work out the familiar taste. The dome is a delicate shell, inside which is caramel sauce along with almost pudding. It had a certain Japanese pudding feeling, but was thankfully sweeter, so I didn't have a problem with it. Was not disappointed and the quality was high, but it wasn't something I'm interested in having again, so no huge hurry to go back. I should mention that the counter person mentioned that there is cognac in it, but like a reviewer online noted, you can't actually tell. Sorry, the lighting is not very flattering in the photo, though I suppose they never are for these night park ones.  

In running news, my elaborate schedule for the next two weeks is ruined, because I ran the 9+ km at 10 km/h (strictly, I was about 9.9 going out and just over 9.5 coming back), so my budget is completely out of wack and there is no point in doing a training run where my "sprint" is 10 km/h now. Still, that's my only 10 km/h running in the last week, so I'm not suddenly going to kill the +40% penalty for going over 9 km/h, but I might reduce it to 20% starting now, since I've been doing at least a little 10 km/h for quite a while. All this is trivia to anyone but me, of course, but I'm enjoying and able to run faster now, it seems, so that's good news. Still a ways to go on my left hand, though.

Henri le Roux: Bouchée au Praliné Croquant

Messed up Monday and ran without cake. I've been shuffling my schedule too much and forget which one I checked the hours on and Asterisque is not open Monday, but I still got in 11 km at 9 km/h, which was too fast. I was 1 km over Sunday cycling and needed to run back slower, but I didn't know the kilometer marks, just I slowed down, but not enough, I just went from less than 1/2 km/h above 9 km/h to less than 1/2 below, and I'm not doing fractions, so I was over budget. On the other hand, I expanded my running budget by less than 1% over two weeks, so if it jumps an extra 1% over the maximum (which is supposed to 10%, but I pad that with weekly walking), then no big deal. I couldn't run today anyway.

Instead, I went to Henri le Roux (at Isetan) and really splurged (it sort of counts for Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday), and got the Bouchée au Praliné Croquant (ブーシェ・オ・プラリネ・クロッカン, 972 yen) which is a big crunchy (but soft) chocolate praliné stick, which is why it costs three times a normal little chocolate, although the quality is similar. I tried to ask what ブーシェ (buushe) means and they looked it up in their notes, but didn't know (actually, it means a mouthful). Well, it's just a department store counter. What I really wanted was to try their praliné mini tarts, which are only available at Isetan, but they only come in the gift sets that started at 3000 yen, so not something I'm going to get into lightly. Anyway, great sweet, in the sense that I definitely want to remember to get it again, but not, of course, cake, so sort of a side project.

Full disclosure, I'm also working through my raspberry chocolate not-quite macarons, which I'm surprised have gone moist inside from absorbing moisture from the ganache, which is supposed lwhat you're supposed to want, but that ganache had sat in the freezer for too long and was dried out, so I hadn't expect a change even after two days (which is the recommended about of time of waiting before eating after filling, not that I'm intentionally that patient).

Au Bon Vieux Temps: Chocolat Framboise

As planned, I ran round trip to Tokyo Midtown, about 7 km at 9 km/h round trip, on Friday night and did not get anything, just ate homemade canelé (which were not very successful: I need to follow the recipe and not overfill the forms, as it causes various problems).

Saturday I got my flu shot, as planned and mostly took it easy (did some necessary food shopping).

Today, I went by bicycle (about 26 km round trip) down to Au Bon Vieux Temps (オー　ボン　ヴュー　タン) in Todoroki, Setagaya-ku, and got the Chocolat Framboise (ショコラフランボワーズ; 561 yen）. Note, not so much raspberry in this, just enough to get a taste and seeds in your teeth. However, this is in the same style as their Zyphir and Tentation Chocolat, which I've liked, so I don't mind so much. The top is chocolate decoration and a raspberry, chocolate cream, on top of a chocolate disk with raspberry pieces in it. As far as I could tell, there is no raspberry in the bottom cake part. I was thinking that the bottom was going to be brownie like, but actually it's fairly crunchy. There are nut pieces in there, but some dark crunchy bits as well, maybe nubs, but didn't really have that look. Certainly, it was delicious and let me wanting more. I've had cakes that's I've really liked that would would prefer to split with someone, but this is one where I wouldn't have minded having two of the same. I'
m not complaining about the size, though.

Viron: Tarte Apricot

Snow and rain stopped in the afternoon, although it's still 10 degC colder than any other run this season, but I could go to Viron and back, over 10 km, averaging above 9 km/h. My knees were hurting afterward abit, but they warmed up in the shower and seem okay now.

"Cake" for today was the Tarte Apricot from Viron for 486 yen. It's more of a pasty, although it was with the cakes and I've already decided that tarts count as cake in general, so it seemed fair to take it over either of the coffee-flavored cakes (an Opera and an éclair). The tart was definitely good, with a nice apricot flavor and sugary buttery goodness, but was not really memorable, so I'm demoting Viron back to just "excellent" rather than "near-great" as a shop. Still, I've had several great cakes from there, so when I get around to reviewing the great cakes I've recorded, I'll get back there again and if they have something new that looks promising, I'll try it too.

Long run to Frédéric Cassel for Mille-Feuille Caramel Pomme

Took the Shinjuku History and Culture course from the beginning of the Gaien Walk to as far as Akasaka Mitsuke along the Outer Moat Walk. I noticed that the on-site guide marker map indicates the Outer Moat Walk should climb up to the footpath parallel to the road after St. Ignatius Catholic Church, so I did. Also, running on the north side in front of Hotel New Otani causes a lot of delay from the stop lights, so I finally switched to the south side. Both changes made to the map. From there, I ran to cross Inner Moat Road and then did the imperial moat course one full lap and then to Hibiya. There was a running event of some kind going on, so people were standing with signs at the kilometer mark points (I joined just before the 4 kilometer point and the woman of the couple in front of me was surprised that the person holding the sign and cheering people to not give up was her mother), though it was only obvious that a few people were obviously participating (beyond the few hundred at the start/end point). Rather than go all the way to Ginza running, I decided to just stop at Hibiya and take the subway tunnels to Ginza Mitsukoshi (which is about 700 m).

The cake was the Mille-Feuille Caramel Pomme (ミルフィユキャラメルポム, 864 yen), which is a fairly normal mille-feuille with a layer of apple in the middle and some caramel taste. It was definitely good, but I can't call it excellent: I'm not interested in having it again, and also I didn't appreciate that the apple was surrounded by layers of sponge cake. In mile-feuille? There might be structural reasons why it could not have been surrounded by mille-feuille (puff) pastry, for example, or caramelized almond slices, which I would like, since keeping the layers from sliding was obviously an issue, but it just seemed wrong to me, even though it was too thin really to affect the texture much more than the apple already did.

Took the short route back to Lawson 100. Total, I ran 16.4 km, all three parts averaging 9 km/h. I'm feeling good. Maybe this week, I'll finally use up my budget enough to expand it for the first time in three weeks. It's going to get colder tomorrow, but I'd like to get over to Viron, with a backup in Tokyu Plaza (Ginza), which will be another 11 km, so I'll only have 6 km left for Friday night, so I'll probably go to Tokyo Midtown, not find anything new, and come back and eat homemade canele or macarons, which I'll be doing Saturday anyway, since I plan to get this year's flu shot.

Le Jardin Bleu: Misérable

Got a second cake of Le Jardin BLue at Isetan and then did a training run in only like rain. This took three laps at Meiji Jingu Gaien, running 8 km/h there, alternating 300 m (7 times) at 10 km/h and 200 m at 8 km/h, but then I went too fast going home and have to count that as 10 km/h, but I'm still okay for this week's plan, since I already substituted out two laps around Akasaka Palace course for one lap and a short side trip for cake for one run this week.

The cake was Misérable (ミゼラブル; 432 yen) and I was expecting a rather plain cake. The description says it's dacquoise with buttercream filling as a traditional Austrian cake, but if you Google this name, it comes up Belgian, which makes more sense, since the name is French. I just had this cake type of cake from Échiré Maison du Beurre not long ago, and that one was not as good, as it was just very sweet buttercream. This one, the buttercream is praliné, with actual nut pieces and uses syrup, which has a more caramel flavor than just sugar, although the effect would perhaps be the same if they brushed some syrup on the dacquoise, which many recipes do (I've learned from experience baking). So it was excellent cake, and I could go back get another there tomorrow, to have three, which is my target now for excellent shops, but I have to rest from cake and running sometimes (actually, I'm hoping to make macarons tomorrow), so I'll just have to wait until either they come to Isetan again, or I get up to being able to run 60 km in a day (or admit that that's never going to happen and go by bicycle).

Jean-Paul Hévin: Macaron Chocolat a l'Ancienne, Feuilletine Praliné

Was at Tokyo Midtown and picked up pieces of the two cakes I haven't blogged yet (but I've had multiple times before): Macaron Chocolat a l'Ancienne (マカロン ショコラ　ア ランシエンヌ, 699 yen) and Feuilletine Praliné (フィユティーヌ プラリネ, 624 yen). These are "Saisonnier", but regulars. The first is just what it sounds like, a cake-sized macaron of dark chocolate with extra dark chocolate around it as decoration. As a macaron, it is on the dry side, both the filling, which is pretty solid, and the shell part, but as cake it is decadently chocolaty. I'm going to say this is great, but I can't be objective about it and actually I've had times when I was tired of it from getting it too often. I really need to compare it to something else.

But the second doesn't really help, because I like it about the same. It's similar in being meringue, though is very airy (it's hard to cut and keep the dome intact when you're trying to split it with someone) compared to the crisp shell of the macaron ancienne and it's milk chocolate, along with the obvious nuts, but one has the same impression of eating something more decadent than a usual cake, though still more substantial than a mousse cake. I'll also say this is great and look forward to comparing with other great cakes. These put me at 26 cakes posted for JPH, so it's going to take a while for me to catch up with other shops, probably next year, but I'm getting close. I don't recall there being that many more regular seasonal cakes. Perhaps there will be a couple new weekend-only specials for the holidays. Still, there's the one coffee-flavored cake over at Marunouchi, which I will give a try for the sake of completeness.

I ran later, over to the imperial moat and around once. Not many people at 8 pm on a Sunday night. Passed one couple going the other way twice, which is a first, I think, and means they presumably left the course on the north end and ran on the other side of the road for that part, since it's narrow and marked as one way, the one part that is. Also on the north end, it was a little unsettling having someone running behind me, matching my pace, for about the last quarter of the 5 km loop, but the north end is pretty lonely (though there are police stationed a couple places along there), so I don't blame her for preferring to have someone else in sight. I'm rotating through my injuries and have come around to having some foot pain (and I walked a lot today, thus Tokyo Midtown), so I was focusing on rolling heel to toe rather than just straight-legging it pendulum-like. My first kilometer might actually have been closest to only 7 km/h, but the average to the course was 8 km/h, and the course and coming back made it into 9 km/h territory. I've having to adjust my planned course down to remain within my budget. I'm going to try a 16 km run on Wednesday, which is a holiday, but still want to get back to Asterisque this week. Tomorrow I'll hit Isetan for a second Le Jardin Bleu cake and do some training running, which is relatively short distance, if there isn't heavy rain.

Asterisque: Gabrielle

Today's run was to Asterisque again. This time I got Gabrielle (ガブリエル), although I might be misremembering "Gabriel": I should really write these down when I'm in the shop. This is a dome of cassis (blackcurrant) flavored meringue, with some cassis mousse and cassis compote in the center/bottom. I think I've had this before (pre-blog), but I suspect that I didn't appreciate it as much. Now, I don't need everything to be nuts and chocolate, plus I brought it home, so I could eat it in a relaxed environment. Even though fruity cakes aren't my favorite, this was not too strong or weak, and it's unusually light: you could easily eat it with a spoon, except for the hard base.



Running was slightly more than last time, so still 10 km, with half 9 km/h and coming back cake-running 8 km/h. I'd run again tomorrow, but I really am not getting much else done and I need to do some cleanly by tomorrow night. Probably get something worth blogging Saturday/Sunday, but no running: I'm planning to get a flu shot instead.

Le Jardin Bleu: Malagasy

Today, I ran to Tokyo Midtown first, just to extend my run (since I haven't run lately) and to make sure Henri le Roux doesn't have anything there I need to know about, which they didn't. The lights are up, although I don't get what's pretty about them (the ones on the smaller trees along the path to here look better than these).



Then I went back to the Meiji Gingu Gaien course and did two+ laps, alternating between 8 and 10 km/h, and then home. Total, it was about 10 km of running, with more than two-thirds at 8 km/h (everything before the laps plus the slow intervals), 1.8 km at 10 km/h (in 300 m intervals), and then the run from the end of the intervals to home at 9 km/h.

Cake was from Le Jardin Blue (ル・ジャルダン・ブルー), who are visiting Isetan from way out west in Tokyo. Only one type of fresh cake left at 7 pm (although there was some sort of pastry/tart thing) left, the Malagasy (マルガッシュ) for only 432 yen. This is a dense chocolate cake with dense ganache. Sites I saw while trying to figure out what the Japanese name might mean (it refers to people of Madagascar) claimed it was a French version of a Sacher Torte, but I'm not convinced. Anyway, it's pretty simple in its way, but it was actually exactly what I wanted (I'm kind of sick of my carob brownies, but that's okay, because I've finally used up the carob powder on the last batch). Since it's the first cake I've had from this shop and it passes the I'd-like-to-learn-to-make-this test, I'll say it's excellent, though it's not so different from similar cakes I've had from various places that I've given various ratings, probably. I should try Le Jardin Blue cake again while they are Isetan.

Frédéric Cassel: Saint Honoré Caramel

Been out of commission for several days, but finally I felt better than last time I ran, so I took a chance. It was just over 8 km at 9 km/h (although I was having trouble keeping the speed that low on the outbound). At Frédéric Cassel, I got the Saint Honoré Caramel (756 yen). I liked last month's saint-honoré and I thought one other caramel cake this month was great, but I didn't care for this taste at all and the texture impressed me less than with the last saint-honoré. Still, it's a common enough caramel taste, despite I not being fond of it and I didn't really mind eating it, so it was still good.


Not sure whether I should try the third caramel or wait from the next batch, but I'll probably get to it. Now I'll see if I can manage to run the next three days to at least get a little caught up, not that it matters, since I'll take the weekend off again, so next week the running budget is going to constrain me.

Mandarin Oriental Tokyo: Kimono

Today's run was to Mandarin Oriental Tokyo Gourmet Shop, where I got Kimono for 864 yen. They have quite a bit of seating outside and in a kind of enclosed patio. Sorry, no shop picture: I was distracted from finding that I was missing a glove (they had it behind the counter). Like the previous cake, this was chocolate and orange, but otherwise very different. This is heavy cake. It was definitely good, but not really special beyond that, which is too bad because it's not a bad route. The picture is edible, but the shop label is not.



Unfortunately, there were not any stairs or steep enough slopes to keep my speed down, so I tipped over into the 10 km/h range, which is dangerous, but I seem okay so far (though I'm worried about getting a cold). The tip is about 6 km each way, though the first 1 km was definitely close to 9 km/h, as was the return trip, so I've only got 5 km unplanned 10 km/h running. I'll have to shorten one run next week to stay in budget, but I'm dropping another run back there anywhere, so I kind find something shorter to do. Fortunately, Isetan will have a visiting shop that I want to try by then, so I can find something close to home to do.

Asterisque: Rubio

Was back at Isetan today, for Asterisque, who is visiting from not that far away. I got their Rubio　(ルビオ, 590 yen), which is hazelnut mousse under chocolate glazing, accented with rum and raisin. Not that it is alcoholic tasting at all, but has a slight fruity flavor that I could not identify (sure, I read that it was rum raisin when I bought it, but after running, I couldn't remember one description from another, so I was half convinced there was a little orange in there instead, although I couldn't believe in the passion fruit that I remembered being paired with orange). The hazelnut as a mousse is not very strong, but definitely good, and it's not trying to be a kid's cake, although the decoration is a little over the top for me. Still, I'll say it's excellent and try to follow up on Asterisque soon. From what I remember, it's an elegant shop and it has a fairly good reputation online among Tokyo cake shops.



The run was 1 2/3 laps around Akasaka Palace and then to Lawson's 100 for groceries, for 6.4 km at 9 km/h (which is actually a floor rather than a ceiling value today, despite the hills), plus a kilometer or so at 8 km/h to get there to begin with. They were saying rain for tomorrow, and certainly cold, but I'll probably do a run down to Tokyo Midtown, just as something different, and then come home and bake, since I already got cake at Midtown Saturday without running.

Jean-Paul Hévin, Caracas

Cake came first, from Jean-Paul Hévin at Isetan: the "saisonnier" cake Caracas, which is a mild chocolate mousse in layers between vanilla and chocolate flavored biscuit, all coated in chocolate (ganache?). It was definitely excellent, but I have to stop short of calling it "great", especially next to their Mont-Blanc. Sadly, they aren't doing a different special "Mont" every month this year, but of course the regular Mont-Blanc is great anyway and is hard to resist when it is around. Still two more seasonal cakes to try at Isetan and one at the Marunouchi chocolate bar, although that one has coffee, so I'll save that one for last. Now if I could only get to Kyoto, where they have several interesting things, although Isetan also has an interesting mousse selection that I might try as eat in.

I should also mention that I went toTokyo Midtown Henri le Roux the day before, and the exclusive eat-in-only cake I thought I saw a sign for just 12 days before was already gone, so instead I had a repeat of the great chocolate cake, a good cup of Chocolat Chaud, and part of a chocolate crepe that was good, but I don't really need either crepe or the ice cream that comes with it. Never saw any information about that cake on line, so I guess I have to just stop by now and then and see what's going on over there if I ever want something like that. Something to do when I want to take a day off cake but am willing to be tempted.

Running was simply down to Meiji Jingu Gaien and two laps alternating between about 200 meters and 300 meters at 8 and 10 km/h, respectively, for a total of 1.525 km at the higher speed. It was a little difficult due to police at one entrance (that is often used) and a lot of people with cameras at the south end (which has been crowded all week), which I put down to leftovers from the Design Week event, but did not explain why there were photographers on step ladders at the 100 m mark. I assumed some celebrity was still inside and people were trying to get pictures of them, but I found out from the news later that the couple of firetrucks with the police were due to a tragedy involving an exhibit that burned, taking the life of a 5 year-old child. Sorry for the grim report, but tragedy comes from anywhere and affects us in unexpected ways, which we should be prepared for as best we can.

Frédéric Cassel: P'tite Merveille Caramel,

Took a long run along the Tokyo History and Culture courses, starting with the Gaien Walk of the Shinjuku course and continuing on along the Outer Moat Walk to Akasaka, from which I followed the Akasaka Sanno Walk to where it meets the Marunouchi Past and Present Walk, which I jumped off to transfer to the Sukiyabashi Walk to Ginza. Total, that's about 9 km at nearly 9 km/h.

At Frédéric Cassel at Ginza Mitsukoshi, I got the P'tite Merveille Caramel (according to a French Facebook post) for 648 yen. The bottom is merigue, on top of which is caramel mascarpone cheese cream, then mango and passion fruit. topped by "biscuit-like" caramel type chocolate. It's very good, and not like most cakes, so I'm going to say it's great. Maybe I'll get tired of it if they do another version next month (didn't get to last month's yuzu version), for for now that will be my choice.





The end of the run was just 3.4 to grocer, and was a slower 8 km/h, as I was tired at the beginning.

Not sure when I'll get my next run in, as I'm busy this weekend. Probably something Sunday night, but I hope to get cake before then.

A la Bonne Heure: Chocolat Chocolat

Took a chance, in the sense of worrying about my knee, and ran again today. Did a lap around Akasaka Palace again, only this time I stopped at Shirotae, where there was a line out the door (there's not a lot of space in there, even for a Tokyo Patisserie), so they are doing okay without my patronage. Instead, I went to A la Bonne Heure (where there were three other customers) and got their Chocolat Chocolat (486 yen) cake.

What can I say: it tasted just like it looks like it should, light and fluffy, highly diluted chocolate (by cream and air). I'd rather just have the chocolate and cream: at least then I could make some ganache, although it was probably milk chocolate to begin with, so maybe just each the chocolate and whipped the cream as topping for brownies, which I need to make tomorrow. Actually, I'd rather just have dinner and skip the cake, but, still, it was not worse than you would expect, so I'll call it marginally "good". It's a standard cake, so it was useful as a reference and I've had worse too many times.

The running was fine except it started raining lightly and I forgot to stick my umbrella back in my backpack after taking to work at lunch time (though I wouldn't have used it unless I had waited for cake at Shirotae). Also, haven't put my jacket back in since washing it, and I might have used that for the hood. I did have extra shirt, but didn't use it, so it wasn't that cold, around 12 degC. Total distance it was 7.2 km at around 8 km/h again and it involved four stair-climbs over pedestrian bridges and the same slopes as yesterday.

Homemade: 6 km around Akasaka Palace

Received food gift

Food-gifting escalated this week. It had started last spring with a simple scone/canelé encounter but a mini-macaron got out of my control and the return of a meringue-like almond cookie (but not sweet) and some sort of spice bread (banana?) forced me to retaliate with 4 mini-canelé. I'm hoping for a truce now, although there are rumors of another front opening around Christmas with a stollen attack. (I'm happy to try a new dessert.)

On the running front, had a scare yesterday with my knee. Not a good day, but woke up okay. Didn't decide until the last minute whether to run and still wasn't sure at the beginning and end whether that was a good idea (but the middle seemed okay). Just over 6 km, including the Akasaka Palace loop, all just under 8 km/h average (although with overpass stairs and more slopes than usual).

I've still got around 10 mini-canelé, but I should try to improve my carob brownies to make them less brick-like, such as reducing the carob a little, increasing the butter, and cooking a little less. Also, less mixing.

Mandarin Oriental Tokyo ("Gourmet Shop"): Orange Chocolate

Decided I should rest my knee, so not running, but still wanted to try the "Gourmet Shop" by Mandarin Oriental Tokyo cake from Isetan. I got the Orange Chocolat (756 yen). The orange is not very strong and it's a very light milky chocolate, whereas I prefer something heavier and stronger, but I can't deny that this is high quality, and the hazelnut, including the cake base, is appreciated, so I'll label it excellent, because it's definitely above average and I should try something else from them.

Dalloyau: Jack O' Lantern

Went to Dalloyau in Ginza again, but, never learning, did not choose well. I got the Jack O' Lantern (540 yen). It is supposed to be kabocha cream, but at most I tasted butter, but good butter. However, I'm not out looking for cake that is just good. So even in the case of great shops, my first choice shouldn't be the novelty cake.

In terms of rank, this doesn't change how I feel about Dalloyau, but I'm moving them from the bottom "Great shop" to the top "Near-great shop". This means I can step up completing my sampling of cakes of great shops. Reviewing, my top nine patisserie-level shops for cake, in order, are (Great) Jean-Paul Hévin, Henri le Roux, Frédéric Cassel, (Near-great) Dalloyau, Paris S'éveille, Pierre Hermé, Sadaharu Aoki, Viron, and Aux Bon Vieux Temps. I also have 24 shops I rate as at least tentatively "excellent" and I don't know how many at least tentatively "good" shops, but many more than that (most of which I probably nave not posted on yet, but are on the map).

In running news, my knee seems not bad, but just in case I didn't run very fast today, staying just within the range of 8 km/h for the total 11.8 km I ran. The extra length this time came from following the Gaien Walk for the first part, though this is still only 0.9 km longer than Oct. 16 (to Viron), which was faster, but I lost some distance from deciding to be less obnoxious by not running within Ginza. My weekly budget expanded today, based on hitting 39.2 km of 9 km/h running last Sunday. I added a little to that the next day, so as of tomorrow, my budget will be 47 km, whereas I'm only at 41 km now. Think I'll do some laps tomorrow rather than rest and see whether I can still do at least 300 m stretches at 10 km/h without problems. That will give me a chance to see if the Isetan visitor now is worth visiting/adding to the map (usually, I add no matter what, but I don't need every hotel with a patisserie counter, since I've yet to find any worth bothering with, as far as their in-house stuff.

L'Essentielle: Citron Praliné

Jogged up to L'Essentielle for the first time.

I passed Porte Bonheur, which was closed again, so I'm doubting the Kasuga/Myougadani branch is ever open these days. Fortunately, L'Essentielle was. I got the Citron Praliné for 500 yen and ate in at the outside table (which was a little windy today). It's a nice little place with several tables inside, as well. There were a couple other people eating in inside, which is not a lot around 1 pm on a Saturday, but is still a good sign. The cakes are properly fancy cake, that is, for adults. This was was lemon cream and praliné. Actually, the praliné was fairly crystalline, so it was like there was an layer of crushed ice, being basically dry rather than a paste or crunchy from lots pieces versus powder, but it did not really affect the over all texture of the cake, since it's not a thick layer. The cake was definitely good, so I wouldn't mind going there again, but not particularly special to make going there a priority.

The run was okay. Last post's suggestion that I needed to move to 11 km/h for my training runs was premature. My overly fast running Thursday night left one knee sore the next day, which came back a little bit at the end of today's run. So I tried to keep it slower, on the high side of 8 km/h going out and the low side of 9 km/h coming back. Total, it was about 10 km. I had planned to go farther tomorrow, but I'll see how my knee is.

I did make carob brownies yesterday, and had another today with lunch. Also definitely good.

Ginza run to Frédéric Cassel: Saint Honoré Citron-Bergamote

Was running fast at the beginning, so ran less than I planned to keep with my budget through Saturday. Specifically, I was running about 10 km/h the first 3 km, so I'm going to have to up my speed for my training runs to 11 km/h. After that, I was definitely around 9 km/h, but I went underground early in Ginza (you can't run very fast in Ginza crowds, anyway), and didn't pick up the return run until the far corner of Hibiya Park, and that was just 3.4 km at about 8 km/h to the market.

At Ginza, I got the Saint Honoré Citron-Bergamote, or maybe it was just called Saint Honoré Bergamote (didn't have my pen, and they don't let you take pictures), like on a promotional picture on their Facebook page (the Frédéric Cassel Fontainebleau one, not the one in Japanese). Anyway, it's 756 yen, as usual, and the cream is lemon and the confit and candy coating (it's hard, though the card said "gel" I thought, although maybe there's some in the balls) are bergamot orange. Thanks to the coating, the balls are hard/crispy, at least on top, which is a clever way to keep them from getting soggy, so I had to eat them them whole, which is not a problem. The base is also crispier than a typical tart base, so maybe it's choux pastry too. Excellent recovery from last week's disappointment. Next visit to Ginza, I should go to Dalloyau, which was my backup today (there's a Dalloyau counter facing the Frédéric Cassel counter in Ginza Mitsukoshi, but they don't have cake, so you have to go to their main store).

Next run is Saturday, and I'll try again to go to a new place. This time, I've got two lined up, so one of them should be open on a Saturday (or I'll go to Isetan: I'm interesting in the visiting shop). Might have a problem with rain, though.