Origines Cacao: Andarujii

Caught Origines Cacao at Isetan on their last day and got Andarujii (couldn't figure out the source word, so this is just the Romanji of the Japanese). The run was the neighborhood run trying the South Aoyama 3&4 and Nishiazabu loops and connector in reverse. Overall, it was easier, but I missed a turn that looks straight when you're coming from the other direction (it branches and I stayed on the main branch when I should have left it) and had to double back but otherwise this seems to be the way to go. Next I'll do South Aoyama 1 and 2 Loops and the nearest Akasaka loop, which are all fairly straightforward. After that it get's complicated, but will probably have to wait until next year.

The cake, which is a chocolate mousse outer around a substantial lemon cream core, was definitely excellent. I've had good luck a couple days in a row. I didn't actually need a 10th cake from there yet, but they aren't at Isetan so often and it's been quite a while since I've had one of their cakes, since I got ahead of myself with them and they haven't brought back one of the cakes that I thought was great for a year. Maybe next year.

Bubó Barcelona: Montblanc

Did a relatively short run, about 50 minutes, and ran into a good crowd on Omotesandou Douri (I hadn't thought about people coming to see the holiday lights). On the way, I swung through the part of Sendagaya that had been closed yesterday to practice running that part of the course in reverse. Mostly I was okay, but one road is more like a driveway and I didn't remember that there would be a slight curb to it and no street marks indicating a road (the road/drive goes to a temple, and then I use their stairs to go down to the main street, which triggers a couple automatic lights going past but the path is open even when the gate to the temple is okay, so I assume it's okay to use until I hear otherwise).

Even on Christmas, Bubó Barcelona was not sold-out yet, though they were getting close. They had several Xabina and a couple Montblanc (their spelling). I've had the Xabina, so I got their Montblanc and took it home by the usual route. It was basic, being chestnut paste around whipped cream on a cookie/pie base. Decorations were white chocolate and, on top, baked meringue, which were what probably tipped this over into Excellent territory, or I just was feeling the Christmas spirit.

I'm busy toward the end of the week, but I'll try hitting Isetan Tuesday and Wednesday, which is not faster, but avoids having to do research to see who's open and selling individuals.

Lindt: Gateau Truffle au Chocolat

Continuing from Friday, I walked confirming and running in the reverse direction loops in Sendagaya down to North Aoyama. Road was closed for the Zuienji Loop, so I'll need to do that one another time. Anyway, I decided that the one near the National Noh Theater should go around the front rather than the back, since that's easier and shorter. I suppose the reason I did it the other way was to run the length of the mark there, but passing the southeast side is sufficient for me. I also decided that I could just run by the front of Jinguumae Public Park rather than come the back way with the public housing drive (which has a posted speed limit of 8 km/h). I thought the Jinguumae Loop is fine, but now I realize that I don't need to come down Meiji Douri, cut over to Harajuku Street and the cut over again to Cat Street, I could should just cut over to Cat Street along the cross street and void the crowds and alleys (though I'm still going to run into crowds on Cat Street (though no cats).

For cake, I stopped at Lindt, who have a cafe on Aoyama Douri which I've been to several times, due to it's convenience and visibility, although not since getting serious about running and cake. They do take out, though, and I judged correctly that they wouldn't bother to adjust their line-up for Christmas. I got the Gateau Truffle au Chocolat and walked it back home the long way to confirm that  Bubó Barcelona also had standard cakes (my plan for Christmas) and see whether Takashima would have their normal Patisserie selection. They didn't, though they did have a small selection, because large Christmas cakes, so I might go there Tuesday and get something from somewhere I haven't posted on before.

The Lindt cake, while understandably somewhat like eating a chocolate crunch bar (though it was truffle, so thick ganache, not solid chocolate in crystal form) was reasonably good for a brand sold in supermarkets. I'm willing to say that it was excellent and plan on going back soon to try a second cake (they have four types total, and I'm not expecting those to vary much, if at all, though I haven't been watching).

Christa; Chocolate Crunch?

Friday, continuing on Thursday's work, I worked on doing reverse-direction runs of Naitoumachi, Sadagaya 5, and Shinjuku 4 loops. I also checked out the Kitasandofureai Public Park in case I wanted to change to route to coming in through the back rather than loop around on the main roads to just run by the front and decided that the back stairs were too dark to run at night (there is a drive next to them, but that seems too private). It was short run, just a little over 40 minutes, but it was a run without cake and I did not want to get too tired before Saturday.

Saturday, I planned a cake-off, starting with a run out to 14 Juillet in the Shin Marunouchi Bld., but they did not have the cake and I wanted, instead having a lot of Christmas-themed cakes, which did not surprise me. I verified that Toshi Yoroizuka was the same, finished 1 hour of running and then walked another two or three hours, getting pictures for landmarks on my planned maps and confirming some parts of the routes. I hadn't planned to be out long, so I didn't have any snacks with me. Since cake-offs seem to off for the rest of the year, I decided to try Christa in Koujimachi. I got Chocolate something, which I'm going to call Chocolate Crunch, since which might be correct, since "crunch" was the word used on the card. This also was a special Christmas cake, so may not be representative, although was a pretty standard chocolate mousse with crème brûlée center and a layer of "crunch" above a thin cake base. It was simple but the chocolate (a blend of Colombian, Brazilian, and I can't remember where's) was good. Not sure why the cake left a sort of smokey aftertaste. Might not have been it's fault, since I passed people smoking to get out of the park. Still in the process of adding photos, but my impression is that the course through Akasaka is going to take time to learn.

Later, I also got an Escargot Chocolate Pistache from Ritual at Isetan, where Origines Cacao had stopped selling individual cakes. I stop by the 26th to see whether those cakes return for the last day at Isetan, but I'm not excepting so. The pastry was just good and I'm thinking that pastries are more sensitive to time of purchase than most cakes, so I'll have an excuse to experiment with timing.

DelRey: Pistachio Chocolat

Since they were at Isetan, I wanted to get a third cake from the Quite Good shop DelRey. I got the Pistachio Chocolat (I know, mixed languages). For the run, tried out the latest version of the neighborhood map starting from the Daikyouchou Bridge to the Shinanomachi Stn. Link and all connected parts east, doing everything in reverse, which makes everything look different (like landmarks for turns), so it really feels like a different course. I collapsed some loops and it's down to a little over 9 km, which I did in 60 or 61 minutes, which I think is pretty good, because there are a lot of stairs and hills.

The cake did not start too well with me, because the outside is pistachio mousse which is very gelatinous, which I hate. But it was pretty chilled to begin with and letting it heat up a little really helped. This has a lot of feuillantine in side, to give it crunch and some chocolate mousse, though not a lot. somewhat because I could over come the gelatinous problem and enjoy a strong pistachio flavor, I'll can say that this was excellent cake.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Bûchette Géométrique

Got the last of the tree individual Christmas cakes, the Bûchette Géométrique. The chocolate mousse is Peruvian cacao and smoked cream, cacao and almond buiscuit, poppy seed crisp (?), and laurel (bay leaf) chiboust. Definitely different from nutty or fruity cakes and I liked it and can call it great.

Not much to say about the run. I worked on proposed loops in the Akasaka area, though I realize that I have work to do on the old map. Besides some revisions (most of which I don't need to practice), I want to be able to do the courses in either directions (or, for multiple loops, each loop in a different direction, unless they overlap, in which case one loop's direction determines the other, since I still don't want to do full 180 degree turns. Don't have time to do exact measurements of the run, but it was 59 minutes today.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Bûchette Gatsby

Monday I tried a second cake from the Jean-Paul Hévin special Christmas series, Bûchette Gatsby, which is baked flour-less chocolate biscuit, vanilla chiboust, and mild 68% chocolate mousse. This time, I ate the cake turned on its side and it was great. Of course, the greatness might depend on other things, but one issue with this much decorative chocolate on a cake is the shape of the fragments when eaten, which cutting laterally rather than vertically makes a big difference too. (Note that the tongue interprets bumpiness as bitter, I think). I hope to have similar luck on number three on Wednesday. I have a lot of time-limit cakes I'm trying to get to, so I still haven't gotten back to my last cake-off winner. That will probably not happen until next week.

For running, I went down (by the shortest route) to a connector in my neighborhood map (under heavy revision) between the SW Aoyama part and the SE Aoyama part and then did the one loop. Originally, a loop around the Ginjuu Stadium would have have been included with this, but the bridge is out, so that part remains cut off (and it's connected by a bridge, so in the revised version, it would be considered a a separate course). Anyway, I needed to look at my map during this first run, but it's a very simple route, simple street pattern, and familiar area, so I don't expect to have to practice it much.

Monday I went to P. Shima again and got their Croissant and their Pain aux Raisins. Unfortunately, I did not think about how cold it would be (I'm used to cake, where I want it cold), so I didn't really eat them under optimal conditions. I'll need to standardize things, perhaps, and redo all reviews to be serious about pastries. I'll mention that I got two not because I was feeling greedy, but because I was cheap: 260 yen pastry become two for 400 yen after 6 pm, so I got both this week's pastries. I'll maybe bake at home on Friday, if I need something. I ran on nearby bits of neighborhoods around Akasaka and found flaws and that there is a Ginza Cozy Corner that I hadn't noticed (not at all recommended, but I ought to include it on the map and route and so sample and post about it eventually, unfortunately).

Jean-Paul Hévin: Bûchette O'clock

As planned, I did a long (~35 km) run through the 7 neighborhood courses that I had been practicing/revising so far. Through no special effort (as I haven't memorized any distance points), I at least averaged my target speed, which was 8 km/h. I was very satisfied with this experience, compared to running long main roads deep into the suburbs for the same distance, though now I want to decompose all the courses into their constituent loops and links and further simplify where I can. I'll give up avoiding overlapping and instead try to stick to what I think are the best roads for the goal. On the way, besides a couple packets of cookies, I got a yeast croissant from Heart Bread Antique, which opened my eyes to their maybe be split between bread croissants and pastry croissants, which is also probably true of other breads/pastries. Not sure whether it is worth making a distinction, but I'm after pastries. Still, this croissant was good and they definitely have other things that I'm willing to call pastries, so I'm expanding the corresponding map to include it (obviously, I did that already just before running, but I still hadn't added an icon).

The cake of the day, after I got back, was Bûchette O'clock from Jean-Paul Hévin, part of the their week-before-Christmas lineup. They had something like this last year that I only noticed on the last time and had time for one, which I had thought was excellent, but this one, while good, wasn't special to me. It's bergamot orange biscuit, yuzu chiboust, raspberry compote, and Madagascar cacao mousse. There's also lots of decorative chocolate, but the cake was a little soft and bland for me and the decorative chocolate did not really add the right texture element to balance it. Maybe I didn't eat it right or maybe fancy cake isn't what I want after a long run (though I ate a normal lunch first). Anyway, it's JPH, which is my top priority, so I'll make a point to get to the other cakes regardless and see whether they work better for me. In the meantime, I need to work on updating my old neighborhood area maps and trying on the next. When I get it up to 50+ km total, I'l maybe try another long run over the set.

Cake-off: Bubó Barcelona's Choco Deluxe over Paris S'éveille's Chocolat Fondant

Not too much to say about today's cakes. Cycled down to Paris S'éveille to get their Chocolat Fondant, which for purposes of this blog I am treating as fresh cake (versus gateau de voyage, like a weekend or pound cake, which are not my focus), though it does not require refrigeration and actually they recommend microwaving it for 20 s (my microwave is large, so I should probably have done longer), and then swung back to Bubó Barcelona to get their Choco Deluxe, a battle of the last two pure chocolate cakes in this round/year's cake-offs.

Neither cake stood out, but both were worthy chocolate cakes, which I enjoyed revisiting, the main purpose of cake-offs. I decided ultimately to give the contest to the underdog, Bubó Barcelona. I'd like to compare theirs to something more similar to it, but the main similar thing to the Fondant is not available (due to Ryoco being too busy to bother with the little stuff, apparently).

Pierre Hermé: Mille-feuille Céleste

Did another trip to Isetan for Pierre Hermé and got another cake from these months theme, Mille-feuille Céleste. Except for the mille-feuille pastry, this was not so different from the cheesecake, with a layer of strawberry and rhubarb compote and passion fruit as the other flavor. This worked less well for me than the cheesecake and was only good. I'll probably give up on this month's theme and wait for next month, which I planned to do even before having this, since I've got a number of places I want to hit again this month, both at Isetan, as visiting shops, and the other two recent cake shop promotions, as well as a number of new places (though nothing I have high hopes for).

The run was my neighborhood course through what was left of the southwest Yotsuya course from Tuesday. I remembered it all mostly fine (I did take a parallel road on one section. As I mentioned yesterday, I ready to rearrange this to stop prioritizing avoiding overlap and also to avoid tiny back alleys where it seems a little dangerous to run (just from tripping over things) and obnoxious to anyone living right there. I'm just going to assume that I ran about 8 km at 8 km/h rather than bother trying to measure the convoluted course.

Bien-être: Apple Chiboust

In response to it's cake-off win last Friday, I did a visit to Bien-être, though I'd be there soon again anyway. The running was not so fast, as its cold and I was not patient enough to stretch much. It was about 9 km/h mostly with a total of 11 km (there were some shopping-related detours).

The cake was the current chiboust, which is Apple Chiboust (translated). It was excellent, which does not surprise me based on their previous chiboust. Like many of their cakes, it has a sort of homemade feel and yet taken up to the next level, so this was like apple pie but wonderfully chiboust.

As catch-up, I'll finally note also that I had some Jean-Paul Hévin poundcake-type cake recently, if that's a fair description: Cake Chocolat Grand Marron, which is their chocolate cake with candied chestnuts, so pretty decadent, but excellent. We got this is Kyoto, though it might be available in other shops. I'm still committed to fresh cake, but I wouldn't turn down more of their other products.

Éclat des Jours: Baked Cheesecake

As planned, I did a cycling visit to Éclat des Jours Monday, but they did not have the expected cake (it seemed overly summery, so I'm surprised that it lasted through November). Instead, I got the Baked Cheesecake. I had low expectations, but it was great, an experience I've had with other cakes of theirs. It was fruity, with some citrus taste but obviously some other fruit adding flavor, like cassis or blueberry. I'll have to go back to find out, as I didn't visually examine it that closely enough or read the card closely (I didn't expect to want to know much beyond baked cheesecake). It makes me think of the more decadent American style rather than the types I usually get Fred Cassel or Pierre Hermé, so I assume that means lots more sugar. It's somehow richer and more airy at the same time. I'll have to update this when I go back to get this for a cake-off, though that probably won't be until next year.

Tuesday, I did actual running for the first time since last Thursday (though I did hiking in the hills Saturday and less vigorously Sunday. I went to P. Shima to get the first pastry for this week. They close at 7 pm, so I had to rush: 11 km/h there and 10 km/h back, though it's only about 2 km each way. I followed this up by filling up the hour with running over the west Yotsuya neighborhood course, which is essentially the first one, or at least one endpoint of the current string of 7 that I've tentatively learned. I didn't do all of it, just enough to see whether I remembered it. I'll avoid reviewing the map before I go again and finish from where I left off, but I was okay on main outer loop, though I think I'm going to drop a small bit that swings through an alley that just for the sake of minimizing overlap in the course, because it's not lit well enough at night and I'm sure nobody wants me back there anyway. I might reform other parts, based on my more recent philosopher of course making, though I'll wait until I complete it. I know there's a big loop at the other end of the course that could be avoided if I was willing to double back or overlap more.

The pastry was a Pain au Chocolat, which was great, even though it is hard to say that there was anything special about it except that it was exactly what I wanted. I'll work my way up to one-on-one comparisons, but I'm not ready to do pastry-offs yet.

Jean-Paul Hévin (Kyoto): Kibune & Mousse au Chocolat Miso

Took a trip to Kyoto and of course a top priority was to visit the Jean-Paul Hévin. Sure, there was skepticism at first, until a little research showed that it was a Salon de Thé. Visiting, it is very nice and is a good price if you want a high-quality café-type lunch, hot chocolate, and cake. 

I took a picture of Croque Parisien, but the Pâte gratinée aux cèpes was better (seen here). The hot chocolate was the Chocolate Chaud Columbia and Chocolate Chaud Gingembre (ginger). This was my first time for the Gingembre, which was definitely good but not especially exciting.

Of the cake, I assume that the Kibune is named after the shrine. It's layers of chocolate and matcha mousses along with cherry and pistachio nougatine. It's excellent, which an overall fruity chocolate taste. The other is Mousse Chocolate Miso, which is a dark chocoalte shell filed with chocolate flavored with white miso. Probably would not able to identify the flavor as miso, but it's definitely good chocolate mousse that I didn't get tired of before it was gone.

(Fri) Bien-être's Mont-blanc over Sadaharu Aoki's Mont D'or

I squeezed in a cake-off on Friday. The Sadaharu Aoki cake, Mont D'or, just became available again this month and I got it when I was out running an errand. The Mont-blanc from Bien-être, held over from October, I got by bicycle, deciding that I needed every minute I could, though running would not have been so much longer, since the shop is close.

My impression of the Mont-blanc was the same as in October, that it was the best of the very heavy chestnut mont-blancs that I've had. Simple but effective. The Mont D'or is a very creamy chocolate cake accented with black (?) currant (anyway, cassis). I wish that I had had more time to linger over it, to sense what was special about it, but I spent at least the usual amount of time. I have to go with the Mont-blanc as the winner of the cake off, but the Mont D'or definitely was high quality and the fruit was a positive addition to the chocolate. Also, the texture of the cake is great, so it stays a Great cake and I contemplate it again next year.

Pierre Hermé: Cheesecake Céleste

Made another visit to Pierre Hermé, who started selling their next theme (though they still have some of the previous one), which is Céleste. I got the Cheesecake Céleste, since it had been a while since I had tried one of their cheesecakes and some of the have been excellent or great.

For running, I went down to my farthest neighborhood that I've planned and tried and made the second attempt, after considerable changes. I wasn't perfect, but it went pretty good, as far as following the planned course checking the map as little as possible. I took some pictures, now that a new building showed what it could do with all that spaces in front of it (it's a media company, I think): Christmas Circus. Totally secure Christmas is popular this time of year, pretty much straight from Halloween, though there is overlap with fall leaf viewing, which we're just seeing the end of in central Japan. Note that the building behind the tree is next door, not the building in front of the tree.

The cake was definitely good. I'll even call it excellent. It's got a lot going on, from a sablé base, biscuit infused with passion fruit and a harmony of strawberry and rhubarb.

Toshi Yoroizuka: Monsieur Kitano

After a couple-day cake-fast, I ran to Midtown Toshi Yoroizuka and they had a pretty good selection, including maybe three new cakes that I wouldn't mind trying. One was a chocolate mousse dome, Monsieur Kitano, which I took as a challenge, because these always look delicious but rarely are. This one was. Although it reflects a certain chocolate bias, a strong desire to recognize new great cakes after a poor showing last month, and appreciation of success where others have failed, this cake deserves to be eaten again, and that's what I call great. Note, I ate it coming straight from the cool box, or whatever that special programmable drawer next to the ice drawn was set on, and the ice pack from the shop was still in the box with the cake and frozen. The cream filling part was seasoned with Hanasanshou (Japanese pepper flower). There was also pink pepper involved in this cake, although the pepper was too subtle for me (I shouldn't have used hot pepper in my dinner right before). Rather than a weird biscuit or nut cluster in the middle (though there was a little nuts in the cake), there was a solid disk of chocolate to support the mousse and cream, and you can see there's a hard cookie-biscuit-type base, all good, so I approve the construction. 

Running was just a little over 6 km at just under 9 km/h, which is pretty good, given that I'm sore from yesterday and the sidewalk is narrow and a little crowded leading up to Midtown.

Antendo: Chocolate Babka

Tried a fast run to Éclat des Jours, which was successful in that I ran shy of 11 km on the 12 km/h side, which is as fast as I've run this route (and I was going faster for the first part, slower in the middle where it was not helping me make the lights, and slowest toward the end, getting tired). As I half expected, they were closed on a Tuesday again without warning/mention on their Facebook page (they last posted closings in October). I should see whether there is a pattern since officially only Wednesday is a regular closed day, but I wouldn't have run if I wasn't prepared to be disappointed. I'll probably hit them again next Monday, when I'll have a better chance.

I took the train back, because I have other things to do that I'm behind on (like writing this), and did a visit to (Bakery Cafe) Antendo, which is the nearest bakery for Yotsuya 3-choume (not a particularly hip area, with just the one train line through it). I got the Chocolate Babka, which I've read should be moist in the middle, though that wouldn't last to the end of the day, maybe, even if it was every true. It's ok, but this version has only a slight claim on pasty-hood. I wasn't expected much, but just wanted to hit this as a local place, as I try to make pasties a twice a week thing.

Bake Bread: Croissant

Worked late, so I switched from running for cake to pastry and running. Bake Bread is a little place that is new and convenient, if I bought bread, which I don't much these days. I went with the basic croissant, which is kind of tough to show off with. It was good but standard bakery-type, though not fluffy or exceptionally crunchy.

The run was the the fifth neighborhood course, what I'm currently calling "Jinguumae 2 +", so I need to work on my naming. I did the run down there and back as well as the course itself without going through a traffic light (though there were cars to pause for a couple times). Unfortunately, I forgot were to turn near the end, where I need a side street past a new religion church and then turn off that correctly. Not sure whether I'll immediately repeat it or come back to it after trying the extensively updated #7 (I don't think I've made any changes to #6, which I'm not that fond of anyway). Also, multiple chronometer failures so no speed for the 9 km, so let's call it 9 km/h.

Cake-off: Yoroizuka's Cassis over Viron's Fraise

Today, I needed some roasted peanuts for peanut butter, so I started my run by going to Nikunohanamasa and then continued on to Viron and Toshi Yoroizuka in Kyoubashi for today's cake-off cakes. It's been a couple years since I had the Viron, but the Yoroizuka has been around a couple months. I figured I should match the newly available Fraise with something fruity and of the few great cakes available for the 1st round cake-offs, that was the best match, I thought. Actually, I guess I only ran as far as a Outemachi subway entrance, which was less than 7 km and I didn't time the route, and walked with cake from there, coming back by train.

After securing the cake and having a little chocolate, I went back out by bicycle and got a couple pictures that I had missed, some Aoba Park shots, Aoyama Ginza West, and a Buddhist building that turned out not to be very temple like and seems to be inactive, so I regret putting it on my map, but I'm not going to remake the map again just because of that. Then I went out to see about new cakes at Jiyuugaoka and Youga, but did not find anything. Just in case, I confirmed at Bien-ëtre coming back that they would still have their Mont-blanc on Friday, since I want to match it against Mont d'or for the next cake-off.

The cake was probably served too cold for the fresh strawberries, which I regret (next time, I'll pause my eating for long enough to do a proper check of such theories), but I have to judge by what I ate and the Fraise, while still good, did not seem exception in general, whereas the Cassis still had a good mix of tastes (the figs give it a pretty meaty taste, in some sense).

(Sat) Port Sincère: Tumako 70%

Did a half run again, going to a new shop, Port Sincère down in Minato-ku near Tamachi Station. On the way, I took a lot of pictures for the neighborhood map and stopped by Toshi Yoroizuka to confirmed that they still had their Cassis and Saint-Marc, during which there was a mix of running and walking, so I didn't both to time things, though my preliminary route was about 8 km with the minimum expected rerouting. Port Sincère seemed to be a nice little shop. I had other things to do today and again decided not to wear myself out. This time I used JR lines to get as far as Yotsuya (I would have gotten out earlier for grocery shopping, but the semi-express was the first train available). I found this as a new shop in Nov. and seemed to be the best prospect among unvisited new shops this year so far. My next new visits will probably be neighborhood shops or the Shinjuku/Shinjuku 3-choume Station area.

I got the chocolate cake Tumako 70%, which is layers of chocolate ganache. It's basic but was well executed and definitely good, so while I'm not in a hurry to get back (too many Tokyo shops), I expect to some day or wouldn't hesitate to get a second cake if they visited Isetan.

 

(Fri) Jean Francois: Croissant

Friday was a research run to Aoki Sadaharu, Viron (I skipped JPH because they told me before that there would be no new cakes until Dec 23), Toshi Yoroizuka, Fred Cassel and Dalloyau in Ginza Mitsukoshi, and Origines Cacao. I was running fast only to the first stop (5.2 km at 11 km/h) and only ran to the Ginza Station entrance (1.7 km at 10 km/h). From there, I walked, using the underground were possible. I've gained a new respect for the exercise value of walking and avoiding damage to my arms by running too much carrying things in my hands (in a backpack is okay). Couple great cakes back that I'll feature in the next couple cake-offs, I hope. At the last stop I got a Croissant from Jean Francois. As the picture shows, this is a petty crispy type, since there is no room to be fluffy inside. It was excellent. My plan for next year is to try to get a couple pastries a week from somewhere, on no-cake days.

Pierre Hermé: Mille-feuille Infiniment Vanille

Felt better today than earlier in the week, so I'm more optimistic. First, I went to Isetan Pierre Hermé and got the Mille-feuille Infiniment Vanille. For running, I did the latest version of my Central-East Sendagaya neighborhood course (okay, I'm lying: I deviated to a parallel road at one point, which added 25 meters, but it wasn't a place I needed practice on). I was slower than I expected, even with more pauses than usual for maneuvering cars and the amount of stairs and slopes: 8 km/h. I only ran about 7 km, but I feel I can raise and the speed tomorrow. I guess I'll try to hit the Marunouchi/Ginza area south of Tokyo Station, but Pierre Hermé doesn't change their line up until next Tuesday and JPH is also showing no changes on their home page, so it might be too early to do the rounds to find out what the new cakes are for December.

The Mille-feuille Infiniment Vanille was reliably delicious, especially after recent experience but they are dependable that way, which is why I rate them highly for a place for new cakes. I'll call this one Excellent, though that might be overly based on my preference for mille-feuille cakes.

Toshi Yoroizuka: MT Chocolat

I felt better today and tried running, though maybe not a great idea. We'll see if I'm still okay tomorrow. Didn't even bother timing myself (though regretted not remembering my watch for the blinking safety light). Sort of wander there, after passing through Gaien, which was lit up for a festival celebrating the trees.

At midtown, I got MT Chocolat, which I had avoided until now, though I hadn't remembered why. The answer is bananas, ack. I should have gotten the chestnut shortcake, even though I don't much appreciate shortcake-style Japanese cakes. Anyway, it was not bad but bananas are usually a bad idea, raw bananas more so, and I'm not sure I've ever had any good cake with banana and chocolate, which this one did not break. There was not that much banana in it, just a thin layer, but was enough to leave a banana after taste. The probably is not that I hate bananas, just I associate them with breakfast and yogurt, so they are spoiled (so to speak) for all other usages.

Schloss Bäckerei: Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte

I overdid it this weekend, I guess, walking not running, though there should have been more eating yesterday before the walking, I think. Also more sleep would be good. Anyway, today's cake was to prevent unhealthy running rather than reward running.

This was a third cake from Schloss Bäckerei, the Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. I generally avoid Black Forest cake but figured that this was the most cake-like thing they had, according to my definition, and were the appropriate place to get this type of cake. And I was correct about the latter, as this was excellent (though I might not be in the best state to judge). Rather than soft sponge, the biscuit was almost crisp, as I like in order to contrast with soft whipped cream. Also, the cherry was good, not being too tart. Not very chocolaty, but more chocolate would have submerged the other tastes and created a different cake that I probably would not have liked much.

So I'm satisfied that this is a Quite Good shop, down in Hiroo, that I've sufficiently sampled for now.

L'Abricotier: Sisile

Since I was free Sunday, I wanted to go somewhere I could not get elsewhere, even if it is a little out of order, so I went to L'Abricotier in Nakano-ku and got the Sisile (Sicile?), which I saw last time I was there and wanted to try. This time, I was tempted to get their Mont-Blanc, just because they make it for you special (from 11:00) and you're suppose to eat it without an hour, which makes it sound more like a café desert than take-out cake. Anyway, I got the Sisile, and I'm glad that I did. The green is pistachio, obviously from the name, and inside are both raspberry mousse and lychee mousse. I like this structure of cake and the tastes all went together. Not sure how it would stand up against great like such as I had yesterday, but I think it deserves the chance to try, so I'll say that it's great.

The afternoon was more pictures for the seventh neighborhood course, which I've already changed significantly: I'm going to have to relearn the last four courses. Lots of walking yesterday and today (some running today, just where convenient; the cake was actually by bicycle and I ate in), so some muscles are unexpectedly sore.

(Sa.) Cake-off: Éclat des Jours' Cheminée over Jean-Paul Hévin's Orly

Unfortunately, I was not fast enough with my cake-offs and JPH's Macaron Chocolat a l'Ancienne seems to have slipped away already. Instead, I switched to their Orly, although I on good authority that this one wasn't going anywhere this year, or at least until Dec. 23. I ran first to Ginza Mitsukoshi just to confirm the loss of the macaron cake. Since Orly is passion fruit and chocolate, I matched it up with Cheminée from Éclat des Jours, which is raspberry and chocolate. For various reasons (e.g., cake, health, and time), I used the train system coming back, except I walked from Otemachi to Ginza underground, which sort of wiped out a lot of those (I could have doubled back to Tokyo Station after getting the Orly, I just wanted to confirm the underground route to Ginza again.

Both cakes were still great a second time and I enjoyed them equally well, so I had to make a decision based on other factors. I'm giving the win to Chiminée on the grounds that pulled out a complicated combination or mousse, coating, and macaron, and also because JPH doesn't extra promotion, it's already the best shop.

I spent the afternoon taking pictures and the evening updating my map and making adjustments based on what I learned (running a course at night is one thing, but walking around in the day trying to find the sights that supposedly determine the course is another, and both are important).

(Fri.) Schloss Bäckerei: Chestnut Premium Chou

Since the first cake was judged excellent, I changed my plan and got cake again at Schloss Bäckerei at Isetan. I say "cake", but this was a cream puff with the top made up like a mont-blanc (they even warned me when I was buying it that it was a cream puff, not a normal mont-blanc, which I had not noticed but was okay with, due to the limited selection of cake; it is, I'm assuming, actually a bakery anyway).

For running, I tried my South Minami neighborhood running course for the first time, which I'm listed under Aoyama in my map (wish I knew why all the pictures I uploaded to the original Aoyama map are now gone). and found various problems (e.g., not crossing at a cross-walk for a two-lane road, which was true a few places) and later noticed that I left out a little park, so the maps has gotten more convoluted. It was a little under 10 km at a little under 9 km/h.

The cream puff was not even a authentic chou pastry, but the Japanese soft version, and yet, it was actually good. I've complained before about mixing custard and whipped cream, but if you add chestnut paste, which goes with whipped cream, it balances out. The soft shell holding it together was tasteless, but then it is not intended to have a taste and I'm not above enjoying Japanese-style "shuukuriimu". Since the second cake was at least good, I'll have one more on Monday and hold off on cake Tuesday.

L'Epicurien: Regalade

Today's a holiday, and I had expected to go to one of the remaining new places on my list/map but a review had me decide that I did not particularly want to visit any of them more than random unvisited shops that have nothing particularly to recommend them. Since I've already done a couple new shops this week, I was consider L'abricotier, but I thought that it would be a good time to try L'Epicurien again, which has been closed the last several times I went. Since it was going to rain all morning, this fit since they definitely are not expected to be open in the morning. I went by bicycle, and they were actually open, with lots of delicious looking backed goods and no other customers in their dark shop on a narrow street (in a very busy area, so maybe people would be by later). I got the Regalade, which is chocolate cake with a layer of pistachio cream. Generally, carry cake by bicycle destroyed it, but eating outside did not appeal to me and I did not go by a bicycle-friendly park soon enough to be tempted. I expected to have to put it back together at home, but it was fine.

It was definitely good cake, so I was quite satisfied. The pistachio did not really change a standard chocolate cake much, but it was well executed. It's not a priority for me to get back out there again (though the hand-written sign on the door said that they would be open 12 to 19 thru the 25th, so I could), but I'd take advantage of it if they visited Isetan again, if that was how I originally got a hold of their cake.

In the afternoon, only had about an hour of light to take pictures of parks, shrines, and temples in Sendagaya for my neighborhood course map, so I still have a few missed sites.

Schloss Bäckerei: Sachertorte

Took advantage of Schloss Bäckerei being at Isetan and got their Sachertorte (have to check and update, as they probably called this the Sachertorte Schloss Bäckerei), though it seems more like a truffletorte with nuts, since it has nuts and I couldn't taste apricot (again, I need to check the card and update this post). Still, it was a good solid German cake after a number of less impressive ones, so, as a first cake, I feel this was excellent and I'd like to have more before they go (not sure whether I could make their 7 pm closing time on a weekday). Still, the selection of fresh cakes is pretty limited.
The run was confirming my last change to the Jinguumae 3&r+ course (which I also shaved a corner off of). Not sure sure about the loop around Franzè & Evans, which could be shortened slightly, but I'm really to move on to the next neighborhood. I explored a little bit among the intervening neighborhoods and at least used the designated entrance for each but did not try to complete them in the light right. It was about 9 km at 9 km/h. Rather than other Ralph Lauren display window pictures, I'll note that these two buildings are next to each other on the north end of what at least becomes Cat Street to the south. This area is more street fashion than high fashion and the buildings are eclectic. I assume it developed to its present popular state by being old and relatively cheap.