Pierre Hermé: Tarte aux Fraises

Had time after a dentist appointment (apparently I'm drinking so much green tea that they thought I was a coffee drinker), so I went up to Aigre-Douce to see whether their caramel tart is still in their line-up (which is was) and whether another great cake had reappeared, which it had not. I wanted to know about the tart because I was expected it to use it in the cake-off after next, but actually I've just learned that JPH's Violet is going off the line-up in the middle of next month, so I'll want to get in at least a first round of that and then the following weekend, the visiting shop to Isetan has a cake, so I'll want to take advantage of that in a cake-off. But it had been a while since I had run up there, so it was good for a change.

For cake, actually I just went to Isetan, because I owe Pierre Hermé for their last cake-off win (I haven't forgotten Dalloyau, but have decided that I need to go to main shop, since I'm choosing what could be my only new cake from them this year, so I want the full selection). I got the Tarte aux Fraises. This similar to a pistachio tart I've had from them recently, though no pistachio, just strawberries and cream in a pastry tart shell. This is also a combination that often doesn't work well from be, but the balance actually made this an excellent cake.

Frédéric Cassel: Tarte Exotique

Monday and Tuesday were repetitive, in that I went to Ginza Mitsukoshi two days in a row on the off chance that I could get a super-limited cake. I failed both times, but wasn't really surprised. Still, I had good runs and relieved some stress. Monday I got a Pain au Chocolat from Johan. This was definitely good. It was a little more on the bread side than I'm really looking for, but I don't blame them for that, since they are more a typical bakery, not a pâtisserie.

Tuesday, I decided that it was time to take the next step in overcoming my prejudice against coconut by getting the Tarte Exotique from Frédéric Cassel, despite it even having visit shredded coconut (though it does not seem to be raw, thankfully). This has a cacao biscuit shell with a layer of coconut ganache and milk chocolate-coconut ganache, none of which seem like good ideas to me, though I appreciate a nice solid tart. Fortunately, they know what they are doing more than I know what would be good and everything worked well together to make an actually excellent cake, though that might being giving it credit for difficulty, as well as my bias toward this brand.

Arnaud Larher: Toulouse Lautrec

Another day working on exploring Tokyo to create a continuously connected running course In Tokyo expanding outward from the southeast Yotsuya neighborhood. Today I was exploring southeast of Shibuya, which requires going outside the Yamanote Line and coming hooking around north of Ebisu Stn. I was trying to get to Hiroo but only had time to research in detail just west of there (the tentative course I've made loops around Hiroo High School and Junior High School and past the Elementary School, but all of these are actually in a neighborhood simply called Higashi (East), which is at least east of the Shibuya neighborhood but I can see why it's too genetic to be useful as a school name. I haven't actually filled in neighborhood Ebisunish, which I have to go through to get there (I thought I had found a workaround, but facts on the ground proved me wrong), so nothing final.

I headed to Hiroo because Sweet Sonobe has been posting lots about cakes at Arnaud Larher, who has a shop there. The cakes are certainly photogenic, and they had some baked goods that I'm interested in, too. With some trepidation, I went with their main chocolate mousse cake, Toulouse Lautrec. This is a common cake form, but seemingly difficult, at least to satisfy me. Mousse is supposed to be kept cold, but I think I should have let this warm up more, because I was not getting a lot of taste out of this, though enough that it was good. If they get to Isetan, I'll give them a second chance, but otherwise, I'll keep looking for the next shop that's obviously worthy of repeated visits.

Cake-off: Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Vanille over Dalloyau's Fromage Cru

Let me first say that there was a good deal of running Friday night, when the desert was a Croissant from Le Pain Quotidien at Tokyo Midtown. As the shop name suggests, this is more of a bakery, with really only this croissant and a pricey apricot (?) tart to count as pastries. The croissant was good, but very bready, even as croissants go, so not really what I'm looking for. The run was exploring loops of my neighborhood course in Roppongi, where I encountered more missing roads (relative to my interpretation of Google Maps). On the plus side, now that I've decided that pedestrian underpasses are allowable, I found a way across a main street and have merged three Roppongi loops and some of the old links to make a shorter simpler map. The little part just north of the US Embassy remains it's own loop, which I still haven't practiced yet. This is all expanding one side of the Tokyo neighborhood map.

Woke up early and hungry Saturday morning, so I got up despite not having had enough sleep. This time, I went and explored Yoyogi, taking lots of pictures, which I've added to the map. This is the other (East) side of the neighborhood map, specifically the north or counterclockwise end that I'm trying to expand. There is lots more on the southeast end, so its too big a puzzle to figure out the optimal course covering everything all at once. I left off Yoyogi and headed down to Dalloyau for Fromage Cru, stopping at a shop along the way to catch that a cake for next week was still in the line-up, which it was. From Dalloyau, I came back by train and got Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Vanille.

Both of these are losers from the first round but good enough to stay in. Also, these are pretty early in the list, so my criterion has evolved. At this point, though still excellent, the Fromage Cru is just too basic a rare cheese cake to get me excited. I'm more into double forms, with a rare layer and a baked layer, and this particular cheese flavor is good by not so special that I need it again regular. Still, I don't want to bump it down from Great based on one review, so it should make at least one more appearance. Tarte Infiniment Vanille still remains an exemplary tart and example of a "cake" with vanilla as the prominent flavor, so it's easier for me to recognize this as a great, despite my strong chocolate bias.

Bien-être: Tarte Gorgonzola

Switched from Fred Cassel to Bien-être, remembering that I owed the latter a cake from a cake-off win, but now I've found out that F. Cassel has a one-week only special cake. Well, I don't have any other plan for their last day, so there's a slim chance I'll get it (probably slim any day I go just before closing), and I have at least one backup lined up for Ginza Mitsukoshi, besides getting a different cake at F. Cassel.

It's cold and rainy today, but not so heavy and the evening was mostly clear. I verified a kilometer marker for the future (though I want to expand the map in that direction, so I might have to redo a couple, but I have time before I'll need them), which I could, but I'm still having trouble remembering the actual route outbound from it (not that I care that much, as long as I'm parallel roads and don't overshoot the park at the far end). Kept the pace somewhat slow even outbound and tried to get my hips moving better, trying to figure out why I have more trouble with my right foot and ankle than the left.

Bien-être had a lot of reservation cards out, so I went with take-out. Also, I got the Tarte Gorgonzola, which was the most cake-like thing that they had left that was new to me (other choices in the cake case were choux cream, apple pie, and pudding in a little glass, which I would select in that order), which looked pretty robust to cakerunning. Foolishly, I was not expecting much, but this shop excels at simple, homemade-looking things. This has fig on the top, which adds an accent or harmonizes in a way that didn't noticeably take over (but made me wish that I that had prepared sharper knife). The cheese flavor was also not so strong to overpower things, but enough to make this a different taste than any other cheese cakes/tarts than I can recall. Definitely excellent.

Yoshinori Asami: Étoile

Again today, I went to Isetan for the visiting pâtisserie, which had changed to Yoshinori Asami. It's only a priority because it's convenient and a little cheaper there due to cards. Fortunately, this time I got there before they sold out, which they sometimes do on the first day, as they did yesterday on the last day of Blondir. I was disappointed that they did not return with their Van Dyke, since I've only ever found that when they were visiting Isetan and its my favorite of theirs, but I still had a reasonable selection of mostly things I haven't had before. I went with Étoile. Despite the name, this cake reminds me more of cakes from German or Eastern European cake shops. Rather than a few layers of almond-flour biscuit (or some of it might have been hazelnut; I didn't finish reading the card) and heavy ganache balanced by cream layers, this was alternating biscuits and ganache all the way down, with one fruity layer, though I'm not sure what. Very heavy, but still definitely good: I really appreciate having this type of cake occasionally, so I'm not at all disappointed, but it's drier than the cakes I like the most and maybe I don't really have enough experience to judge well whether a particular one is excellent or even great. That's a project I'll probably never get around to, focusing on specific types of cake.

The running was on the neighborhood course, where I verified kilometer markers 12 to 20, which took me to the other side of Omotesando Avenue, and came back home, so over 11 km. For the measured ones, I kept my target long-distance pace of 7 min/km pretty well, despite some slowdowns for congestion or automobile traffic, so I'm ready to try 20 km at that pace (which shouldn't be very hard, but takes time) but have other plans for at least through Saturday.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Violette

Did a lot of walking today, first to Isetan and then back from Ginza Mitsukoshi (rather than run with cake, and to focus on my right foot, which has been giving me some problems, though that's not new), though I also did a few kilometers of running in the middle.

At Isetan, my first two choices failed: Blondir (a maybe good shop I've had only one cake from who were visiting but sold out on their last day) and Jean-Paul Hévin, who were sold out of what I wanted. My alternate was Sadaharu Aoki, but I decided to go to Ginza instead, where I could have a second chance at JPH's cake and 4 alternative counters that I was interested in. As it happens, I was successful at JPH, getting the Violette (or maybe Violet, though the Japanese pronunciation, which is all I have online, looks like the Italian, which seems unlikely). This is a chocolate mousse flavored with cassis (redcurrant) and scented with sumire (violets) on top of a pretty rich and relatively solid chocolate base. It is great, so I'll have to keep track of how long it's going to stick around and get in a first-round cake-off.

Cake-off: Dalloyau's Croquant Fraise over Noix de Beurre's Fraise Chantilly

Saturday, I was busy, but did a fairly long run trying to verify kilometer marks from the 11th kilometer on my neighborhood map but soon ran into a mistake, so I've spent a long time with Google's automatic route plotter fixing through the 25th kilometer, though not at that time. Instead, I ran over to Shibuya Stn. area and visited all the main cake sources and confirmed that I really don't like running around that neighborhood or really have a great need to. It shouldn't have taken 2 hours, but I did a lot of back roads going the wrong direction (though never very far) and the ones on the west side were all crowded.

Not one to learn much from experience, I spent about 3 hours running to get one cake on Sunday. I wanted Croquant Fraise from Dalloyau for a cake-off and started by looking at Ginza Mitsukoshi, but they don't handle that one, they told me. Then I jogged across town to Shibuya Toukyuu (same as the previous night), where they claimed to be sold out of that cake, despite having a full (small) case of other cakes at around noon, so I'm more likely to believe that they never had any. From there, I went to Jiyugaoka, where the main shop is, with a café, mostly along a different route from usual, since I was going from farther west, but it was not any roads I haven't used going that way before and I had no trouble getting what I wanted. Since they open at 8:30 (though not the café until 11), I should of course have just gone straight there, just I was interested in checking out Ginza Mitsukoshi to see what was there on the weekend, and then it seemed worth a stop in at Shibuya as sort of being on my way to Jiyugaoka (but I wasn't going to swing by Meguro Stn.; if I had failed at Dalloyau, I would have given up and gotten cake elsewhere in Jiyugaoka.

The priority cake in this match up was actually Noix de Beurre's Fraise Chantilly, which had managed to win it's first-round cake-off, but this time I really couldn't recognize what was great about it. It's much like a shortcake, which I'm not that into, so I've been giving it the benefit of the doubt sort of, as the best in it's class, but I think that's gone along far enough. Still, I'll keep it in for the third round and if it doesn't manage to seem great then, I'll bump from consideration. Dalloyau's Croquant Fraise, in contrast, is definitely great. I really can't think of another cake where the main component is custard (vanilla) that I think is great, but this one is great on it's own merits. It's certainly the best of the Dalloyau cakes that I've managed to get in a cake-off (most of their great cakes have been seasonal ones that haven't reappeared in the last year).

While I'm catching up, Monday was a pastry day, so I got my first from The Ritz-Carlton Café and Deli, a Pain au Chocolat. I'll note that it was after  7 pm, so they gave me 25% off (in the end, they forget initially and I wasn't sure whether the discount included pastries, since the sign I saw said cake, but they self-corrected). It's on the small side, but a proper traditional pain au chocolat, and was excellent.

Cacahouète: Tarte Cacahouète and Baba au Rhum

Friday, by request, I went down to P. Cacahouète Paris. Someone wanted choux cubes, and I did not object. Actually, no pictures of those, which we ate in (it's a pretty cramped space and they had to move pastries to allow two people to sit, though there is also outside seating, which we were not interested in during February weather). Specifically we had the Chou Cube Vanille and Chou Cube Pistache, both of which was definitely good, if more like pudding than cake, but I liked the pistachio one more.

For cake, which we took home, we got the Tarte Cacahouète, which is a caramel cream (sorry, I've already forgotten what other flavor might have been in there, peanuts, I guess, but I'm wondering whether I'm forgetting a touch of fruit) which I liked most and was excellent, and a Baba au Rhum, which is not really my thing, but this was seemed excellent, so my impression is reinforced that this is a quite good patisserie.

Dominique Ansel Bakery: 25-Layer Tart Tatin

Tuesday, being the first day of the short workweek, I went for a pastry. I overdid it the previous day and had things to do around the house, so I just did a quick run to Christa and got a Pain aux Raisins. It was definitely good, but I sensed that this would have been better more fresh; not much I can do about that with a shop that's only open on weekdays.

Wednesday, I went to Ginza Mitsukoshi with the intention of visiting Frédéric Cassel and found out why, I think, they still have not updated their homepage to include this month's featured selection of cakes, which I already saw on the 1st: they were not selling them today because of focusing on chocolate sales. Well, I'm not that into this month's theme, there are two more weeks, and there's a new theme every month, so no worries. My back-up was Dominique Ansel Bakery. I haven't heard anything great about them but they also have a shop on my neighborhood running course and they are Mitsukoshi, so that's reason enough. I went with the 25-Layer Tart Tatin. It's heavy, started off lopsided and came in a huge bag, so I mostly walked (hard) on the way back. This was as good as layers of baked apple can expected to me. I wonder if the great one I think I had was warm? Anyway, it's good and probably healthier than mounds of cream, just not that exciting to me. Still, I'd like to get their eat-in place in Omotesandou some time.

The Ritz-Carlton Café and Deli: Mont-blanc

Overdid it today, to the extent that I got tired of being out doing running-related stuff, not so much that I ran too far. Even before breakfast, did a run for food supplies. After breakfast, the drugstore opened, so I ran there, and then finished off with a trip to the main grocery store for different food supplies. It was about 11:00 before I actually went out for the planned run. That was mostly confirming locations on the neighborhood map and taking photos, so I should have limited it since that gets boring after awhile. I'm working on Roppongi, which is not turning out to be my favorite place, though its okay and its not a deadend; I'm more interesting in expanding southwest in Shibuya.

I decided that I had enough around 13:00 and headed home by way of Tokyo Midtown, where I finally made a follow-up trip to The Ritz-Carlton Café and Deli. It's fairly big (and on a holiday, fully booked for inside seats, not that I wanted to eat in) but has a limited and fairly conservative variety. The Mont-Blanc seemed to be the top fresh cake (their chocolate cake is on a different shelf of the display and looks like it could make it through the day okay, but it's their premium item and they sell as both 1000 yen small cuts and whole cakes, as well as with special café sets which special high-end coffee or wine). The mont-blanc was definitely good, being standard and yet not too thick for my tastes.

They also have breads, also conservative Japanese (such as curry bread), with only one or maybe two (non-savory) pastries, so maybe I don't need to be in a hurry for trying that versus getting back to Christa for a second pastry.

Paris S'éveille: Éclair Pain d'Épieces

Did a run to pick up some photographs of places on the neighborhood running map and also explore how far I can get toward Jiyuugaoka running "continuously" (as I get toward Shibuya, the degree to which one can really run on pedestrian bridges decreases, because other people actually need to use them, but these still constitute potentially exercise equivalent to running, though I wonder whether I should go back on not including underpass tunnels). I walked from crossing Yamanote-doori, just because I had already run over an hour and so that I coudl focus on where I was. Ultimately I was stopped around Yuutenji, so still three stations out, though I cut south toward Meguro-doori part way, which I need to do eventually, and went back to running from there to Jiyuugaoka.

I wanted to use the weekend to get something that would be difficult to get during the week, as well as take photos, so I was back at Paris S'éveille earlier than I usually would (usually I won't return within the week unless something is leaving the lineup). I have an excellent shop that I could get a fifth cake from, but really I'm not that close to that being a priority, so tomorrow I'm planning just to go to Tokyo Midtown, which I could go to any time, so that I can look at neighborhood locations in Roppongi and take some pictures.

The cake today was Éclair Pain d'épieces, which is in shape of an éclair but uses spice bread as the crust,chocolate cream as the filling with pieces of fig and orange confit (a combination they like, but I've been waiting about year from the corresponding tart to come back to the lineup). It was excellent, though it's probably benefiting a bias toward this shop and toward usual cake types (the latter at least being defensible).

Cake-off: Bien-être's Chocolat Cuit over Jean-Paul Hévin's Victoria

First, let me mention that I ran to Christa Friday evening and got a Pain au Chocolat. I stopped and ate it nearby rather than make it travel a long time, so the photo is not very flattering due to the lighting, but it was great: lots of crispy layers with good chocolate, completely different from the previous pastry that I had claiming that name. Although this was my first pastry from them, I was expecting something pretty good, just because I had an excellent bread sample and they seen pretty serious about their breads while also making fancy cakes. There had a few other pastries there, so I should go back there so. The rest of the run was going to Roppongi Link and Loop. I had to move the connection to agree with the open crosswalk, but otherwise the route seems good. Other steps are to visit in the daytime for photographs and confirmation that things are where they are supposed to be and actually running over the course in a full continuous neighborhood run. It's not the most attractive place, so I might slip in on larger runs (or need to anyway, to get the far without cheating), but I shouldn't judge to quickly. On the way back I stopped at Tokyo Mid-town and remembered all the things I wanted from there. Probably I'll go at least once next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Today, I walked first to Jean-Paul Hévin around 11:30 and got get to the cake counter within a few minutes to purchase the Victoria, which is available through Valentine's Day. Except for the top biscuit, it seems to be the same cake as their two-person special seasonal cake. The website has been updated to reflect this and says that it will be replaced by Violet, which, reviewing old posts, I've never reviewed, so I have that to look forward to.

Next I went to Bien-être's by the long way to stop and take a few pictures of Tougou Shrine. Didn't realize that I hadn't done the Seichou no Ie complex to the northwest, or I would have picked that up to. Takeshita Street to Harajuku Stn. was packed, so no running around here. I've reverted my course over there to a single loop, but it's not practical on weekends except really early in the morning. I went to Bien-être for their baked (flour-less?) chocolate cake, Chocolat Cuit. It's simple but works, which is pretty much the shop's overall strength. On the way back, I confirmed that I could connect them up to my neighborhood map, via big detour north to get the crosswalk over the continuation north of Inokashira-dori avenue (which takes a east/left at the Yoyogi Public Park Police Box intersection). I also confirmed that you can cross through the north end of Meiji Shrine, when it's open (daylight), though you're not supposed to run, of course, as it's not a public park.

Did the cake-off, another chocolate match-up that finishes off the first round for Jan. 2018 great cakes. Actually, though it was excellent, wasn't remembering what I thought was great about Victoria this time around, which isn't too surprising given the number of similar cakes that I've liked from JPH. Still, the Chocolat Cuit was great, so I don't have any problem giving them the win. Maybe I'll test it against Viron's similar cake in the second round.

Bien-être: Doux Fromage

Did a run out to Bien-être and back, by different routes, neither the shortest way. I actually ran a little longer then yesterday in terms of time but maybe not in terms of distance, since I felt more tired today. Still, it was a good run, even if parts of it were a little boring, running along the tracks along Meiji Shrine and then needing to run past Yoyogi Park, which is huge. I was right about just one more mesh short-sleeve shirt being enough for the current level of coldness. The difference was more dramatic than I expected, although maybe it was a little colder yesterday.

I could eat in this time at Bien-être. Actually, Bien-être was not a top priority in the overall plan, just it was reasonably within order (I can go to Ginza Mitsukoshi any time) and I wanted to confirm that their baked chocolate cake was still available from a week-end cake-off, which they told me it would be.

For today, I got the Doux Fromages (I think; someone was blocking the counter so I couldn't confirm on the way out), which is a two layer cheesecake (baked and rare). I'm thinking that there is probably a little fruit confit or something at the bottom on the crust, but I wasn't quite sure or what it might be, since it did not conflict with the sweetness and a little sourness of the cheesecake, maybe lemon or yuzu, though I have pineapple on my mind. As I said, it was fairly sweet as Japanese cheesecake goes and allowed a little sourness, which often Japanese cheesecake does not, so it was ideal for me, definitely excellent. It was also a little heavy, which is what I like, though it made for a slow start running back, which was fine with me. Actually, with this excellent cake, Bien-être is back in the running to replace Toshi Yoroizuka at the superb shop level. Next week is crowded, though so I probably won't be back for new cake (still haven't had their raspberry) for two weeks.

Juchheim Die Meister: "Butterfly fluttering in Spring"

Went to Isetan looking of cake from Sadaharu Aoki without expect to finding it, since their selection was small last time I looked, but actually it was down to zero today, as they are too busy selling chocolate to waste space on low-revenue items. I asked whether any other places have fresh cake and they claimed all the other stores do, which seems a little weird: why is only Isetan chocolate central now? My back-up was Juchheim Die Meister, also at Isetan. This is the only cake place there that I've never tried, though I've had some sort of Juchheim cake before that I  had a bad experience with.

For running, I had prepared some kilometer markers on my neighborhood map, wanting to try paced running. Today was just to learn the first 10 km and come back. Actually, I prepared 15 km but wimped out again. Also, I decided after making it to exclude the Sendagaya-Shinjuku link of Southwest Shinjuku loop, as these are clearly doomed by the impending (though long threatened) bypass between Shinjuku High School and Shinjuku Gyoen (Park).

Although it doesn't get me cake, I love running in Yotsuya. Lot fewer taxis than other neighborhoods I've made routes for, though also a lot of slopes and steps, even without the pedestrian bridges. I had to stop and double-check one kilometer marker and I was slightly off (a few houses) on at least one, but I could make 10 km pretty well. I think my goal for any distance should be to maintain 7 min/km, which get's me 8 km/h with 4 mins to spare for lost time, though that's not that much. Times were all time were under and a few were close to 6 min/km, so I'll try to run slower for a longer run (for the marked 10 km, I took 1 h 3.5 min). I swapped the heavy sweatsuit jacket for a thin running shirt today and was pretty cold for the first couple kilometers, which is about right to avoid being too hot latter at 5 degC. Still, it was little chilly, so I'll try another thin layer next time.

The cake was basically good, though too much decoration, so there seemed to be a sort of decoration chocolate (though it was not all chocolate) aftertaste. Could be my imagination, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and call it good, which is still better than I feared but not going to take me back soon. It's chocolate mousse with pistachio mousse and a little raspberry sauce inside. It only has a Japanese name, Haru ni mau chou, which I would translate as "Butterfly Fluttering in Spring".

Paris S'éveille: Un Dimanche à Paris

Did a run down to Paris S'éveille on this cold evening. My actual time (versus trying to measure just running time) was under 70 min, which was enough to get there before they closed, although they had only one the 3 fresh cakes that I'm aware of them having, and not my first choice. I got the Un Dimanche à Paris, which I avoided until now because it has chocolate, I think (reading the handwritten script on knee-level cards through glass is not something I want to do or really remember after a long run).

I had originally though I would run back, on the principle that I need to burn off some of those weekend calories, but though it would be stupid to weaken myself too much running long at night (the flu is bad this year year) and also that I'm worried about the affect on my arms of running long distances carrying cake, so I used the train to come back.

As it happens the cake was quite good. It's more caramel than chocolate and goes well with the pineapple and the coconut gave me no trouble (there was not really much that might have been coconut flakes, and that was in backed meringue, so not the same as raw coconut, which I don't want). This represented a different cake than my usual favorites, so I'm willing to say that it's great.

I also ran Monday to cover my mistakes in Akasaka from my last long run, which was only half as a long a run, but hillier. Jumping back, my run today, rather than my recent custom of going down the Jinguumae shopping street to cross through Omotesando, it occurred to me that my old route making a direct run south to Aoyama-dori was much more level and probably faster for that reason. I still shouldn't have crossed to the south side of the street until after Omotesando-dori, but I'll have to remember that for next time. For desert, I had gotten a Pain au Chocolat from Cacahouète at Isetan, and it was good, but it's hard to get very fresh pastries after work, even more than cake maybe, so I'm not sure whether I'll continue with the current habit. I might keep the pasties (two a week) and the running for them, but defer getting them until the weekend, when they are fresh.

Café Comme Ça: Valentine Strawberry Chocolate(?)

Went to Café Comme Ça next to Shinjuku Stn. in the Comme Ça Building. This places does pie-type tarts, so not my thing. I choose what I'm remember as Valentine Strawberry Chocolate, though I won't swear to the name. It was okay, but it has a very hard chocolate well-baked brownie-type base (in a tart crust), which is pretty tasteless and a pain to cut. But it's okay with lots of whipped cream and strawberries, though strawberries are not that sweet a fruit and my views of fruit as poor substitutes for cake have already been aired. I also had a bite of a kind o caramel pear tart that was much better and seemed at least good, but I didn't have enough of it to rate it, so I'll keep that in mind next time I need to choose something in this type of place.

Cake-off: Jean-Paul Hévin's Guayaquil over Au Bon Vieux Temps' Tentation Chocolat

Friday, I did the pasty thing. Still cold a little rainy, but it stopped by the time I got to Sora. I made all the lights but the last (where I took the pedestrian overpass) and managed +10 km/h for a little under 3 km. I tried the Pain au Chocolat and it was okay as a snack but not impressive as a pastry, for which the few layers were either too thick or under-baked, I thought. Of course, it would have been better warm, but I'm criticizing the basic structure.

I went on to practice in order to reinforce the correct path (so I don't have to stop and confirm it next time) on the Minami-Aoyama--Nishi-Azabu Loop and then that the café/boulangerie across from Gaien is still closed, so I don't have to alter my Minami-Aoyama north loop to include it.

Saturday morning was the run for the cake-off. I had a cancellation of my 10 am appointment and could go to Au Bon Vieux Temps early and get the Tentation Chocolat before it sold out this time. I note that the all-male staff (I think) aren't as friendly as some places, though that could just be to me (though it could be more about being sleepy part-times). I've had experience with too friendly. Anyway, after confirm the no changes in line-ups and two relatively close stores, I took the train back to Shinjuku and, after waiting in line for a while at Jean-Paul Hévin (they are really busy with chocolate sales, for Valentine's Day, though they've closed the chocolate bar and use that for the shorter line for cake, as well as higher-end chocolate sets), I got the Guayaquil.

Eating these, I was thinking that I must be comparing two first-round cake-off winners, because these were so obviously great, but actually this was a runner's up second round. I can't fault either. The Tentation Chocolat is almost entirely an extremely dense chocolate cream (or maybe it's a creamy ganache). The Guayaquil is a straight chocolate sponge (I suppose) layer cake, with just a little ganache and chocolate on top. In the end, I feel that the Guayaquil wins for making a traditional chocolate cake so good.

Frédéric Cassel: Mille-Feuille Finger Exotique

First of the month, so I did a run to Ginza to check for line-up changes and get something from Frédéric Cassel. This month's theme is exotique, which is not very helpful, even if I had known (they aren't quick to update their web site, even after the new theme starts). (Next month's is crême brulé, which is a little more informative). Nothing that I was looking elsewhere where I looked. It was raining so actually I just ran as far as Hibiya Station and then was in the tunnels until I exited from the New Tokyo Building (I think). I decided to walk and use an umbrella, though it still would have been better to have warmer gloves.

The cake was Mille-Feuille Finger Exotique, which is a passion fruit version of a standard type, with layers of white chocolate, passion fruit cream, fashion fruit ganache, and a little actual mill-feuille on the bottom. It was excellent.