Lenôtre, Tartelette Marron

Sunday, I considered going to a new place, but Route 99 is my top priority, and they are closed Sunday's, so I went with a "new" place in the sense that I haven't reached my target number of cakes since their introduction or promotion: three shops like that, but also three shops that I'm stalled for lack of new cakes and one that I'm waiting for them to reopen after renovations (so I'm probably covered for the next couple weeks). After my morning appointment, I bicycled to Ginza Mitsukoshi and got cake from Lenôtre, which topped the list. I went with Tartelette Marron, which is seasonal. It was late enough when I got home that I went ahead and had lunch and my cake before further exercise. This is my seventh cake. The best one's so far have all be chocolate, but they don't seem to introduce new ones of those, which is discouraging. This was good and definitely high quality, but not really enough to justify the high prices. It looks like this new shop is officially no longer new and has settle in as an exceptional shop. It should still have have at least one more cake-off round this year, so it might get another chance sooner than some in its category.

I decided that I needed to get more done today than yesterday, and I was running later, so I didn't review the 22 km route, but just went by bicycle down to try the updated Daikanyama-chou--Ebisunishi--Hachiyama-chou--Nanpeidai-chou--Sakuragaoka-chou--Sarugaku-chou--Shibuya--Uguisudani-chou loop, this time during daylight, so I could get some photos of the new places I added. I also found a second-floor macaron shop on the route, as well as moved on the fly the route around Daikanyama Station, because the Daikanyama Station was on the otherside of the road. I twas tricky to do and maintain other nearby parts and I had to use stairs up to the station, justifying that they also stairs up to the crosswalk across the street. I explored the shopping center and found a Picards that has a cafe space and sells croissants for 100 yen (they must sell something else to eat in, since there were several people in the eat-in space, but it was not clear to me what). Also, I found Chez Lui inside, which is redundant, since they are also across to street on the other side, but counts a site. This time, I managed to get everything right, so maybe tomorrow I'll do clockwise. However, I also explored near my Shibuya central loop. I knew about the Starbucks and couldn't find the shrine that Google was suggesting, but when I went back to make a new loop just for Starbucks, I realized the old Shibuya central loop didn't make any sense to begin with (I'm not sure that's even what I practiced before), but I'm able to make a new one using two bridges that covers the Starbucks and the nearby church. Actually, it shaved off 10 m from passing through that area too, so it's all good, except now that's actually the new top priority, so maybe I'll also that tomorrow. Tuesday, I hope to tackle practicing the big loop again.

Cake-off: Sadaharu Aoki's Marron Fruits Rouges over Jean-Paul Hévin's Saint Honoré

Friday, which as planned as a no-cake day, despite some business after work, I managed to get down and tackle the 4 little loops I wanted ending in Ebisu-Nishi. First though, I use a coupon I had for a 5% discount on a pastry from Patisserie Les Annees Folles nearby (on the other side of Ebisu Park). I hadn't had a pastry from there before because I had thought they don't have them (you have to look opposite the cake display, or just from the outside, through the window next to the door). I got a Pain au Chocolat, which I rated excellent based on proper construction and reasonable tasting chocolate, but see the later comment about pastries. I was successful at finishing of three more loops, but missed the lowest priority one. Unfortunately, by taking a different route, I went by the Salvation Army Hall, and realized that it deserved to be an official site (after see online pictures verifying it's basically a church), which means I have to shift the route to go by the front route.  This put the Daikanyama-chou--Ebisunishi--Hachiyama-chou--Nanpeidai-chou--Sakuragaoka-chou--Sarugaku-chou--Shibuya--Uguisudani-chou loop back at the top of the list of priorities, thought that turned out to be the least of reasons that it should have been.

Saturday, I was the last cake-off of the season for Jean-Paul Hévin's Saint Honoré, which gets replaced in October. Being one and one, it was set to match up against another seasonal cake that I've been looking forward to revisiting, Sadaharu Aoki's Marron Fruits Rouges. After a morning appointment, I headed to Isetan and got both. Before eating, though, I went out by bicycle to review again the Daita--Daizawa--Hatagaya--Kamiyama-chou--Kitazawa--Motoyoyogi-chou--Nishihara--Ooyama-chou--Shouto--Tomigaya--Uehara loop, which I need to get to eventually, This was my first time that I actually finished within the three hours allotted. I did split off southwest tip due to finding a fairly large overlooked road/track-side shrine. I also found a shop that changed it's name, a chocolate shop that opened a cake branch and another little shrine, plus verified a cake shop and coffee shop with baked goods that I had spotted online. I also ruled out a few things. I'm left with a 22 km loop that I know maybe half pretty good.

Back to the cake-off, JPH's cake was good, but I wasn't really feeling the greatness, so it goes on notice. The win goes to Sadaharu Aoki's, whose chestnut past cake is a much better construction to deliver the flavors than a typical mont-blanc (radial symmetry is not that efficient for balanced eating in complicated cakes), though wouldn't work with a lot of meringue and whipped cream, if that's what you're after.

Saturday night, I tried to do the above mentioned Daikanyama-chou--Ebisunishi--Hachiyama-chou--Nanpeidai-chou--Sakuragaoka-chou--Sarugaku-chou--Shibuya--Uguisudani-chou loop, as well as a little exploring of the Ebisu Stn. area, since I'm extending the course through the subway access tunnels in that direction. Unfortunately, I noticed two points where my course violated the rules: was on the wrong side of the road in front of a weird shrine didn't go past the front of a church. I used possible solutions made up on the fly without consulting the map, but neither turned out to be optimal, so this run doesn't count, though it wouldn't have mattered, because reviewing the Ebisu area, I font a chocolatier who had moved north to this loop just over the weekend, which I couldn't ignore. On the way, I stopped and got another pastry from Les Années Folles (for double the discount for being the second one before Sept. 30), this time Croissant aux Amandes. It was good, but nothing exciting and dry. Which brings me to my remark about pastries: I should give up sampling them at night and throw out all my old evaluations, because they just can't want that long. I want something to get on non-cake days at night, it's going to need to be something hardier than pastries (and cake), like macaron, which aren't necessarily best freshly made.

Pierre Gagnaire: Finger Ruby Fig Framboise

I'm behind visiting exceptional cake shops as I was dealing with challengers from below (some of whom are now part of the problem with the exceptional group). This time, I went to Pierre Gagnaire, another hotel shop like yesterday's, but the best I've found. Since I've never had ruby chocolate before, I resisted the yuzu chocolate mousse and got the Finger Ruby Fig Framboise. Of course, I still don't know what ruby chocolate tastes like, just this cake, so setting aside whether ruby chocolate is essentially a chemically created hoax, fig and raspberries is not a combination I've had a lot of, so whatever ruby chocolate brings (not cacao taste, apparently), it goes with it and harmonizes this well. Or at least, the fig taste was really strong at first, and then the raspberry came to the forefront, and then it just what what it was. I also had a solidness that I liked, and stood up well to being cut into small pieces with a plastic utensil, as I braved the strong wind and ate it outside at the tables around the adjacent building to the hotel. I'm calling this cake great. Not sure when fig season ends, so this may not see it's way to a cake-off, as that isn't likely to happen any earlier than mid-October.

I ran to Pierre Gagnaire, by way of Tokyo Midtown rather than the shortest way, and after cake went and did some neighborhood run loops nearby, 3 really small loops. I also tried the new Hirakawa-chou--Kioi-chou loop, but didn't know where to turn to get to the road circling the temple to bypass the intersection next to the Prime Minister's residence. Now I should be able to remember to look for the wide stairs between the two hotels.

The Ritz-Carlton Café and Deli, Caramelia Pineapple Hazelnut

Ran down to the renovated The Ritz-Carlton Café and Deli for a third cake, working in some 1-min dashing spurts. They don't seem to have pastries and bread any more and very modern looking (and dark). It looks nice. As my third cake, I went with the Caramelia Pineapple Hazelnut, whose name speaks for itself. I walked it back. It was definitely a good cake, but that's not enough to keep me trying there, so this shop gets shifted to the fine shop category. Only one more 2-cake shop in the quite fine group, which I've at least gotten down below 48, even if no where near the target 32 shops.

Cake-off: Sadaharu Aoki's Éclair Caramel Salé over Lenôtre Concerto

Monday, I didn't get out quite so early, maybe 8 am, but ran down to finish off the Roppongi 5&6 loop and then went on to explore areas southeast of there for future neighborhood run loops, though admittedly I switched to walking as it got hotter, and because it's not fun to start and stop running between sites and checking the map. I ended at Mitsukoshi Ginza to get Concerto from Lenôtre for a second-round cake-off for the losers' bracket. From there, I took the train, since it was a straight shot, and got Sadaharu Aoki's Éclair Caramel Salé at Shibuya, which is the only location currently, though I can imagine that they might make it an exclusive somewhere else in the future after it finishes its current run next week. We'll see. With two cakes, I came back by train, which required a transfer, but on the same system.

This time, I'm going with the seasonal cake, Sadaharu Aoki's Éclair Caramel Salé. I appreciated the simplicity of salt caramel filling with a minimum of pastry. I still like the varied textures of Concerto, but next time I'm going to try chilling the silverware, as well as the plate, as I want this to be less melty.

I went out in the afternoon by bicycle to work on the big neighborhood run loop, Daita--Daizawa--Hatagaya--Kamiyama-chou--Kitazawa--Motoyoyogi-chou--Nishihara--Ooyama-chou--Shouto--Tomigaya--Uehara loop and was doing pretty good most of the beginning. At Shimo-Kitazawa Station area, I was not sure where to turn after passing under the tracks, so I tried the first street and ran into three pastry shops in a block that I hadn't known about, so they've been added with a minor adjustment to the map. However, I had overlooked a Jizou nearby that is going to require I chop off the southwest corner as a separate loop, so this loop will continue to get smaller.

Tuesday, no cake. I counted up recent activity and it worked out. I'll have two more cakes during the short work week. Just, I went by bicycle to Hikarie, parked, and ran south to work on Ebisu-Nishi loops, and a few other small ones along the way, all five successful. I'll do more before I get back to the big loop. I came back and did my full indoor workout, though the running turned out to take more than 1.5 h, so I'll need to get more done on other things tomorrow.

Au Bon Vieux Temps, Pourriture and Michalak, Tarte Chocolat Pecan

Saturday, I woke early and was out running by about 6 am. I was planning to take rest from cake, so I started by working on the neighborhood course and was able to do the revised Moto-Azabu--Azabu-Juuban loop clockwise, getting a lot of missing photos of sites on that loop along the way, though I missed one. Of course, most of the shops were closed, which is not ideal, but since otherwise it's dark, I'm okay with that. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I noticed a shrine along the way that should have been on the Roppongi 6 loop, so I modified it (making it the Roppongi 5&6 loop), so it was one step forward and two steps back. After that, I reviewed the course on the west side of Hiroo, ruling out some coffee shops as unworthy and figuring out where I need to double-back to get near something sites. I added a bunch of photos there two. I was waiting for Hikarie to open at 10 am, so I also went over and tried to run the Ebisu-Nishi east and west loops, but only managed the easy east one (so at least I'm even for the day: two directs completed but two directions on one loop that need redoing). I had wanted to get a pastry I saw at Hikarie a couple weeks back, but it was already gone, so I went completely without fancy sweets. I more than made up for it the next day.

Sunday, I was busy in the middle of the day, so I decided to get cake for two in the morning. I went to Au Bon Vieux Temps because I owe them for a cake-off win and got a new cake, Pourriture. Then I took the train back and got the new tart from Michalak, who I want more new cakes than the line-up has quickly supplied. This time Tarte Chocolat Pican, perhaps (they don't keep an updated Internet presence for me to check about new cakes). I also got a Picnic Maron from Sadaharu Aoki, which I consider a pastry and I half-intended to get Saturday but decided that there was not hurry.

Au Bon Vieux Temps is maybe not the best choice for a cake to share, but their cakes are so small: half of one is two small bites. I'm going to say that Pourriture was great and see if a cake-off proves me wrong. It's a blue cheese and honey mousse over roasted fig on a semi-dry fig tart, or that's how I'm parsing the Japanese card.

The chocolate pecan tart was the best Michalak tart I've had. We both agreed that it was excellent. I've turned the stop on top where I damaged it after getting it safely in the refrigerator to the back, and that might be a fingerprint on the front.

The pastry, which has custard inside, as well as the chestnut cream, was also excellent. It's only around for a short time, exclusively at Shinjuku Isetan.

In the evening, I finished off the Moto-Azabu--Azabu-Juuban loop, again, and got the Roppongi 5&6 loop. I wet as far as Tokyo Midtown by bicycle, so it was only about 45 minutes of running.

Cake-off: Michalak' Mont-blanc versus Jean-Paul Hévin's Saint-Honoré

Had the morning off on Friday, so I got cakes for a cake-off. Timing was not so great, as I was somewhat rushed and full already, but there's always something. I wanted a cake-off for Jean-Paul Hévin's Saint-Honoré, which is available only the second half of September. As the other cake for a second-round cake-off between winners, I choose the recent Michalak' Mont-Blanc. Both of these are available at Isetan and both a pretty decadent. I'm probably biased by too much chocolate and caramel lately, but I choose Michalak' Mont-Blanc as the winner, but I could go the other way on another day. Fortunately, not rocket science, so future rounds level things out (though only one cake can the the last to remain undefeated). I should confess that I very carefully removed the saint-honoré from its box and then dropped it on its side (facing away).

I did do some running at night. I finally got Moto-Azabu--Azabu-Juuban loop counterclockwise correct, completing it. Characteristically, I immediately decided that I was not satisfied with the route and revised it so I would go by a temple on the same side of the road (rather than having it across a two-lane road), so that loop remained the top priority.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Cusco

Catching up, Thursday, I broke my original plan to get a new limited-time cake celebrating the reopening of the Jean-Paul Hévin chocolate bar/salon at Isetan (besides the giant cake), Cusco. Then I did some running on neighborhood loops. I failed one immediately, but could do the revised Nishi-Azabu--Minami-Azabu loop (east Hiroo Stn. area).

Cusco is fancy chocolate in a simple JPH-style cake. The chocolate was good, but I'm not much up on the subtle differences between varieties of chocolate, so the simplicity made this not that special, though a new cake from JPH is always fun.

Fiorentina Pastry Boutique, Strawberry Shortcake

Ran down to Fiorentina Pastry Boutique, at Roppongi Hills, who I was two cakes behind on, having promoted them from quite fine to exceptional recently. The corresponding hotel patisserie at Tokyo Midtown, who I need a third cake from won't reopen until Friday. I had shortcake on my mind, since they had three types last time and the peach was excellent, so I got the Strawberry Shortcake, though there were a couple other options. I tried to do a nearby loop with the cake, but between the dark and the rain, I missed the third term, which shouldn't have been a challenge, so I quit and came back. It was raining pretty good, so I used an umbrella and walked with my cake, stopping for groceries near home. The Strawberry Shortcake was good. As shortcakes go, the strawberries were fine. I would characterizing this one by noting that there seemed to be a lot more strawberries than cream between layers, though not a huge amount of either.

Frédéric Cassel, Inspiration Mirabelle Pécan

Had that exhausted feeling in the morning, and though it dissipated by the afternoon, I hadn't done my indoor workout for more than a week, so in the evening, I chose the bicycle to go to Ginza and get cake from Frédéric Cassel, Inspiration Mirabelle Pécan. This is a seasonal cake, probably just for one month, and the last inspiration was great and this one sounded promising, so I had been looking forward to it all month. After returning home, doing the full indoor workout (30+ minutes of different high-intensity exercises for abs, back, up through the arms and shoulders), and eating dinner, I had the tart.

It was very pie-like in texture. Mirabelle is a kind of small plum, which this apparently has both compote and roasted bits of (I assume that's what "roti" means) on a lime cream tart with a biscuit which uses rice flour, plus pecans, of coarse. Not a strong taste, but rich in a certain way. I would say that it was excellent.

Cake-off: Jean-Paul Hévin's Saint Honoré over Sadaharu Aoki's Éclair Caramel Salé

Got an early start (from having slept most of Sunday) on the Monday holiday, leaving at about 6 in the morning to try loops in the Azabu area. I was successful in 3 out of 4 cases, leaving a split: I did the very recently revised Nishi-Azabu--Minami-Azabu loop clockwise, and then finished off the Minami-Azabu west loop. Of course, the Azabu-Juuban loops was trivial to complete, the the tricky Moto-Azabu--Azabu-Juuban loop defeated me two places, both which I can put down to fatigue, since it was in execution rather than knowledge that I failed, though the latter was not perfect overall either, just it was not necessarily what tripped me up.

I had time before shops opened, so I went back over to the big loop circling Shimo-Kitazawa that I haven't updated the name for. I spent not much more than an hour, so I only traced about half what I did last time with only slightly better knowledge. I did find one place where a seemingly unneeded detour could be removed. I feel that I've forgotten another place that needs correctly, but perhaps I was just thinking of a Starbucks that I need to add (I should also find out of the next nearest one closed) on a loop I passed coming back.

For cake, I was not planning to do a cake-off, but just get two cakes from top shops that will only be round for a couple weeks. First I went to Hikarie close to opening time and got the Éclair Caramel Salé. For the second, I went to the Jean-Paul Hévin Marunouchi shop, since they open later than Isetan, so I figured I would have a better chance of getting the new cake starting today, and I was right. The danger there was the small supply, but rain probably was keeping people away and I had Ginza Mitsukoshi as a back-up, which also probably has a smaller demand than Isetan.

I ate Sadaharu Aoki's Éclair Caramel Salé first and decided it was great, both in terms of the caramel filling and the pastry. Of course, Jean-Paul Hévin's Saint Honoré is very similar in both, but I decide that it had more complexity, which was working for it, so I selected it as the winner, since they both seemed to be great. These two are probably going to dominate cake-offs for a while, which I may have to do extra ones for. I'm consider my cake budget for this month.

Ladurée, Religieuse Fraise

Saturday, I planned to run, but ending up with a headache, so no running that or the next day (or cake the next day). I wanted a new cake from Ladurée, which got promoted to the exceptional shops when I redid the rating metric a while back, but was dominated by some cake shops ranked below, so I needed to deal with those first. I choose Religieuse Fraise, which was chancy on both fronts (not that I'm against religieuse in general, but I haven't ranked this shops choux pastry based cakes that highly, which was most of their new cakes). It was very strawberry, as cream as well as pieces of fruit. Compared to other strawberry cakes, I though this very good, so I'm going to rate it as excellent, giving it somewhat the benefit of the doubt. I'm still one down on this shop, but I have at least a couple other places in similar positions that I want to hit first before coming back to this.

Jean-Paul Hévin, Duja Pistache

Monday (I'm behind and have been busy), I got the new regular line-up cake from Jean-Paul Hévin, Duja Pistache. The old Duja I had initially rated as good and then excellent on a second try. Follows the same basic plan but the chocolate is pistachio flavored, giving it a fruitiness, and the top as changed. This is better than the old glazed top, but mostly I think I've come around to this simpler chocolate cake. This version, I'm rating as great. I don't have anything to do an immediate cake-off with (unless I get really lucky on the next cake), but I expect it to stick around for multiple months, so I can focus on the classics that are changing every 2 weeks these next two months.

Running was back to Azabu-Juuban neighborhood course loops. This time, I did both of my target loops clockwise: the Moto-Azabu--Azabu-Juuban loop and Minami-Azabu west loop. Actually, I realized that I needed to split a one-block Azabu-Juuban loop off from the former to keep to my rules, but I also ran that one, counterclockwise. I also verified that I need to redo the Nishi-Azabu--Minami-Azabu loop, which I didn't include in this run, as I had other things to do Monday night and ended up being quite late anyway. I'll be able to do at least one direction next time I do the other three loops next weekend, I think.

Frédéric Cassel, Mille-feuille Chocolat Poire

Sunday, I kept my plan to get a new cake from Frédéric Cassel (I didn't want to go out to ABVT again and I did two new shops last week), which I'm three new cakes behind due to cake-off wins. The advantage of going Sunday was I could get Mille-feuille Chocolat Poire. The regular mille-feuille is their most promoted cake, so I figure I should their mille-feuille a chance once in a while. In a week, I'll get to the next Inspiration cake.

Since the typhoon is coming, I want to do my running early, but really it was too hot. Sunday, I definitely finished of the Azabu-Dai--Azabu-Mamiana-chou--Higashi-Azabu loop, which is the fourth and last making up the Roppongi clump of loops. That was run, but the two other loops I've been working on I walked most, after a heavy rain to raise the humidity, the sun came out in 30+ heat. I photographed a lot of Japanese sweet/snack shops around Azabu-Juuban and went home and found more shops that I missed, so the fact that I messed up the loop at a new twist is not so important. Also, I realized why the Grace Church wasn't originally o the route: it is/was a wedding chappel, not an active church, but it seems to be inactive even for that now. Still, it's not worth changing that part of the loop. Failed the bottom loop for the same reasons as last time, so I axed the stupid green space and it's suicide access path and determined that the hotel cafe was out of bounds (literally, unless you're associated with the US Navy, apparently), so I'm back to just bypassing that whole corner to get around the stoplight. Walking was too slow, and I had to pay for parking; I should have gone back after the first loop and moved my bike but I wasn't thinking that far ahead.

The mille-feuille was fine. Chocolate and pear weren't so different from the caramel and apple version, the last one I had. It was excellent, no complaints about quality. Maybe the next favor will excite me more. I don't know how often they change these, but probably 6 months, though it could be 3; I'm not usually paying attention, as they have something new every month so even as my number 2 after JPH, I don't usually have to have every new cake, until Sadaharu Aoki, which I might never get caught up with. Hopefully they'll have another new cake next month, but it will be a special limited cake, so I have to watch closely.

Forgot to mention that I forgot to pack Calorie Mates, so I bought a pastry from Dumbo Doughnuts and Coffee. I got Meringue Lemon, which I hoped was lemon cream filled, but no. It's a big yeast doughnut and it's ok, but I should have waited another block for an actual bakery. Or, I found a Niko later, which, I hope, has better donuts.

Cake-off: Au Bon Vieux Temps' Marjolaine over Dalloyau's Croquant Fraise

It was a busy day. First, I ran to Jiyuuoka and got my favorite (still available) cake from Dalloyau, Croquant Fraise, and then continued two more stations distance and got Marjolaine from Au Bon Vieux Temps to have a third-round cake-off with two undefeated cakes. I'm not going to get through all the third rounds this year, I think, so I'm prioritizing to at least staying caught up, in terms of month, on the top winners. Next week I can do a pair one-and-one shops for August cakes.

I came back by train and had a half-lunch before going out by bicycle to try to learn what had been the Daita--Daizawa--Hatagaya--Kamiyama-chou--Kitazawa--Komaba--Motoyoyogi-chou--Nishihara--Oohara--Ooyama-chou--Shouto--Tomigaya--Uehara loop when I ran it, but might need a name change when I finish renewing it. I've had to split off about one third of it as separate loops, as I add shops or notice inconsistencies. In 3 hours, I could do about half, checking out new shops or routes and trying to follow the old route, which I've never known. I may never get this loop, so I'll probably alternate with other more reasonable loops.

The result of the cake-off was that Au Bon Vieux Temps' Marjolaine is perhaps a perfectly executed traditional cake that is nutty, creamy, and not too sweet. I'm less excited about other traditional cakes, but this was is rich and flavorful enough to satisfy me. The Croquant Fraise lost some of its croquant, in that the crunch decoration wilted over time (it should be sticking up behind the strawberry). Seven hours is a long time to wait, but then sell it over a longer period of time. I'm now trying to adjust my handling to un-box cakes when I get them home. The drawer I put them is much smaller than their regular showcase but should be better than just the box. Sorry Dalloyau. I'll try to treat you better next year. (They still have a non-baked cheesecake in line for a third-round, but it lost the first two rounds and I wouldn't surprised if I drop it from the greats list after the next round.)

In the evening, I went out to do neighborhood run down in the Azabu area again. Note sure whether I was wrong about Friday and this was the night I got the Azabu-Dai--Azabu-Mamiana-chou--Higashi-Azabu loop clockwise or what the deal was. I can't think how I would mess it up once, but I'm missing a try somewhere. As I wrote for Friday, the next loop south is still under construction, so even if I got it correct (which I think I did), the course itself was wrong, so no advancement. Southwest of that is the Minami-Azabu west loop, since is a little over 3 km, but I really don't know that one, so I didn't even try to do it without consulting the map. It seems to leave out a correct I thought I had already made to avoid a traffic light, so I adjusted it, but then found a bakery cafe in a hotel, so I adjust it again. Also, there is a tiny path of the main road that looking down it doesn't really resolve whether it is correct to go back a little green space squeezed between apartment buildings.

I went through a lot of Calorie Mate packets (800 kcal worth). I'd like to eat better things or lose a little more weight, but after 1 hour running, I need some energy to keep my immune system sharp, so I watch my time and take care of myself.

Origines Cacao: Tarte Exotique

Friday night, for cake, I went by bicycle to Ginza 6 and got Tarte Exotique from origines Cacao, which was back to challenging Sadaharu Aoki, despite being two categories below it.

For running, I went back down to Azabu and finished off the Roppongi 5 loop by doing it counterclockwise. I also got the Azabu-Dai--Azabu-Mamiana-chou--Higashi-Azabu loop correct clockwise, which also was not a huge challenge. I also practiced tried the Moto-Azabu--Azabu-Juuban loop, but I keep finding new things to add and it's got lots of tricky turns southwest of Azabu-Juuban station, where there are lots of shops. Gave up trying the loop further south.

The Tarte Exotique was an excellent substantial tart. I'll have to check again to find out what fruits it has besides pineapple, but it was not overly sweet, which I was fine with. This cake was front loading for when I'm busy next week, though it was also part of an attempt to find a second great cake for the next cake-off, but I found stopping at FC that the cake I was looking for an opponent for has been replaced in the lineup by an Opera.

Sadaharu Aoki, Cuneo

Got cake from Isetan again, this time Cuneo from Sadaharu Aoki. Had other shopping, so still got a late start on running. Again, I went by bicycle first and parked, this time right on my Roppongi 5 loop, which goes past Azabu-Juuban Station. It's an easy course only 1.09 km, so getting it correct clockwise was not a big deal. I almost got the next one, the Azabu-Dai--Azabu-Mamiana-chou--Higashi-Azabu loop, but there's a short turn after "Rat slope" that I missed because at that point I was not sure which direction I was supposed to go and went up the next slope to the main east-west street rather than curving back around to the main north-south street. At night in a dip, I couldn't tell what direction I was going, but now I know what to do, so next time should be easy, since I was almost done. The Moto-Azabu--Azabu-Juuban loop I knew I had no idea, though the main trouble is around the station, so if I can get through that part, the rest should be okay (if full of steep slopes). I might make it next time, but won't be surprised if I don't. I walked a lot of it and decided to then head for home to finish by 9 pm. The Minami-Azabu west loop will have to wait for Saturday, probably.

Didn't read the details and they haven't posted it yet, but the Cuneo is chocolate and hazelnuts flavored by passion fruit. Like last night's, if I was expecting a chocolate taste, I would be surprised. As a review from 2015 pointed out, it's sour (for lack of another English word), but not in a bad way. Certainly the balance was good, so it wasn't just fruit backed by chocolate/nuts but a real harmony (unlike last night's cake, where chocolate could provided little flavor against the fruit onslaught). This was the usual high quality and was definitely excellent.

La Vie un Rêve, Chocolat Spécialité

Tuesday, I went over to redo verifying the Maruyamachou--Shinsenchou loop, not because it was the highest on the list, but just because I had it and then had to change it, so I wanted to clean that up. Then I can get back to Roppongi and the different Azabu neighborhoods. I biked out to Shibuya Hikarie and parked and then walked and then ran the loop, which is only 1.33 km, but with biking and then doing a basic indoor work out at home, it was enough for one day. At Hikarie, just to sample everything (though there were places along the way that I could have stopped), I got a Chocolate Sand' Bitter sandwich cookie from La Maison Shirokane Bis, which links to Bon Bonheur (which I thought was associated with a different brand) and the home page is part of a French restaurant La Coupe D'Or. Anyway, it's not a fresh thing, it's gift sweets, but what the heck. Because it's not fresh, the cookie is made with vegetable oil, not butter, which I can understand. It ends up being a pretty hard cookie, but since the filling is really thick, that's useful under biting pressure. Actually, it was excellent, consider the price, so I can recommend them for gift sweets. I ate it at the west JR exit, where it was pouring rain. It settled down by the time I finished eating and had made use of indoor routes to cross to the full west side of the connected system of stations and buildings for Shibuya Station.

Wednesday I did the same loop, only the reverse direction. First, I got cake from La Vie un Rêve, which is at Isetan with a lot of cakes that tempted me. I went with Chocolat Spécialité, which won an award in 2010. It is chocolate and orange. Unfortunately, the test just reminded me of bar chocolate with orange, which I wouldn't have thought was a problem, but apparently did, because it was not a flavor that I appreciated. Maybe I don't like chocolate and regular orange (versus blood oranges). Or maybe I impression from looking at the online cakes was correct: too fruity for my tastes. I'll call the cake good, as it was, really, just not what I want from cake, and consider them a fine shop for now but probably never get back there.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Paris-Brest

Only a tiny bit of running today. I started by cycling to Ginza Mitsukoshi to check out the special classic series at Jean-Paul Hévin. I've been watching for this for a year without realizing what I was looking for, just that sometime they sneak in cakes there unannounced and checking once a month is not enough. For the first half of September, is Paris-Brest which is new, which differs just slight from their Paris-Tokyo, which has chocolate sheet in the base. It's excellent. I'll able to get a new cake from JPH next week too, since they have one other new cake, but otherwise I need to get the second one from the series the second half of September. The one for the first half of October is excellent, and the one for the second half of October is maybe great, so I'll want to get it in at least one cake-off within the two week window. Haven't checked in on Sadaharu Oaki in person, but the Maron Fruits Rouge is back thru November, so I'll be able to get that in a third-round cake-off before it disappears again.

After getting cake, I went out again and did what I had suggested last time, which was ride out to the Dougenzaka south loop, which is one largish block, and do it counterclockwise to check it off, which I did. Then I went to get groceries and rode past a Natural Lawson that should be on the Maruyamachou--Shinsenchou loop next door, so I'll have to redo that one, which, which the added block, becomes 1.33 km. One step forward, two steps back. I had originally planned to do indoor exercises, but it was more than 2.5 h after all the shopping, so it will have to be tomorrow, when maybe I'll also ride down to the Maruyamachou--Sinsenchou loop.

Fortnum and Mason: Cassis, Mont-Blanc, Sachertorte, and Victoria Sandwich Cake

Searched for a tea salon or the equivalent that would seat two in a reasonable time around 14:30 on a Sunday, and failed at my first two spots in Ginza. I went and did some shopped and continued on to Mitsukoshi (Nihonbashi Muromachi) and went to my first choice there and still had to wait a while, but not as long and we could sit inside, so better than our other options. A little earlier and being willing to settle for basement seating and we might have gotten seated in Ginza, but there was also the problem of a few items being sold out already, so I'm not sure that we would have been happy there even if we had been seated. At Fortnum and Mason, where we ended up, the cakes are small and though I saw going out that you could get Sachtorte and Cheesecake take-out for under 400 yen each, the inside menu was only sets that included two cakes each. We went with one full afternoon tea set, which also included two scones with clotted cream and jam and little sandwiches for one, along with tea of one's choice, and one cake set with just the two cakes and the tea. They seemed to over-seep the tea, but maybe that's the English way (or the Japanese way: people at work put tea bags in cups and just leave them for a long time, even if the instructions are 30 seconds, though they also may be using cooler water than I, as I always boil mine). Really too much food for two.

Let me start by saying that the Cassis was my bad choice: it was cassis mousse with even more gelatinous (though a little textured, reminding me of canned cranberry sauce). Still okay, but I should have known better. The told me that my other choice was chocolate cake when I asked them to repeat the names (they bring out a tray, but they left out the apple pie that was added later), but I'm assuming that they actually call it Sachertorte, based on the front counter, even though I didn't sense any apricot when I ate it. Still, I thought it was excellent, mostly in comparison. I probably liked the Victoria Sandwich Cake next of the four, which was good, and is sort of like a shortcake with coarser sponge than Japanese shortcake usually has (which was still much more like Japanese shortcake than cake made with actual shortcake, but my partner did not appreciate) and uses white chocolate as the filling around the strawberries. Finally, there was a Mont-Blanc which my partner liked the best, even if she though it wasn't up to the highest standards of the type, and I agreed that it was good.

I went running in the evening and finished off a couple loops only about 1 km long each that had been giving me trouble west if Shibuya (in the sleaziest area, though not in any dangerous way on a Sunday evening, regardless of age or sex: it's Tokyo). That leaves a tiny loop (just around one big building) that needs to be done counterclockwise. I'll probably just stop there when I'm cycling through sometime, lock the bike where it looks least offensive and take a couple minutes to circle the block). Or I'll need to work on the Kamiyama-chou--Tomigaya--Udagawa-chou loop, but that's 2.75 km long and not that close or high in priority, so I'd rather save it for later. I still having loops back past Roppongi to take care of before attacking the biggest loop of them all.