Frédéric Cassel, Savarin Orange

Sunday, I was right back to Ginza Mitsukoshi, since Frédéric Cassel won the cake-off, and anyway, are top of the shops with new cakes. I went with the Savarin Orange, so no alcohol. Though orange, it has lime juice to make it more tropical. Inside is vanilla cream, but on top is the staple mascarpone cream on top of the orange. They recommend with tea, which works for me. This was excellent, fortunately, and certainly better than the previous savarin I had from their neighbor counter, though it might have had more volume (though at greater price). This restores them to the the current target level, though the target is about to get raised, and they're at the top, so they will probably get another cake this weekend, though 

I'll say ahead of time that I got one cake ahead on Thursday this week, whereas last week I was one behind, so there will be at least one cake less this weekend. 

I should mention that I also got a second pastry from Johan, a Pain au Chocolat, and it was good, but nothing memorable. They used to have a super decadent version that also had pistachio when they had a Shinjuku shop, but I haven't seen it in Ginza.

Bien-être, Shimanami Lemon Fromage

Sunday, I visited some places I haven't been to for a while, first by running and then walking a loop. There was more running in the late afternoon. First, I visited Bien-être. I got a late start and arrived at noon, but no line fortunately (one person ahead of me and one person showed up just behind me). There was one new cake, Shimanami Lemon Fromage, Shimanami being a major (maybe the largest) lemon producer in Japan. This seems to be basically a lemon meringue tart, so I assume the cheese is the base for the lemon part.

On my route, as a last stop, I got a pastry for the road, my first from Atsushi Hatae. Rather than struggle on what to get, I went with my standard pastry, the Pain au Chocolat. It was tricky to find a place to eat it, but there is a kind of park-like area long Shibuya River; lighting wasn't idea, but my seat was precarious. I'm calling this excellent. It's fluffier than I consider ideal, but beautifully constructed, and it was fresh and had delicious chocolate, which they don't always have.

The Shiamanami Lemon Fromage cake was also excellent, after lunch. It was not particularly cheesy, but tasted like a normal lemon meringue tart. Among lemon tarts, though, it was less tart in flavor (and thus didn't need as much sugar to balance it) as the most traditional ones, but not as mild as ones that substitute Yuzu or something else, which are usually too mild for me. It is still challenging for a position in the superb group, so once they get a new cake, I can try another one, though how long that will take, I don't know. Maybe whenever they replace this one, since it's obviously seasonal. In other good news, their regular baked chocolate cake is back, so I can do a cake-off with it.

Sadly, Kantou remains under a state of emergency, so I'm not going to see department stores open up this weekend here. Kansai, on the other hand, is opening up, but I don't think I'm going to get to Kyoto or Osaka.

En Vedette, Macaron Printemps

Only yesterday, when I was busy in the morning, I did a run out to Miyoshi (where the parks have lots of people, unlike more local parks, which have been taped off) to get a new cake from En Vedette. This time I went for a cake that was actually marked as new, Macaron Printemps, and took the last one on display. We're in the final month of strawberry season, apparently, and strawberries are the most popular fruit (apparently there are more Japanese varieties than any other country's, though China has the biggest production), so no surprise that this is full of strawberries.

Starting with the positive, I walked the cake all the way back, but first had a Pain au Chocolat, also from En Vedette. My breakfast was long before I set out, so I was pretty hungry, which might be why I found this pastry relatively light (so easy to eat), but I believe it was excellent.

Actually, I'm not so hot on this cake. I don't like my macarons too soft, even though that's a deliberate goal for some macaron desserts. The strawberries were fine (I have no idea what variety) and it's reasonable to call it good, but I would steer clear of similar cakes, given a choice. Still, they call all please me and this shop is still in line to be promoted. I'll probably get there back for a new cake.

The running was in the evening, where I finished off confirming my revisions to three of the loops at the corner of Omote-Sandou.

Okashiya Utchii, Choux Cream

The Monday morning began with a snack from a new boulangerie in a new hotel next to a new park. Actually, it's a tiny space in a corner (with it's own door), that share a staff person with the hotel cafe, but I imagine they do good business across form the new National Stadium. I've seen groups of runners and groups of cyclist meeting up in front of there. I went with the reliable Pain au Chocolat again. This one features an uneven outer surface, which allows for powdered sugar, and a hotel breakfast style of softness to the interior, but it wasn't under-baked and it worked, so I'll say it was excellent. Not a big variety, they all beautiful looking. This place goes by the name The Grove Bakery.

Got to Au Bon View Temps between 10:30 and 11:00, as planned, well enough after they opened for everything to be be out and got my cake. Unfortunately, it didn't travel well, so I'm not sure whether I'll tweet it and I didn't eat it first, so I'll move on. The reason I didn't go earlier is because coming back I got off the tain at Kitasandou Station and went to Okashiotchii for the first time, a kind of patisserie in Sendagaya that is relatively new and I haven't visited, so it's a priority in terms of the neighborhood running course. They didn't actually have many items for sale, which I expected (not sure what they do; maybe ordered items). The closest thing to an individual cake was the Chuu Cream, so I got that. It comes with an explanation (of why it's so expensive) of how it uses top-class organic eggs. Certainly it was different, but I don't have a deep knowledge of custard, so the difference was mostly wasted on me, I think. It was still good, but not enough to take me back (not that there was much else for me to choose).

My next run was on the Minami-Motomachi--Samon-chou--Suga-chou--Shinanomachi--Wakaba--Yotsuya loop, where I failed (I was successful the next day) because of a new path that I was not sure where it started (I choose a dead end one the first time), but I still did the full route, to fill in some pictures of new sites. Early on, I decided to give Doutor Coffee a chance that they had something worth getting, and choose their packaged Baumkuchen, which I imagined was pretty hard to mess up and was right: it managed to be good.

Cake-off: Paris S'éveille's Gateau Vanille over En Vedette's En Vedette

In the name of completion, I'll mention that I did a quick weights workout on Friday night, but that Saturday I was busy. Had some time to kill in the afternoon near Tokyo Midtown Hibiya. I saw that the Starbucks there was listed as "Reserve", so I was hoping that it had some of the fancy baked goods, like the Starbucks Reserve in Aobadai or the Princi on the other side of the river and the old Yamanote Road in Sarugaku-chou, but no, just the usual Starbucks stuff, except for a fancy coffee bar with their reserve brand. I shared the New York Cheese Cake, which is good, and The Chocolat by P. Libre's Ichiei Taguma, which has chestnut and caramel, besides the obvious chocolate, and ultimately didn't work for me, though it was okay.

Sunday, there was running, cake from proper shops, a pastry, a neighborhood course run, and indoor muscle training: a full day. I wrote a pastry, but on the run I started off with a pastry from Excelsior Caffé, because they are convenient, and higher priority targets along my route were closed. It was okay as a pastry (maybe good as bread), but better than that. By the time I left, they had Pain au Chocolat, which would have been a better test.

I went first to Bien-être, where I expected to get Cuit Chocolat for a fourth-round 1st runner's up cake-off. I had just been thinking that they hadn't had a new cake for a year, but they proved me wrong: the chocolate cake had evolved, though now I'm confused about into what. Maybe it was Anzu Frais Chocolat, which would be fresh Japanese apricot chocolate cake, which I could deal with, but at the time the topping looked like but the topping actually looked like Azuki Frais, fresh sweet beans. Either way, I considered a new cake (though the base cake might be the same) and wasn't prepared to deal with it. Since I was still particially in that direction, I stuck with the second target of Paris S'éveille's Gateau Vanille (though I had scare when the tray sold out in front of me, when it was already afternoon, but fortunately another tray was brought out) and instead matched it with En Vedette's signature cake. It's a little early for them, so the next couple cake-offs at least won't be fourth-round one's, as I still have a third round ones to do (I have a second-round one, but Sunday doesn't work for it).

Gateau Vanille is perhaps the best presentation of vanille (the competition being PH's vanille tart, which is currently one and one among cake-offs) in more or less pure form (actually, white chocolate), whereas En Vedette is an interest mixture of strong flavors. Both are interesting, but maybe the En Vedette is more challenging and I was in the mood for straightforward and am giving the win to Gateau Vanille.

Didn't notice any new cakes at PS to go for in response to their win, though I was more worried about getting my Gateau Vanille, so I didn't look properly. I've reviewing their pastries, though, so I got the Pain au Chocolat. This thing is huge and looks perfect. It's pretty hollow, intentionally, which isn't a problem but isn't particularly helpful. There isn't any more chocolate than typically, though more would probably imbalance it. Not my favorite, but I can't fault it, it was excellent.

The evening run was trying to do the updated/new Minami-Motomachi--Samon-chou--Suga-chou--Shinanomachi--Wakaba--Yotsuya loop. I knew all the sites and I might have worked out the correct order, which would pretty much determine the route (I know the roads I need), except there was a flaw in the previous map down at the nearest point to Shinanomachi Station that I fixed but going straight instead of turning a block early but didn't remember, so tonight was just practice. Still I could do the revised/new Suga-chou look successfully clockwise, all 152 meters of it, so there's that. Maybe later in the week, after I've taken cake of my main cake targets (or if I'm starting too late to try Monday or Tuesday).

Cake-off: En Vedette's Rocher over Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Chocolat au Lait

Did a cake-off today, even starting after noon, due to an appointment and a couple errands, though tomorrow I also have a morning appointment, so I'm not going to start that much earlier. I started, though, in terms of the neighborhood map, by getting something from Sakamotoya, which is a kasutera (an early Japanese cake) shop but I got something called Sugegasa, which is a wheat-based bean filled cake shaped like the traditional hat of that name. It was good, but I'm not that into an. If they had what I would consider a one-person size of kasutera, I would have gotten that, but the smallest was 650 yen size, which I'd give to 4 (not particularly greedy) people. I also found a patisserie called Emporter in Yotsuya 2 (not sure whether it's related to the Setagaya shop of that name), so I'm redoing one of the first loops on the neighborhood course to accommodate it. I had just told myself that next time I revised that loop, I was going to remove the overlap by using a 180 turn to the other side of the street, and at the same time I'm going to merge even one-point overlapping loops, though I'll wait until I get around to the clumps to worry about the other loops. For now, I have to redo the first clump, since merging loops effectively merged to clumps. 

A major errand later, I confirmed that Isetan had Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Chocolat au Lait and then went for a quick errand to Tokyu Hands, but stopped for a pastry at Fauchon in Takashimaya. It was excellent as Pain au Chocolat go, certainly high quality, but perhaps I should have taken something more original.

They still remembered me from last Tuesday and recognized that I had brought my own bag for cake, bigger this time, and then had the Rocher that I wanted, as well as their name-sake cake, which they had been sold out of Tuesday and I had wondered about. I took the train back, for speed and cake protection, and got the Tarte Infiniment Chocolat au Lait. With the errands, it was a late lunch, and then the cakes. It had been a couple years for the tart, so I had no idea what to expect. Actually, it's caramel chocolate and is little crunchy chocolate balls for texture. It's unique and well made of lots of good stuck that goes well together, so I'm keeping it as great, but the Rocher had flavor and a great balance, so it gets the win. However, I don't have anything to match the Rocher up with, so probably the next cake-off will be a second round for the Tarte Infiniment Chocolat au Lait, though I think that will have to be the 11th.

In the late afternoon, I had 2.5 hours to run (I would have had 3 hours, but I had to play "where is my F-ing key" for almost 30 minutes), so I first tried to do neighbor running course clumps and failed both. The first, I turned where I shouldn't have (following an old version briefly), but it the closure of a shop on one loop and the appearance of a chocolate shop on another, but opening onto the side street, meant I was going to have to revise loops away. Like in the Yotsuya case, I ended up merging three loops, which is going to seriously mess that up. With the severing of the link reversed the direction through Azabu, Hiroo and Roppongi Hills and the link between Ebisu-Nishi and Ebisu-Minami, as well as the detour to get to Jinnan, my map is a mess as far as the wider connections. At least failing there gave me enough time to get over the do the Akasaka--Azabudai--Roppongi--Toranomon loop counterclockwise, and count that and its clump as verified. Next new loop to try to confirm will be back to Aobadai, but I've got to deal with today's destroyed loops first.

Viron: Tropézienne

Still trying to catch up. I went out Thursday for cake, running and it ended up being a long run. I was trying to get a new cake from F. Cassel in Mitsukoshi Ginza, but no cake. JPH had a little, but nothing new. Lenôtre  had just Concerto (lots of them). There was one counter there I would have taken a new cake from, but also no cake there. I forgot about Ladurée, on the 2nd floor, but checked out Ginza 6 and came up with nothing from two shops (though no surprise for the soon closing Origines Cacao). Anyway, Viron is a top priority and hasn't rotated new cakes in so quickly, so even though I had just bought two days before, I went back (though in Marunouchi) and got one of the two I had seen before the brief Christmas cake takeover: Tropézienne. This is a brioche-based cake (easy for them, since they're a bakery) with custard cream using Échiré butter, fresh orange, and some sort of liquor (I would guess orange). Definitely not my usual thing, and not what I as expecting (since I wasn't paying close attention), but it worked for me and was excellent.

Friday, I did not get cake, but worked on neighborhood course loops and completed another one.

Saturday, I tried my biggest loop counterclockwise for the seventh time and got much farther, about 3/4 before I got to a point where I didn't remember what to do and made the wrong turn (there are two similar sharp corners and on the first one I should have gone straight after the sharp turn, but thought I needed to turn off). It was okay though and I'm willing to leave it at that for now. It was a 3.5 h run with relatively few stops. I added three sites afterward and revised the map slightly in ways that will hopefully be easy to remember on the next run: just slight detours. On the way I tried two pastries and had better luck than the previous week. First, Path Cafe was not mobbed at 09:00 on the Saturday before New Years and I could get a (the one) Pain au Chocolat. This fresh-baked pastry was actually very soft inside, which usually I would not respect, but fresh, it was melt in my mouth delicious, which I definitely respect. I suppose it was great, but really this is my first experience this is fresh a pain au chocolat. Maybe next year, I'll bet able to get a fresh Croissant without a 30-minute wait.

The other stop was after failure, I stopped at Levain and got their Butter Croissant. This seems to be a multigrain pastry (I didn't read beyond the name), in keeping with their theme. Actually, for including "butter" in the name, less buttery than average, but what great layering throughout. It's more of a super dinner role than a pastry, but its definitely something special, so I have to rate it at least excellent. I look forward to getting something else from them as well.

 

Viron:Tarte au Chocolat

Tried the Daita-... loop again, having just updated it. I failed again counterclockwise, but quite a bit further along than any previous attempt, in Kitazawa 3, which might be half way, though still outbound on the larger southern section that is maybe two-thirds of this route (my next map update might make it easier to quickly clarify that) and at a point that I modified during attempts clockwise, so at one point in time my left turn would have been correct. I wasn't so disappointed, as this is my biggest challenge and I expect I'll be trying it one way or another for a long time, so I'll keep alternating with other routes. I continued on, though not necessarily all running, to Kitazawa 2, to confirm in person the last revisions around there and take photos. 

Extra snacks were only on the way back (besides a couple Calorie Mates cookies). I got a Pain au Chocolat from the Crossroad Bakery inside the laundromat in Uehara along the main east-west road by The University of Tokyo's Komaba Campus, which I think has either mathematics or economics. The outside of this pastry was really well layered, as shown, but the inside had soft white layers, which usually makes me think they are lazy, but actually I can see where this works and I should be appreciating the different textures, since the inside wasn't raw or bread-like: excellent, even if not my ideal.

I decided early on that Viron would be on my way back, since they are one of 4 shops in four different shop categories challenging a shop in the category above them. Before that, I wanted confirm a coffee shop, but that took me through the sleazier parts of Dougenzaka, where I found a tiny park. It's hard to believe this is a real public park, but it's got the signs to prove it, so that destroys two loops, since I think I'll merge the Maruyamachou--Shinsenchou and Dougenzaka loops to fit this in, though I haven't done that yet.

At Viron, I got a Tarte au Chocolat for home and their huge Croissant for eating just outside. The latter was fluffier than I usually like, and yet they seemed to completely nail what they were after and it wasn't bread-like, so I'll have to say that this also was excellent.

On the way home with cake, I stopped by the Flipper's Stand near Harujuku Station and confirmed take-out that qualifies them being on the map, so once again I'm revising the Jinguumae 5&6 loop to add something. At least during the main run I detoured to get the Tomigaya loop clockwise, so I have something achieved, however trivial.

Chocolate tarts are inherently limited, but Viron's seem well made and with good chocolate, so I can rate it as an excellent 17th cake, which leaves them still a challenger for the superb category, though they've got a lot of cake to go to join Origines Cacao there.

Cake-off: Lenôtre's Feuille d'Automne over Jean-Paul Hévin's Duja Pistache

Sunday, I finally got to the next cake-off. I started off toward Au Bon Vieux Temps a little after 8 am, which is not that early, since they open at 9 am. Still, I felt that I didn't have to arrive so early and I wanted to check out a couple things along the way. For example, I confirmed that I could do the revised Sendagaya central and south loops clockwise, though I altered the latter after the fact (the length looks the same and it eliminates two turns). Took a picture of the cake shop I found on Google. No sign, so I'm not sure that they actually sell things from there (though it does look like there is something on the table on the left), but there's a window where they could do, so maybe. Someone was in there working even that early, and poked his head out a second to see what I was doing. With those looks, it made for a long run, so I arrived maybe 10 am and, no surprise, they not longer are making their blue cheese cake (it seemed seasonal, but I had no definitely information and I've had other seasonal cakes from more prominent shops to deal with).

Still, I was hungry (I had only had one energy cookie), so I got a Pain au Chocolat there. It's pretty well done, as these breads go, but that's not a bad thing and this qualifies as excellent. The croissants were already sold out, but there were some other more elaborate things that might count as pastries that I could try in the future.

I was going to take the train straight to Mitsukoshi Ginza, but I missed the crossing due to a train going the other way and would have waited for the next local, so I ran two stations (not that far, in this case) to see what the shops near Jiyuugaoka had. Now I'm not sure whether PS still has the Giverny, which is not an immediate problem, though Dalloyau has definitely retired the L'Echiquier from individual cakes, which reduces the chance I'll get another cake from them. I think their reputation as a superb shop depends on a cakes made by a chef who's moved on, though at least they still make their Formage Cru and Croquant Fraise.

I was successful at getting one planned cake and the backup, where they know me well. I confirmed that FC had some new cakes, but the just returned Breteuil seems to been changed from chocolate to white chocolate coating, which is a mixed blessing. Also, since I was in the neighborhood within an hour of opening, I stopped by Sadaharu Aoki to sample their Croissant Chocolat again (also, I was really hungry, and almost asleep on my feet), and it was definitely fresher and definitely excellent. I can't say for sure it was great, but I liked it more than the Matcha (which seemed too sweet). Also I confirmed what cake was back in the line up through February (but I've already done three rounds and it's not enough of a winner to be a priority) and one new cake that I hope to get to this week.

The cake-off was a second round for two cakes from the winners, Lenôtre's Feuille d'Automne and Jean-Paul Hévin's Duja Pistache. Sorry JPH, but the combination of L's meringue and different textures of chocolate was a clear winner. Sadly, I don't have anything to match it for the next round yet (if I'm correct about Breteuil being replaced). Happily, there is a Rouge version available for this season as the reward cake that I'll be able to try this week (the brand does not seem established enough to sell out much). Not sure whether the Duga Pistache is seasonal, so it will have to wait. Actually, someone had posted on Twitter a Sicile from L'abricotier just after the shop told me that they we're making it, so I went out there by bicycle (I decided I was too tired to do more neighborhood loops) and, as I expected, the photo did not reflect reality. If I track down which person, I'll probably un-follow them, though actually they were reporting on a cake in the foreground.

Éclat des Jours, Simoné

Made my second attempt on the Daita-... loop and got about a third of the way before I failed. I needed to go straight, squeezing past the parked van, even though the main road turned. This is the second time that I mistook when to enter a back alley. While verifying what I should do, I stopped at Main Mano and got their Pain au Chocolat. I'll say it was excellent, but note that the chocolate was what I more typically find in Pain au Chocolat, and not my favorite. On the other hand, the sliced almonds are a significant positive feature.

I ran most of the way home and felt that a 2+ hour run was enough. After a half-lunch, I went by bicycle to Éclat des Jours again, in response to their cake-off win, and got a new cake, Simoné, which is pistachio mousseline on a strawberry crust with fresh raspberries on top. A definitely excellent cake. I do have a complaint: I gave them an insulated bag to put the cake in, and they included their own bag anyway. (I protects the box, but really, does it need it?)

Cake-off: Éclat des Jours' Baked Cheesecake over Michalak's Mont-blanc

Saved my running for later and went by bicycle to get Éclat des Jours' Baked Cheesecake as a two time winning cake for the third-round cake-off. While I was there, I decided to try their Pain au Chocolat (I ate it at the nearest park, where I was very messy: I need to use the paper bag it comes in better), which was excellent, properly made with delicious chocolate.

To get the other cake, I ran to L'Abricotier. Unfortunately, they aren't currently making their best cake (which doesn't surprised me from past experience, and I should have asked when I was there recently, but it is still on their website). I had a backup planned, though, so I turned around and ran to Isetan and got Michalak's Mont-blanc.

It starts as a mystery why the Baked Cheesecake is such a winner, but the more I eat it, the more I like it. The Mont-blanc, on the other hand, is a little strong, both as chestnut and sugar, so I really need to clear my palate more than I did eating it. The win goes to the Baked Cheesecake, which becomes the tenth cake to clear the third-round cake-off undefeated. I was planning to get to Éclat des Jours for a new cake this weekend, anyway, but need to plan an an additional visit.

Cake-off: Frédéric Cassel's Inspiration Passion Framboise over Toshi Yoroizuka's Cassis

Friday, I had a long run, starting by running down to east Nishi-Azabu again to do loops of my neighborhood course and swinging up through Moto-Akasaka, which is at least somewhat on the way back. I could do three small loops, finishing them, but failed on the two largest due to not recognizing a narrow road or path that I needed to turn on. Skipping ahead in the story, I went back by bicycle and ran those Saturday afternoon (it was hotter than I had hoped but apparently manageable). I also finally managed clockwise on the Dougenzaka north loop, after cycling over to Shibuya Hikari but failed on completing the adjacent loop and two other simple loops I tried for the first time. I'll see what I can do Sunday night.

Friday, as my first snack, I tried a Pain au Chocolat from Fiorentina Pastry Boutique, which is my first pastry. It suffered a little from the late time/humidity/my sweaty condition, but it was made the way I like it and I liked the chocolate (which I often don't in these), so I'm going to call it excellent and maybe get another one.


Saturday, I did a third-round cake-off with Frédéric Cassel's Inspiration Passion Framboise, even though it was its last day and it will probably never appear again. I started by running to the Kyobashi Toshi Yoroizuka to the Cassis, which was the nearest cake that was a suitable match. The Cassis, besides as the name indicates, is maybe the best fig cake I know, but that was not enough (though it complimented) against the stronger flavor of Inspiration Passion Framboise. The next "Inspiration" cake with be pecans, which sounds good, though I have other places to visit, so I'm probably not going to get to it right away.

Jean-Paul Hévin, Longchamp Chocolat

Sunday, I finally did it, I ran, as a one-way neighborhood course run, the giant Daita--Daizawa--Hatagaya--Kamiyama-chou--Kitazawa--Komaba--Motoyoyogi-chou--Nishihara--Oohara--Ooyama-chou--Shouto--Tomigaya--Uehara loop, which was 35.2 km long, plus enough lead up to make it a marathon+ distance, so a massive addition to the route, though I'm not confident that I'll ever get it memorized. Along the way, I verified some new sites, so already I've split off part, but the loops are always evolving. No problem with my feet, by keeping it pretty slow, though it was so slow, and my knowledge of the route is so poor, that I almost wore out my battery (also I took about dozen pictures), so next time I do this kind of route, it better either be simpler or I should memorize more of it.

Besides some candies from Iwate and Calorie Balance cookies, I had one Pain au Chocolat from Asterisque. As usual quite a wait, though not enough to explain the 6 km/h average time. Better that that body damage, though. Still, I'll rest tomorrow from running, I hope, and get caught up on cleaning and email.

For cake, I finally got the Longchamp Chocolat from Jean-Paul Hévin at Isetan. Even around 2 pm when I got there (I started at 6:20 for the running), they had several. Hope the same is true tomorrow, because I want to do a quick turnaround on cake-offs, because this was great, as expected, totally decadent, with chocolate, meringue, both almond and just pure sugar and egg, I think. It's hard chocolate, but I don't know how it compares to the Longchamp Chocolat Noir.

Cake-off: Bien-être's Framboisier over Cacao Store (Théobroma)'s San Juaquin Dos

Thursday, having already had three weekday cakes, I ran again for cake-off research, this time to the Yoyogi area, where I had more success. Cacao Store promised to have their (actually, Théobroma's) San Juaquin Dos through Saturday. Bien-être admitted the possibility of something, but probably not Framboisier, which they had in stock at that time, but it was too late to go back to Cacao Store. 

So Friday after, after failing again elsewhere, I visited both and got the desired cakes, moving up the cake off by one day. I suspect that the Framboisier was left over from the previous day, but some cakes age better. No running Friday, just cycling. These are both pretty standard cakes, which is why I designated them great to begin with, but this time I was not convinced that San Juaquin Dos really belongs, though it is excellent as a dense chocolate cake that probably also can survive more than one day. More importantly, Bien-être had several new cakes on Friday, so I hope they will still have them when Christmas cake season ends.

Saturday I got my flu shot, so I took it easy. I still went out by bicycle to buy some chocolate for baking, take a picture Lotus, a café in Jinguumae that does cakes until 4 am, and got a Pain au Chocolat from Shibuichi Bakery. The pastry wasn't that impressive, though it was still somewhat good.

Sunday, I had repeats of cakes and no running. JPH cakes are still excellent.

Monday, I went for a long run to add a bunch of loops to my neighborhood course by doing a one-way neighborhood course run, which is taking a lot of time to update (partially because I found mistakes from last time I updated it to add loops). I don't usually try to combine photo-taking with the first such run, but I wanted to make use of the opportunity. I'm working on the path west from Roppongi Hills to connect up to loops that I previously thought I could only get to by a longer way circling around from the north. It was about 2 hours of running, plus walking and taking pictures. At L'Atelier du Pain, there just south of Roppongi Hills, I got a Pain au Chocolat. Though it's not looking so symmetric, you can see on the left that it's got proper layering and that it's well baked, so actually it was excellent. Usually I never go to Roppongi Hills, so it's not that convenient a shop, but it's at about the 1 hour mark, so next time I go out for a neighborhood run along that route, I can stop there again.

Cake-off: Paris S'éveille's Gateau Vanille over Sadaharu Aoki's Saint-marc Praliné

Sunday, I had some appointments. Got up early and did a one-way neighborhood course run to add the Nishi-azabu--Minamiazabu loop, down next to Roppongi Hills. I thought I would have time to do some of the nearby little loops and take some pictures, but I only had two hours. On the way, and on the target loop, I visited Café 3206 and got a Pain au Chocolat, which is pretty good before 8 a.m. on the Sunday.

After my 10 a.m. appointment, I went out again to visit Paris S'éveille, which has two great cakes I want to do second rounds on. I went with the last Gateau Vanille, though they had the other target cake. I took that home and did my 14:30 appointment. For the second cake, I tried going to L'Abricotier, but they were sold out this time (it was pretty late, so I don't blame them too much). I asked about reserving it for Saturday (though I should have asked about Friday as well, since I could get there). I figured that I got do better where things start and end latter, in the Marunouchi/Ginza area. That worked: I got Sadaharu Aoki's Saint-marc Praliné, which runs to March. I'm happy to report that both these are great. I have to give the win to the Gateau Vanille, which might be the best vanilla cake that I know. Saint-marc Praliné is maybe not my favorite Saint-marc, but I appreciate the variation.

Cake-off: Origines Cacao's Tarte Caramel Chocolat over Frédéric Cassel's Mille-feuille Finger Kaki

Friday, which was Labor Thanksgiving Day, I was free most of the day, so I took a long run, which ended up as 3.50 hours of running, which is the longest for a while. There was some walking and several photography stops, plus 4 snack, but most of it was a one-way neighborhood course run, so not a lot of waiting at lights until the end, when I headed from near the US Embassy to Ginza.

I did a lot of loops together, so it took so long. On the way, I headed down to Roppongi 7 again, because I had forgotten to verify a shrine. On the way back, I stopped at Mercedes Me, which is a café at the Mercedes dealer across from Tokyo Midtown, for the first snack. I got their Pain aux Raisins, which was good, though on the dry side.

Once  I got back to the main route, I could do the newly added Akasaka 8 loop, added to pick up a little park on the corner next to the elementary school. There is also a cake shop on the north end, but I think I went in too early (though the door was open), as there was nothing on display at all except samples of top designs. It's a place for decorator cakes, so I don't know yet whether they have anything ready to eat, though it's also a café, or whatever the guy there can manage, looked like. I also reconfirmed that I know the Akasaka 7 loop. Together they form a sort of shortcut across the main Akasaka-Azabudai-Roppongi-Toranomon loop, though that day I was doing the full loops back to where I started and didn't want to run twice over the same part of a loop, so I stuck to the main loop. I also reconfirmed the Motoaksaka loop and took the link up along the Akasaka Palace grounds to visit the Yotsuya East loop, though I was blocked by people directing traffic for people visiting the palace, so that part wouldn't be allowed by my rules if they were normally there. From there, I did the Akasaka 3 loop, and then over to the Nagatachou loop (though I had to double back to fix an error on the far side of the loop, since I turned to soon). From there, I went up north and did the Hirakawachou-Kioichou loop and took the long detour around Sophia University to get to my tiny Koujimachi loop, which is the farthest out on the course of the places I visited, so it's definitely out of order in terms of distance but was convenient to the other loops I was doing. After returning to Akasaka, I followed the main course down to the final loop to confirm, what I call the Akasaka east loop, which is just north of the U.S. Embassy Tokyo.

On the way there, I stopped at the Pierre Gagnaire shop and got a Pain au Chocolat. To be honest, I had eaten most of it before realizing it (because I was thinking of something else, not because I wolfed it down, which would have made quite a mess, since it had fairly delicate layering). But I'm fairly sure that it was excellent, which is why I wasn't thinking so much about it.

From there, I ran to Ginza, got my cakes, and returned home by train. I was tired, so after I organized them on the plate, my hands weren't too steady and there was an accident, so no pictures. Some caramel was lost, but I was still able to do the first-round cake-off for these too recently tried cakes and declare that I like the caramel chocolate tart best, though in my condition I was noticing that I could have used a higher drink-to-sugar ratio.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Gaufrette Chocolat

Saturday, my morning opened up somewhat and I could have done a cake-off but decided to stick to a long run instead. First, I went to try to practice the Hatagaya--Honmachi--Nishi-Shinjuku loop of my neighborhood course map. Actually I initially ignored the Nishi-Shinjuku part, since it's super simple. The rest of it is a big rectangle with six deviations, three on the north and three on the south. I managed to get the first two (counterclockwise) of each and overran the other two turns (realizing before reaching where to rejoin the path along the main road), so I still need to keep practicing to consider this part of my neighborhood.

Along the south leg, I got something from B. Rue de Berri for the first time, a Pain au Chocolat. They seemed nice enough as a small shop but unfortunately I don't have much nice to say about this pastry. It's sort of a blob, so they aren't much interested in artistry; I'm sympathetic to avoiding unnecessary decoration, although it does affect the texture. For me, it was under-baked, which means thick layers that haven't been made into leaves. Also, the chocolate left an unpleasant aftertaste, although that's a more common problem with pain au chocolat. I'll say it was ok and probably avoid them for pastries, unless its a donut.

Since it was on the way to my next loop to practice, I stopped at Le Pain Quotidien for a first pastry. They had much fancier/heavier things, but I had just had a pastry (though a small one), so I just got a Croissant. It was good, no complaints. And it was effective at canceling the test of the previous Pain au Chocolat.

Next, I practiced the west part of the Hatsudai--Tomigaya--Yoyogi loop, this time successfully. After, I cut back to the as-yet untried Hatagaya-Motoyoyogichou-Nishihara-Tomigaya-Uehara loop. Mostly, I was just making a third attempt to take pictures of Unshouji, but the gate was still shut and, looking in, there did not seem to be any other interesting buildings, so I'm finalizing that landmark on the map. On on that loop, which I modified slightly where it confused me, I stopped for a first and (unintentionally) final pastry, another Croissant, from Boulangerie et Cafe Main Mano there near Yoyogi-Uehara Stn. It was good, better even than Le Pain Quotidien's, having slightly more of the flaky layer. I noticed that this too had an inner layer that wasn't as baked as I would like, but at least that was within a thick enough pastry that it didn't bother me. I attempted again to visit Masuda Seipan for a baked good, and even though it was within the newly posted 11-17 hours, they were again closed, so it's mystery when they're open. I can't remember whether I've tried during a weekday.

In the afternoon, I went out to the Jean-Paul Hévin Chocolate Bar in Marunouchi for a Gaufrette Chocolat, a chocolate waffle which I shared along with JPH's Mont-Blanc. It was definitely good. It was sort of like eating a large soft chocolate chip cookie. As a drink, I had Chocolat Chaud au Rhum for the first time and it was excellent.

Bien-être: Onctueuse

Wednesday, I finally managed cake.

Monday, my goal was a pastry, so I went to The Ritz-Carlton Café and Deli (which is at Tokyo Midtown, in Akasaka) and got what I thought had a (small) chance to be a pastry, Pain au Crème (might have been the Latin script name), though this was definitely sweet bread. The cream was custard cream and it was definitely good sweet bread. There was a croissant there, so I can go back next week for a pastry, but that's about it among their selection, so it seemed worth trying this pastry-like bread.

For Tuesday, I made my first attempt on Bien-être. I had been successful last Tuesday, but this time there were only three cakes that I've already had, so I went to Viron in Shibuya, for Pain au Chocolat. This thing is huge, and fluffy, which I'm not so into. The chocolate is proportionate to the amount of actual pastry, rather than the size, which is probably just as well. It was definitely at least good and in the end (after a day to think about it), it seemed too perfectly formed not to rate it excellent, even if it wasn't actually to what I imagine would best suit me.

Wednesday, my second attempt at Bien-être was successful. There was another new choice, so I can try again next week, afterwhich September will hopefully bring more new cakes, though I've also seen a couple tarts this month that I've never had. I choose Onctueuse ("creamy"). This was a chocolate mousse cake with a pistachio center, which is pretty standard around here and also something I don't have high expectations for: too much chocolate, maybe. Pistachio cream was a reasonable choice (vanilla seems hopeless), though it can't do too much against chocolate. Fortunately, it was definitely good chocolate and definitely good cake. I wonder if it's more the chocolate coating that keeps me from liking these more, since JPH's layered mousse cakes are great without it, but they usually have a lot else going on in the other layers, so that might not be it. So this wasn't a breakthrough for this style of cake, but what was interesting was the raspberry: the forkful with the whole fresh strawberry was awesome. If this cake had enough raspberries for every bite or at least every other bite, it would probably be at least excellent. I've never seen a cake like that, but now I'm going to be looking for it everywhere. If I ever get bold enough, I may ask, "Can I get that with extra raspberries? I'll pay extra."