Shall we continue on with the Okinawa Adventures? After Zamami, we arrive to mainland Okinawa.

I had many contrasting feelings about this specific few days of our trip, but grew to deeply love it over time. There is so much still for me to learn about Okinawa and surely so much I will never understand. Okinawa was under the United States control from 1945 -1972 and returned back to Japanese control after that, though there is still a major US military presence on the island. This have effected everything from how people eat and what kind to what kind of cars are on the island. Okinawa was originally a part of the Ryuku Kingdom + Islands which was the connector between China, Japan and Southeast Asia. It only became a part of Japan in 1879.

Here are a couple books I have purchased on this topic. Have not gone through them all fully yet:

Okinawa by Susumu Higa, a 544 page manga about the history of Okinawa

Speak, Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki Brina

The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia by Mamoru Akamine

When so much has shifted in governance of your land, what is the core of what continues? The truth and the beauty seems to be held in connection to nature, craft, folktales, spirit and ingredients. Holding onto these practices continue to tell the narrative of the place and feel like a contrasting power to imported sludge.

My personal highlights here were finally being able to connect IRL with these indigo farmers and artists that I have been speaking to for years. And for thoughtful restaurants with extremely good taste and care towards the food that their land grows.

The few days we were there, along our path was a ghost and a magical march of the hermit crabs. Things last, I remembered. Or maybe it is that things linger.

Enjoy -

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Today we have on Bunny + Friends, Cleo Camp.

I went to a school in LA for one year in kindergarten and it just so happens that Cleo was also in my class. I had forgot about this, but we eventually put the two together later in our years in New York. There’s something really sweet about knowing that. Cleo has this really great high energy, being around her is the same way you feel trusting and playing with someone you know as a kid. I guess I did know her though :)

She is an original Bagel Bunny. I remember when I was baking in LA for the holidays and Cleo ordered some bagels, we met up in a parking lot. She was starting to make leather bags, and when she was first launching we did a pop-up together at the old Gem Wine space. I was so excited for everything she was building. Now she’s known and recognized everywhere for her tees that have just taken over. It makes me so happy every time to see one of these shirts.

I thought this week it would be nice to catch back up with Cleo and see everything that she J’adored Last Week. In addition to the normal format I asked her to share a bit more about how her foods effect her work and vice versa :

This has been an interesting week for me since I have been between Maine, NYC and LA. I visited my mom in Maine, had some meetings and a photoshoot in NYC and now I’m back home in LA. Some highs and lows here food wise.

I’ll note that I am constantly making excuses to travel when I can. I love it more than anything. LA is home to me but I love an escape. I feel really inspired when I can step away from clothing production, shipping and managing the day to day of my brand. I always come back with new ideas. This time I was gone for a month and I’ve been working on a lot of new designs, drawings and samples since I’ve been back. I’m thinking about where I’ll travel to in the Fall... I really want to visit Peru.

What does a Cleo Camp studio meal look like?

In all honesty, my studio meals are pretty uninspired... When I’m working, I like to eat quick things that don’t take time out of my day. I’m pescatarian and if I feel like I need protein I’ll go between tin fish or grilled salmon and a side from Lazy Acres... my on the way to the studio market. If not, I’ll either bring a homemade smoothie and leftovers from home or snack until dinner. If I eat out and have the time or I’m meeting a friend, one of my neighborhood favs is Holbox - the whole fish is worth the wait but if the line is too long I’ll get a bean and cheese burrito across the food hall (and a large watermelon agua fresca). Other times I’ll grab sushi to go at Kombu in downtown, which is actually pretty good, and it’s next door to Hennessey & Ingalls, one of my favorite bookstores, so I’ll browse there while I wait. My third spot is a favorite, Yuko Kitchen, I’ll get the tofu rice bowl with a side salad + a banana shake or strawberry mochi cookie. I love them and they’re always super friendly.

I’ll add that my studio is in China town and there are some incredible spots here. If I meet friends after a studio day I’ll sit at the white table cloth hole in the wall Yang Chow for family style Chinese. I’m also really close to Cafe Triste & La Sorted pizza. Some friends of the brand rep the Cleo Tee at Triste and the love is mutual, I love to snack there. I can’t talk about my China Town eats without mentioning Pho 87, in the “winter” it’s a go to. You’ll also find me at Blossom grabbing Vietnamese to go.

Today is my first day back in the studio after my trip to the east coast. I brought leftovers from Pine and Crane (one of my LA favs) - vegan mapo tofu, white rice, spinach, mushrooms - but the heat wave in LA is scorching and it’s curbed my appetite. So… I’m having Siggi’s black cherry yogurt (not pictured) carrot sticks, labneh and pita chips with coconut water. Boring!!

Snacking at Café Triste

Holbox when I have time

Burrito day.. And my boring snack lunch today!!

What foods would you match to be eaten with some of your items?

Our hot pink tee was partially inspired by the pickled veggies at one of my favorite restaurants, All Time. I was sitting with my friend and owner of All Time, Ashley, when she asked if I’d like to try them. When I looked at the plate I saw a pink as vibrant as Bougainvillea. I actually showed this photo to my dye house as a reference.

Let’s talk about Splish. To me, our radiant Splish blue is the color of summer, it’s the color of the mediterranean sea and it feels like vacation. If I had to compare this to a food I’d pick a Blue Icee - because yeah, it’s that blue, it’s refreshing and it’s a summer treat. You know what the first sip feels like just from looking at one, that’s what I hope Splish feels like.

Our Story Dress was made with my story in mind. I grew up wearing vibrant floral Liberty print pajamas and dresses my grandmother would sew for me. I wore them running around her vibrant garden that genuinely looked like a Liberty print. When I designed the dress, the prints came first and then the silhouette. The idea is that when you wear the Story Dress, you’ll make your own story. To me, this makes me think of something you unravel, something you share with friends, something bittersweet, something you carry with you. I’d call the Story Dress a Tangerine.

Our Bean bag was inspired by the Elsa Paretti bean - my mom gave me her EP bracelet and I wear it every day. I was equally inspired by the guy I call the bean dealer at the Hollywood Farmer’s market. I scan a lot of the beans I find there... The natural patterns are chic.

I’d compare the boy belt to a seven layer bar. The distressed rivets and the scorched leather make me think of textured coconut flakes, cookie crumbles, and chocolate caramel crunch.

A snack that would fit in a Cleo bag?

Tin Fish!!

Do you have a food philosophy?

I have a few standing dinners in my life and my relationship to food is closely tied to the people I eat with. I grew up in a house where family dinner was very important, we ate together every night. These days my food philosophy is ruled by meals with my girls. I don’t care what we’re eating or where it’s always about the company. Same faces... different places. On the rare occasion that we are all free last minute, we often end up at Edendale because you don’t need a reservation. The food is mid and the drinks are worse but there’s something about that place that feels… right?

That being said, I’ll often try new LA hotspots with my friend Wesley - we will sit chatting about our careers (set & fashion design) and close out restaurants most nights we eat together. We’re always at L&E in Silverlake and we order the same thing every time then take her dog, Sal, for a walk on the same route and it doesn’t get old. Sometimes we’ll call first and say - I have too much work should we cancel? But us workaholics will always conclude that we have to eat so we might as well do it together. Sometimes we laptop work side by side and order in.

I also live with one of my best friends, Leo, and we often host our girlfriends for home cooked meals - she cooks and I make the dessert. I come from a line of Southern & French women so baking and hosting has always been a strong part of my food philosophy and it feels like the best of both worlds.. The daintiness of french pastry and the flavor of the south. I used to have a pie company… (but that was another life).

On a regular week I’ll go to the grocery store 2-3 times a week and grab my essentials first then snacks or forgotten pantry goods I’ll need for whatever I’m cooking mid week. Attaching my grocery list here.

Girls Dinners & Breakfasts

Home-cooked Dinners with the Girls:

(When my friend Maddy Rotman cooks... It’s a do not miss situation. Pictured here: carrot soup, baked sea bass, herby potatoes. She makes everything look effortless. (We met over one of her famous pavlovas.)

Dinners at mine & Leo’s - we love to host!!

Keylime Pie I made

my grocery list

CLEO’s JLW

MAINE

Day 1- Lobster lunch!! Fishnet has the best lobster rolls & whole lobsters. We ate them at the beach on the island pictured above. We ate and quickly realized the tide was rapidly coming back in … so we walked back in water up to our chests with our bags over our heads back to shore. We had a farm to table dinner at the Brooklin Inn Pub: Oysters, gem salad, crab slaw, grilled carrots, focaccia. I shared this meal with friends visiting my mom. I had an incredible cheesy pistachio risotto for my main.

Day 3 - Tinder Hearth. This is one of the best restaurants in the downeast. It’s a bakery by day and a pizzeria by night. It books up so fast, they have a lottery reservation system that opens Mondays at 9am. You can sign up (at 9 on the dot) for your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice date and time and hope you can get one of them. I’m always surprised that there are enough people in Maine to fill up their reservation schedule. But if you miss a pizza res you can still walk in for breakfast and pastries in the mornings (their famous egg sandwiches sell out within 30 minutes). We got the last two Egg & cheese croissants and felt like we won a prize. For dinner we went back to Tinder Hearth for white pizza, a garlic and tomato pie and something with meat on it that I didn’t eat (not pictured). And more oysters!! We all had a strong green garden cocktail and got tipsy with my mom. We split a soft serve ice cream sunday with a fresh strawberry cream hard shell and cookie crumble.

Day 4- Maine blueberry ice cream cones in Stonington (a classic fishing town), fish tacos .. and more oysters!! Looking back I’m a little disturbed by how much seafood I ate in a week - but it’s a Maine thing.

NYC

Day 5 - Ice cream with my new friends and favorite podcasters Biz Sherbert & Sam Cummins of Nymphet Alumni. We could not stop laughing about the chosen place to meet - Kith Treats. We had a VIP experience. I had cereal soft serve. The whole thing was a treat.

LA

Day 6 - I cooked a caper cous cous and veggie dinner tonight with my friend Allison. We snacked on cheese, crackers and olives while we cooked.

Day 7 - On Sundays I usually try to perfect the jammy egg. I have this giant french mediterranean cookbook and I often sit on the couch on the weekends and flip through. I like the mezze section, I think it’s my favorite way to eat - a little bit of this and a little bit of that. It takes five minutes to boil a perfect jammy egg on my stove. One egg came out perfect, one cracked. This was my lunch. I’ve been loving the Moustache date / orange & walnut yogurt recently. I just discovered they have it here in LA and it’s $$$ but a special treat.

Anything else you loved this week?

The YSL photo show at ICP! I extended my trip by a day in NYC to see the show and see part of the YSL costume designed film screenings at Metrograph. I should have checked the schedule in advance because none of the movie times aligned with my extra day in the city…. but I at least saw the photo show and that was great.

Did you see something that made you smile?

The Yesterday Tomorrow opening party made me SMILE. My new friend Jess Hella just opened this wonderful curated vintage store in LES. She asked if I wanted to stock there alongside my friends Emma of Everyone’s Mother & Lizzie of Lizzie Ames and it was perfect timing. I’ve been waiting for a store like this to open, that feels inviting. I find that a lot of downtown stores feel unapproachable and Jess has done an incredible job making the store feel like home. I got to meet some excited customers that night who wanted to try on my things and we ended up selling most of my inventory in less than a day. It’s been a great partnership and I’m excited for her. We’ve discussed stocking a few one of a kind c l e o pieces there and it made me really inspired to work on new things without the pressure of producing in large quantities.

Thank you Cleo xx Bagel Bunny Loves YOU!

Nothing is better to me than being on a beach all day. Maybe that is because of my lucky youth years by the ocean. I am one of those few people, if any that likes the feeling of a little bit of sand in my otherwise clean bed. It brings me back to a time of make believe underwater worlds and games, not allowing any thoughts except for how many pretty shells you find. It is a place that I can still easily access this childlike wonder.

We recently had dinner with someone in Tokyo who is a doctor and I asked him what his ideal vacation is. He responded by saying it is to go to another city, and that he doesn’t really like to chill at a beach. I wondered, “Who are these people and how did they become like this?” Yes I have been told we are all different, but how can you not just want to float in salt water while everything unknown lays below you?

I will be splitting up the 12 day journey where I visited 4 of the islands, over the next few newsletters. That being said a lot of this time I was doing my best to be present and away from my phone so have fun with my photos. We also booked this trip very spontaneously (thank you Drew for being so instrumental in guiding the way) and I would say the options of hotels and Airbnbs were slightly limited to if you would’ve booked this months out. This is the busy time for Japanese tourists within Japan. Foreigners usually visit slightly earlier in the year, I am told.

For our flight down I ate some airport Inari <333 and packed my Kampo (Chinese herbs) for the flight. On Japanese flights they serve: orange juice, apple juice, hot tea, or dashi broth. I mixed my herbs in the dashi broth and it was yummy….

When we landed I fell in love with the floral design of the airport- REAL ORCHIDS!! ALL OVER!!

Before our ferry to Zamami we had some time to spare and had a quick lunch in Naha at Gohan Cafe. We were greeted inside by the sweetest older owner, who told us he moved in the last few years to Okinawa. He used to be a salary man before wanting to live another kind of life. It came out that it was Drew’s birthday and he brought us a special tea for dessert.

Everything was homemade, I had the ebi-mayo (shrimp) and Drew had ginger pork.

Zamami is my favorite island of the ones we visited and the one I would solely go back to next time. Maybe this is because of the intimacy of the place. Or maybe the criteria for Zamami being my favorite is simple, it has the clearest and bluest of blue waters, with the most pristine beaches. As usual I will write about food but with an addition of beaches/activities, and what I would do and not do again.

Zamami is a part of the Kerama island chain, many of which are barely inhabited. They have their own water color “Kerama Blue”, which is so clear you can see the bottom from the middle of the ocean. There is no sediment flying around while you are diving, this is rare even in the most beautiful places.

We were in Zamami for 3 nights. To get there you must fly to Okinawa and then take an hour-long ferry to the island. On the ferry they were playing a show where two Japanese personalities go to the US and do a hot dog eating contest. I love hotdogs but a strong choice to show on a bumpy boat ride, it made me laugh. Meanwhile, I press the pressure point on my wrist for seasickness.

Since everything is by the port, it is easy to walk. Normally we rent a car anywhere we go but there is this other sort of freedom when you are only able to go where your feet can take you. There is a charm to the island, an old lady selling toasts out of a window, the same local old drunk that you see on the same corner daily, the stray cats, and the several public kitty litter boxes that are splayed around the island for them.

I am a new comer so I don’t get to have a say, I am sure locals feel like it has already changed a lot. But I hope it doesn’t change too much, it feels like it is in the perfect spot without a any big hotels. What all of the islands do such a respectful job of is how strict they are with teaching coral rules and ocean care. You rarely see trash around beaches and everyone is very responsible.

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Hello Bunnies,

For this edition of Bunny + Friends we follow a week in the beautiful life of Jessica Menuck. Jessica and I met maybe 6? years ago but knew of each other prior for being cute girls who like to eat. We met through many mutuals friends and she was an OG Bagel Bunny. In the end connected over our love for cooking. There was a time where Jessica made Peanut Butter for a Bagel Bunny event and that’s how I knew she was serious. Not only does she make something, she always makes it cuter than it’s original form. I admire her for her love of scrapbooking ( something I have been saying I would pick back up since high school…the time has yet to come). One of my favorite memories in my old apartment in NY was when Jessica came over and we had taco night. We made beans and homemade tortillas and Jess made a Pozole.

Her week looked like a dream.. enjoy everything that she loved…and she confirms my belief that margaritas are the taste of summer.

Hi Bunnies! My name is Jessica. I’m so excited to be writing on The Bunny Diaries. Sakura and I have a mutual love for food and adorable things. So it feels really special to be sharing a bit about myself / my week on her amazing substack <3

I am located in New York City. I’ve been living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for ~4 years? Wow. Time really flies. This week, I escaped the NYC heat wave to upstate New York, where my boyfriend’s family has the most adorable cabin. I always love coming here because it genuinely feels like a dollhouse. It’s super lived-in and bare-bones, but it’s extremely charming and almost feels like a time machine. I always joke that I feel like I’m inside a Pinterest board while I’m here.

• For the ride up I prepared several PB&J’s. Peanut butter is my favorite food ever and I exclusively make my own. It’s SO MUCH BETTER homemade.

• The minute we got to the house I insisted we go for a walk. I love walking so much, it’s my favorite form of exercise. We filled our water at the stream irrigation system that Sam and his dad built for the house.

• That night, we made a steak dinner. We were all craving margaritas after the intense heat, and let me tell you... as someone who doesn’t drink much, this margarita HIT THE SPOT. It was everything. I ended the night with an outdoor shower.

• The next morning, I woke up and did a Pilates video with this dream setup. I made the amazing decision to leave a yoga mat and a set of weights here during my last visit. I take my morning movement pretty religiously, it’s my favorite part of the day to just be with myself and in my body. I’ve gone through many different workout phases, but I always come back to mat Pilates. It makes me feel taller, stronger, and more present.

  

I went to the local farmers market with Andrea (Sam’s mom), and we had the best time browsing and buying local produce. The selection was so abundant and lush that we both got really excited and inspired to cook for the rest of our time there.

I love to cook myself, but I 100% become Sam’s mom’s sous chef whenever we’re up here together. I learn so much from cooking with her. She has the best pantry filled with all the best spices, beans, and everything you could ever need.

• We stopped by Allison Roman’s small shop, First Bloom, a few towns over, and I loved seeing these Italian strawberry candies. They always remind me of my dear friend Charlie Hourston because I tried my first one when we were out to dinner together a few years ago. She couldn’t believe I’d never had one before.

• I ended up keeping that fated wrapper and pasting it into my junk journal so the memory could live on forever. Journaling and scrapbooking with all the little things I love holding onto brings me so much joy. Holding onto special ephemera (some may call it trash since it’s mostly packaging and wrappers) and collecting it all in one place feels like creating a visual, tangible archive of my life and the things I love.

• There wasn’t much to do in this heat, so I ended up lying in the grass and reading my book for part of the afternoon before heading to this little hidden creek paradise. I couldn’t believe I’d never been here before. It was completely shaded, so it felt significantly cooler. The water was so cold that I could only dip my feet in, but it was the most serene little hideaway to beat the heat.

• Sausage and lentils is by far my favorite Andrea Gentl specialty. This meal feels so balanced, and it really hits the savory spot. Plus, I’m a mustard enthusiast, so I always get extra excited to pair sausage with a grainy mustard.

  

• The strawberries from the farmers market were the best strawberries I’ve ever had in my entire life. They were as sweet as candy. I also couldn’t get over how adorable the strawberry tops were!! They looked like little tie dye elf hats!!

• At the local hardware store, I spent 30 minutes admiring the paint colors. I just absolutely love color and feel so deeply connected to it. Colors tell stories to me, and I’m drawn to their synergies, combinations, and the emotions they evoke. I believe color is one of the most powerful forms of expression we have. One of my favorite books of all time is The Secret Lives of Color by color historian Kassia St Clair. It explores the histories and stories behind 75 different colors, dyes, and hues, and it’s so fascinating, beautiful, and endlessly interesting.I think someone’s favorite color says so much about them. I also LOVE listening to the Farrow & Ball podcast.

  

• I saw these beverages at a cafe we drove about 45 minutes to get to, and I felt so deeply connected to the design. I love literally everything about them…the colors, the animated people jumping around, the shapes. I just live and die for these cans.

THANK YOU, BUNNIES, for reading about my week of beating the heat. I hope you all have the most magical rest of your summers! Xoxo

I write to you from the island of Zamami, which a part of Okinawa’s Kerama Islands. It is home to about 500 residents and is a part of a protected national park. It is hot and the cicadas are buzzing, the water is is a special kind of blue. Everything here feels like a part of a certain time, colors all match the same tone, faded from the strong sun. In contrast, under water, I saw a million fish of vibrant colors yesterday.

Now that I live in Japan I needed to find new general doctors. I am healthy so don’t worry but finding the right doctors can be intimidating especially in a new place. First stop, I went to the OBGYN, I had no idea how high tech this experience could be. I am not pregnant BTW, for all of those people assuming that with marriage comes an immediate baby… The waiting room was floor the ceiling windows that overlooked a major street in Shibuya. Everything was lightly designed with a woman’s touch, filled with light pastel colors, every seat topped with a fluffed Marimekko cushion.

Phase 1 - I met face to face with the doctor in an office room. Phase 2 - I met face to body with the doctor. I was led into a room with just a chair and a curtain hanging from floor to ceiling. The nurse said take off your bottoms and sit on the chair. She left - I asked aloud, “Is it okay to just sit?” I sat for a moment and then they said, “okay, ready? The chair started to move. I rolled back and the legs moved under the curtain I was somehow laying down now with my legs open. I could hear the doctor speaking to me from the other side of the curtain.

They performed the general pap - normal but nothing was cold or pokey like it has been in the past. I felt like strange to not see her face but I guess it was for the sake of the client to feel more comfortable? I am just mind blown this experience still.

The next doctor that I went to was a Chinese medicine doctor, though he was a part of a larger medical clinic. I was looking for a general doctor, but someone who also would be interested in other forms of care and someone who knew that everything is connected. He checked my tongue, pushed points in my stomach, and asked me many questions. I did some blood work, and he put me on some herbs for two weeks to help with some exhaustion and other symptoms I am feeling. I drink them morning and night with some hot water, and I like the taste of them. Thank God. We’ll see how I feel. They cost about 800 yen for the supply of 2 weeks which is almost 5$.

It’s funny here: you have to go back to the doctor after a week to get your results because no one uses the digital portals. I think that’s sort of how they continue to make money, since everyone’s pretty much insured here. I paid about $20 for each, I guess what you call a copay. I am just on this journey to find these different sorts of health things that feel right no matter where I am in the world. Even though Japan is super health-conscious, I find it hard to find a lot of things. This seems to be true for many of my other friends as well. Such as acupuncture that is focused on going deeper. For the most part, here, the acupuncture is very much for the muscle, for body pain, less for what I was getting treated for in the US that is more for the connection to the internal.

Drew’s been taking a lot of photos this year, he started a website that feels really like a time capsule of now. If you’d like to see, here you go.

Anyways here are some things J’adored Last Week:

-Veggie Tempo is a vegetarian buffet, I guess you would call it. You get an hour for about ¥1,500, which is about $12 US dollars, and you can eat unlimited delicious vegetables.

My absolute favorite thing was the carrots. They love carrot rillette in Japan. I’m so amazed how often I see it on a menu, but this was very sesame-forward, I cleared out the container of it. Even though it’s vegetarian, I did have a side of chicken, so I guess it’s not fully vegetarian, but the buffet itself is. There were some pickles, some curry, some glass noodles, and salad. I really, really loved what they’re doing here.

-I made bagels for the first time in a really long time. I obviously travel with my starter anywhere I go in the world, which is a really fun journey. Since I’ve been in Japan, I’ve allowed my time to be used as a recovery from baking and trying to find and define what I want this next phase to look like for myself.

I’ve made little steamed buns with my starter and different things at my grandparents, especially since a lot of people don’t have ovens here. It was really sweet to meet people who have been following my journey for a long time and got to try it. It just made me feel reconnected to that and brought back this excitement that I had with Bagel Bunny. It also reminds me of how valuable it is to have your own space in order to do the things that you really like.

I was having my period and decided that I had to have ramen, even on the hottest day in Tokyo, because sometimes, even though it’s hot, you have to make it hotter. We walked about 20 minutes, and I thought my legs were going to fall off. I had this ginger ramen, and essentially they had tubs of grated ginger between every 2 people. That would be my nightmare: to be the person who grates the ginger. I’m sure they have a better process than by hand, but oyyy to imagine. This ramen is a bit oily for my preference, and the noodles were a little bit soft, but the broth was really cozy. Especially with the ginger, it just felt like a hug.

At COMARU, you stand around a circular wooden bar, and it’s very casual and chill. All I want to talk about is this plate gyoza. It was essentially the insides of a gyoza all cooked in a pan, but the wrapper sort of stringed out. They cut it into strips and then put it on top of the topping to cook, so it forms into this sort of flat dumpling. Ireally enjoyed this version. This over a bowl of rice..Dinner.

I got to take my friend, Allison, from New York to my favorite yoga class. It was such a pleasure to be able to share something that has such an impact on me every week. If you are interested in this teacher and are in Tokyo, I’m happy to share that. Send me a message. After yoga, we went to Cosmos Juice, I always get the beet juice when I go, but skip the matcha it was watery. Allison and I met because she is a client of mine and just someone who is so excited by the food scene. She is the first person to know about any new project anywhere in the world. I have no idea how she finds these things and we always joke that we will start a concierge agency because we love restaurants worldwide and are always are looking for the people who just get it. She is a writer too and wrote a very iconic movie, Uptown Girls. I didn’t know this for about a year of knowing each other, but it just made sense once she told me. She has this classic NY energy and connection to the feminine. We encourage each other with our constant story ideas and of course with food. I look forward to the day Allison is a guest on Bunny + Friends. Sometimes when I don’t believe in myself - I remember that Allison believes in me.

-We also had our other close friends, Dannah and Isa in town, and there’s something so joyous about them. Constantly enwrapped in whatever project either is working on while also being continuously present. That combo can be hard to find at times.

We went to go see the Ron Mueck exhibition at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi, and I was just mind-blown. When I saw photos of his work in the past, I couldn’t really understand it digitally or printed on a small piece of paper. But being in these rooms with the scale of his work felt otherworldly. Beyond the scale there is the texture, the realness, the fake-ness, all of it being together made you practically question reality. We got to see this documentary that was made on Mueck’s process, which was as valuable as seeing the work on its own. Work that makes you want to make work is the most important.

After that, we went to Pignon for dinner, and at a table full of allergen people, it was accommodating and easy and delicious. It was maybe even better than I remember. We were sweating because there was no AC, and it was so hot, and we were drinking a perfect wine which normally makes heat feel stronger. It felt like we were in this sort of sweat lodge of yummy-ness, which almost made it into a kind of heightened experience.

-For Drew’s birthday, I got tickets to the symphony at NHK Hall. There is something about a symphony that is one of the highest forms of inspiration. My current and new favorite instrument is the violin. It changes often, though. There’s something about watching someone play the violin that feels like dancing with a ghost. Going forward and backwards, practically levitating off of the chair. It’s romantic in the most serious way, I could cry. I probably cried.

Before that, we went to REI in Yoyogi Uehara, which is apparently impossible to get into. It wasn’t hard, so I don’t know what the whole thing was about. We both got a lunch set. Drew had the drooling chicken, and I had the mapo tofu (of course. I am sorry if you are tired of hearing those words). There was steamed yuba that wrapped around corn and pork. It was deep and flavorful, and I loved the pickles on the side with the egg drop soup. We had a refreshing annin tofu for dessert, it is like cold almond pudding. REI seems to understand a restaurant’s flow, they were efficient. Though still the best mapo tofu I have found and love, is my favorite Chinese restaurant in Tokyo. I eat there at least once a week. I can’t help it..

Anyways back to the beach,

Sakura

Today on the blog we have the ORIGINAL bunny + friend, Olivia Vigo.

For those of you new here, Bunny and Friends is where I have a dear friend document the foods and other things that they loved over a week.

Olivia and I were roommates in 2019. Before that we weren’t close yet, she roommate proposed to me in Dimes while I ate green pozole and drank a martini while we were out with a group of downtown girls. She said, “ I found this carriage house in the back of an alley on 15th street and I will only live there if you do it with me.” I thought she was joking. I had just gotten out of a relationship and needed a place to live. I was convinced. The landlord was 94 and her southern nephews were the supers. This place was built in the late 1800s and it showed it. Olivia really decided to make it our own, it became her project. Olivia retiled the floor with marble tile bought off of a man on FB Marketplace and added the perfect green linoleum to our counters.

I brought in a huge dining table and we decorated the walls with a mix of our million styles combined. We hosted dinners and bbqs because our carriage house had a courtyard… it was an apartment out of a fever dream.

She was dating Sam at the time (hi Sam), and I was slightly wild + single. Sam would come over after dinner sometimes and look at us in his then boyish ways and say something along the lines of how happy he was knowing he had our dinners to come to. I felt the same way. If it was late at night he would be like my sister and ask for a sweet treat. We would melt chocolates and make random potions all together before all retiring for the night.

Olivia’s mom is a nutritionist, her dad a beekeeper and hunter. She had this northern California sensibility to her cooking. Personally as an LA girl, she reminded me that good bread isn’t bad for you and the vegetables can be a main. I still make her green potatoes to this day, and anytime I eat Wasa crackers I think of her. We would order Pylos greek food for delivery often and I miss that. We would drive around in her Toyota Highlander (RIP) blasting Lana Del Rey and Gillian Welch, up and down 5th avenue. I don’t even know where we were going. She would wear my weird hats around the house with me if I asked. I have not met anyone as herself as she is. And she really let me be my own way too.

My thesis in college was a project called Having a Meal with You. Where I documented recipes that I made with a chosen few from my life who made me feel a sense of comfort and home. While we cooked the recipe, we dissected what it means to be in relationship. It became a sort of poetic cookbook, that I had never printed (covid…). Olivia was one of the guests, she was such a comfort for me especially at this time.

Olivia is an artist in the best sense. When she isn’t working on her own personal projects, she is making Pick Me Dolls, which were created while we lived together. She would dye huge vats of old fabric with natural dyes and spend the evening sewing antler buttons onto these little things. They are the coolest dolls. When we were living together she did a lot of metal work and was making these felted flower stools.

ANYWAYS here is what Olivia just J’adoreeeeedd last week:

Bunny diaries JDL3/4W (jadore last three to four weeks)

Sakura sent me a draft of the introduction above and it was so sweet it made me smile ear to ear. Living with her for 2019 and 2020 marked me in ways she may never realize. It changed all of my cooking habits – I learned more from her in that year than perhaps any other time, and to this day there are still staples I make weekly I picked up from Sakura.

Bunny readers, please note that I am not a foodie, especially since becoming a single woman at the start of this year, I do not benefit from the wine-and-dine indulgences I was once spoiled with by my past boyfriends, which, in all honestly, I’m happy about, because I feel great in my body these days. I eat for utility and budget purposes; 3 solid meals with an occasional snack if I need it. That’s breakfast at home, a snack like PB&J, lunch packed or near our studio (not the best options) and dinner at home 75% of the time, or otherwise out with a friend or alone wherever I happen to be at 6:30 pm. My mother is a dietitian so I have had the “complete meal”thing on lock since I was very young. I haven’t been taking pictures of food recently so when

Sak asked me to do this I admittedly forgot to document 99% as what I eat day to day is certainly not picture worthy.

Pic 1

The beginning of this food diary is pathetic, because a few weeks ago I went on an~eventful~ date (I was meeting someone I hadn’t seen in 12 years, so I picked a place where I was certain I wouldn’t see anyone I knew. Lo and behold, within 10 minutes of sitting down, an ex-boyfriend from that exact era walked out and saw us. I spent the next two hours reeling.) and then woke up the next morning with horrifying food poisoning. I am susceptible to this so I expected that everything would clear up in a few days. On the contrary, it lasted for two weeks until I went to the ER with even worse undisclosed symptoms. They ran a bunch of tests which came back positive for a parasite called Cyclospora (disgusting) which funny enough is now allover the news, maybe I was patient 0.. or 10. Anyway, for what felt like the whole month of June (it comes back!!!!! Take the antibiotics!!!) I only ate extremely bland foods. I now have a weird fear of raw veggies and fruit, which I used to eat in some way or another everyday. My safe zone has been: rice with tons of cooked spinach, eggs or boiled chicken, toast, applesauce, PB, oats, milk, yogurt, fruits with peels (protected) or frozen and blended as a bowl base and cooked potatoes of all kinds. After taking antibiotics, I’m mostly back to normal but eating bland has proven to be nice on the system so my own cooking has stuck to that since.

Pic 2 - Dinner at my older sister Natalie and soon-to-be-brother-in-law CJs after moving them into their new place – which is 5 minutes down the street from me. This has been the most goated blessing because this year I experienced my best friends moving away (all girls, even worse) it’s made me very emo and loner, but it’s also made me a lot closer to my family so thank you Natalie for joining me in Fort Greene and when will #morgan come to visit us.

We ordered Wei’s. It’s my go to Szechuan delivery. Even better in the morning cold. Stomach issues instantly but it was very good.

Pic 3, It had been a while since I had friends over, and Jacky Flowers was finally in town, so I had him and Eve for dinner. I love cooking, a lot. It’s a creative therapeutic output experiment.I’ve private cheffed (now only on occasion) for a family for years, so I have some credibility in my kitchen competence. I wanted to do something easy and filling: I made a big niçoise salad (soaked all vegetables in water to clean) with poached salmon and a carb freestyle – sourdough sliced and baked with butter and miso, topped with fresh celery and parmesan. This felt like one of those combos that was subconsciously influenced by Sakura. Jacky and Eve used to come over for dinner a lot when Paris lived here with me years ago, so it was a lovely time, I miss the original Adelphi dinner parties.

I also baked (slightly burnt) oats with coconut oil, blended dates, and brown sugar and then sprinkled it over vanilla ice cream for dessert, no pics sadly. Extremely delicious.

Pic 4

Then it was my birthday-eve. Some friends surprised me after work which I was not prepared for. We went to Rhodora after and had some small bites which was nice. Here is a pic! I love their plates, The actual day of my birth (June 23rd) I went and saw John from Keisy after work, who does acupressure massage. Every visit feels like rebirth. The real ones know John. I love John. If you are in NY and need to feel a painful but effective transformation for your body, you can go visit him, too. Jessi put me on ¿6? years ago, and it’s been a regular visit ever since. Those who see John usually all text each other that they have just seen John so you get the “ ugh, Ieed to go effect” he is that good. Don’t eat anything a couple hours before. I think it’s more effective when you’re not digesting anything.

Pic 5 OK this has been my new RITUAL

I run in the mornings and have always had a dance with eating because if I eat too much I feel sluggish and if I eat nothing I have no energy. I saw that IG health girl Valerie Ribon videos and was influenced so I started adding bovine gelatin to my coffee (1 full tbsp) with a spoonful of maple syrup or honey (for carbs) and a dash of milk. Life changing!!! I guess it’s just having a homemade gel. I like the consistency too; it’s slightly thick. I also think gelatin is super good for the skin !!! It leaves me feeling amazing all morning. Also if you add an ice cube and let it sit for a half hour you have yourself coffee jelly which was something I learned existed when visiting Tokyo and it’s absolutely delicious and fun to eat with a spoon!

Pic 6: Skincare tray has been looking very nice recently. I picked up a new tub of Summer Solace. The big tubs last me 6 months. I feel like I’ve been on a skincare journey with no end in sight since I was 15 years old. I am an Accutane preacher (for those who have no hope like my past self). The first time I took it I was 19 and had just come back from a long trip to India. My skin freaked out and continued upon my return, so my dermatologist wrote me a prescription, which transformed my skin (duh).But everything changed again when I abruptly went off birth control for the first time since I was 16, at age 22. Six months after stopping, my skin freaked out again, deep cystic acne, everywhere. So I did another round. Ever since I have had 0 problems aside from nursing it back to being smooth and hiding scars. I am sure this is because of Accutane but I do believe it’s because I do not take birth control anymore (6 years free from that sh*t) which was the devil or my body and my mind.

Morning is usually just cold water. This is followed by vitamin C serum, some sort of other serum because it’s fun to dab on, moisturizer (either the fancy iS Clinical one or Vanicream and then, I let this rest before adding a generous layer of sunscreen on my face, ears, neck, and chest (la roche posay).

Night: I work in a big build studio with dust all over so I have to wash my face every night in the shower. I use cerave hydrating moisturizer, then two to three times a week I use tretinoin .05% followed by tallow. Three times a week is Biologique Recherche P50V, followed by a hydrating serum, then moisturizer. I have learned of horror stories with people mixing p50 with other hardcore stuff and this is your reminder to rotate nights, and also not to use p50 and go in the sun. Once a week, only tallow. I also use silicone scar gel on any mark and I swear by it! I had a surgeon remove something on my neck and he put me on I have 0 scars after that, and also reduced marks on my face. It’s been lit. Also, I usually give myself a massage every time I put on my tallow that mimics gua sha movements because I am a little lazy when using my actual gua sha.

Also skin tip - hibiscus water and rose petal water, I have been rotating making the two and keep them in the fridge. Skin close-up shot from the airplane hellurrr.

Pic 7

I forgot to write things down for a week, so flash-forward to last night, when I saw Jessi and her new baby Jean Rose. She is next level cute. Jessi is the first person I am close with to have a baby and it’s a total trip to see someone make a real human and wow does it give a gal a dose of baby fever.

We went to Rolo’s and had their burger which is usually sold out, I grade it a B. I didn’t care for the pepper. Would have rather had a pickle or some sort of potato, kinda a rip off that it’s just a burger and nothing else, the bun was good. Too much sauce. We had a really good pea salad which I forgot to document that would be easy to recreate at home (pesto, mint, fresh snap peas, beets cubed and slightly cooked i think?). I love Jessi a lot. She feels like a wise older sister and I feel grateful every time I get to spend time with her, which is rare these days but it fills me up with a lot of love.

Pic 8

Sakura and I on a double date years ago while eating food. Girl friends are the greatest blessing.

BYE!!!!!!!!!!

Some housekeeping reminders: if you are a paying member I would love to send you a postcard from Japan. Please private message me the best address and I will send you something cute (I am collecting).

It is getting hot in Tokyo, everyone has their mini electric fans out and cooling packs around their necks. Everyone’s hair still looks perfect and I tend to look like a melting mouse with my hair sticking to my face. Where the trash used to never smell here, I am starting to get whiffs of my past life in New York. Mouse she is.

Anyways here is what I loved last week:

The drama in question is these wedding photos. So you all thought we were just engaged but actually we are married. We weren’t really going to say anything about our wedding plans at all but what’s the point when it is just so fun. There is something I feel like I want to keep private in getting married. It is this unknowable thing that is only for two people and not the rest of the world. Nonetheless I will also share some sweet moments.

My family was in town (except for Kono) and my grandparents can’t travel anymore so we thought, while we are living in Japan we should all do it. It was so nice to be able to all be together. In Japan it is rare to see a big wedding like we are used to seeing in the States. Most of my friends here have done something intimate or a party/banquet at most. Everyone does a photoshoot though. And so did we. We will eventually do something in the States privately with our other close family and then something bigger with friends. A tour as I mentioned. As much as I like being a girl, being a bride is not really something I am particularly interested in. And I feel sort of bad saying that. I like dressing up and being cute and planning celebrations but I don’t feel inclined to walk down an aisle or do what I am supposed to do. It can just be our way. We did the photos with family and had a Yakiniku dinner at a place by grandparent’s home that we always used to go to as kids. I bought a random strawberry shortcake and had a separate cookie shop make a merengue decorations for the topping, which broke and I glued it all before we went. I love Drew for always being down for any idea I may have.

I am obsessed with Nihongami, the traditional Japanese hair. I wish someone could do this to me everyday. My hairdresser told me woman used to sleep with this and use a lot of oil the make it stay.

In May, we had gone to city hall to file paperwork. We sat at a desk going over paperwork for hours. It was so anti-climactic I had to ask at the end “So we are good right?” No one said you may kiss the bride but we got a photo next to the paper mâché rainbow heart they have in the office. I tried to bring the woman helping us a small slice of cake when we were waiting for the paperwork to file and when I tried to hand it to her they said it could be seen as bribery so they couldn’t accept it…

Later at night we did fireworks at my grandparents’. It takes me back to childhood.

Before all of this we went Hokkaido and had the nicest time fly fishing with Kakeru-san. It was rainy and cold and nonetheless wonderful. I missed fly fishing with my dad. He is so good at it, I forget sometimes. He is never calm in the same way as he is on the river. Even up to a few days before the trip I thought dad wouldn’t make it to this trip, I teared up as I tangled my line in the tree above me.

A piece of Baumkuchen on a log in the river.

Kakeru-san arranged for a BBQ dinner at the most beautiful dairy farm, run by his friends. He had texted me earlier in the week saying, “oh, do you want to have dinner at my friends house.” I thought it was going to be chill, and it was but we arrived to a whole beautiful set up in a concrete building overlooking the pastures where the cows grazed. We roasted waffles in the fire and ate meat from the animals on his farm. This milk was my favorite milk that I tried in Hokkaido and they were known for making milk jam, milk whisked with sugar. The owner of the farm told me how the farm was in his family for 3 generations but when he took it over he decided that he needed to get down to the science of the soil in order to raise good cows. He redesigned and worked to create the best ecosystem for the cows for years before having the milk become this good again.

We stumbled across a restaurant run by a woman and her daughter, that opened in the 80s. Nothing had been changed on the menu. Items were handcrafted and everything felt untouched. It felt like being in a fairy home.

We went to Kamakura and went to all of our spots. You can read about this on an older post I did while there. A new highlight for me was this bottarga pizza from Takeru Quindici.

In the morning, we went to Eeny , finally found a breakfast place that was practically a diner. Something that I truly miss about living in New York.

If you missed our Tokyo Wedding Merch (there are more details on a note I posted last week)

I miss my family and wish I could hang with them every day.

After it all, Drew and I were are back in Tokyo. I had been desperate to try this Chinese place and we finally went. We were the only people in the space while the chef did everything himself. I have thought about this food every.single.day. since. I am hoping to try and go as often as humanly possible. And I love it so much I wrote a google review ( which I never do) in hopes of bringing their rating up.

Maybe I should just go there now for a little lunchtime dumpling…

In other news, I am back on my harmonica learning some songs.

Hope you are having fun,

Sakura

Hi Bunnies,

I write to you from a family trip, there was just a gentile earthquake as I typed this and the rain started to pour. It is the beginning of a typhoon. But more on that next week. And more on my Japanese wedding photo shoot next week.

These days I am reading David Sedaris’ new book and laughing out loud, he is my all time favorite. #addmeongoodreads. My dream is to go shopping with him in Tokyo and then eat something yummy together. He is the only famous person that would make me nervous because I know he would judge me and I admire him so much.

Reminder: that if you are a paying member I would love to send you a postcard from Japan. Please private message me the best address and I will send you something cute (I am collecting).

Anyways, here is what I adored recently:

Neighborhood

Let me tell you a story that gave me joy. The owners of my daily neighborhood café are the chicest people of all time. They are together and maybe my parent’s age, they both have their own swag. Every day Mi-san wears a single tight, long braid down her back while stacks of dark silver earrings ornament her whole earlobes. She wears black glasses, sneakers, and always a cool tight pant with a slightly oversized t-shirt. When I see her out she is carrying a decorated Birkin. Yoshi, the barista and main owner it seems goes home each day and bakes all of the pastries from sugar donuts to peanut butter cookies. He wears aprons with block prints of lady bugs on most days and has a collection of interchangeable vintage caps. He makes designs on the tops of espresso with intricate kanji milk but my favorite design so far is below. One day I had complimented Mi-sans earrings, I asked where she got them. She answered that they were her own brand, Punkadelic. She handed me some stickers and I followed her on Instagram. I came in the next morning and while I waited for my matcha she brought me a little silvery pouch and inside was an earring. She said it was a gift. I was shocked. I offered to buy it and she told me she is not making anymore for the moment but was happy for me to have one of her own. I teared up and had a literal pep in my step for the rest of the day. There are only so many feelings similar to that of having a neighborhood. I recognize the people and the dogs and they recognize me.

Favorite Indian Restaurant Unlocked 🗝️

You guys… Fuck. We found it. You pretty much need a reservation to get in at Shiva Curry Wara, we tried to walk in but had to make a reservation for a week later. So we made it for a 4 top and invited my childhood friends with us. The naan is still better and crispier at Bharati, but we did have a fig and nuts naan here. The yogurt chickend dish is the most tender, yummy angel baby food you could ask for. For curries we had deer keema, lamb cilantro, and butter chicken. The deer keema was made to be the best friend of the fig naan. We also ordered salad and some beef kebabs. The food to the people to the whole interior is unmatched.

Soba

I came to Aoyama Kawakamian with my friend Sam a few months ago and have been dying to go back. I recently asked a friend where they always go when they are in town and they said here - I felt confirmation of how good it is. Besides the fact that I ordered the same soba - grilled duck of course, we ordered all different cooked appetizers. What makes their food standout isn’t the soba necessarily but that they have an elaborate and excellent menu surrounding it. This fucking grilled miso chicken was so moist and perfectly charred, I crave it. We ordered a salad, and some fried lotus roots with crab tucked between each layer. I want to make this but single layered with shiso on the other side. I recommend having a reservation.

Hello Kitty

So I had to go to the Sanrio exhibit at the Mori Art Museum before it closed. Sanrio is the creator of Hello Kitty, among many other famous cuties. I learned that Sanrio started as a gifts company making many greeting cards before launching many of their now famous characters. After walking through the museum I had to eat at the café. It ruined my stomach for the whole day but then again I just needed to try the pulled pork Hello Kitty potato salad sandwich … When in Rome. Other items on the menu includes Kuromi cake and Melody Parfaits. I am now inspired to start a stationary company.

Corn as Baby

My friend had a baby and I just keep holding items, pretending objects are the baby since I am so far away. I cried when I saw she was at the hospital having birth, it was a mix between being so excited for her and the feeling of being so far away. The dream of being with your friends for every life event is impossible. I had a vision that I would be there to cook for her when she gave birth. It’s really cool of her and of every parent. I love you Kate.

Found a new teacher

This yoga teaches uses tuning forks on the body and truly the way she uses her body it move your body is unlike anything I have ever felt. It is body work in its own way. Private message me if you would like her info.

Cooking at home

-This week I made a Chicken Bolognese with rigatoni with a side of sautéed kale, that Drew said was too salty, I guess I agree.

-Breakfast. Himono, air dried fish from Kamakura that apparently has more nutrients because of the drying process. I made a side of veggie miso soup.

-Sunset Dinner. Though I didn’t make a thing, I bought it all at Dean + Deluca and it wasn’t cheap considering it wasn’t mind blowing. We sat at the park and watched the dogs chase each other while the blues turned gray and into the pinks.

Thank you so much for reading.

Have fun -

Sakura

So I have been trying to be good. Go to bed by 10, drink less, yada yada. I love it. Though, I am learning that I have other feelings than love towards it.

My close friend Alara and I share a Google Doc that we have been writing in for 6 years. It is one where we exercise writing and emotions and allow for a back and forth dialogue. It is one of my safest spaces and one of the ways we have stayed close while living in different cities the whole time. She said this week that she is tired of being good and she just wants to be herself. I have been thinking a lot about this because I know she doesn’t think that means she is inherently bad but to always follow rules and always do what you think you should do can make life feel rigid. I won’t speak for her but I have also been feeling this. I like rules, I do. But I also like to party and dance until my feet bleed.

I started doing some work for my friend’s bar in Tokyo last week and am usually used to working early mornings. Compared to a NY bar, I get home early maybe around 1-1:30 am. It is safe on the train ride home with many people around. I sat there last night on the train with my phone at 4 percent watching everyone around me. A man with buck teeth, a belly, and round glasses with his eyes closed. He giggled to himself with his headphones in - I imagined him listening to a comedy special. The girl next to me was full goth with a Kuromi chain attached to her phone an open brick pack of Seven Star cigarettes and nothing else. She clutched the wobbly pack like a baby. I sat there reflecting on Karaoke Night, laughing to myself about how I once was shy to sing in front of a group of strangers. I love to sing and if you know me well you’ve probably been annoyed by how at home I can’t stfu - everything is a song. I can’t help it, it just comes out.

Sitting there, I felt annoyed I wasn’t in bed already. Though this thought immediately changed to where I wondered to myself, “Girl, how old are you?” I’M IN MY MF 20S. Who did I think I was, giving myself a bed time. How annoying of me. I laughed, going to bed at 2 am isn’t going to kill me. I was out every single night from the time I was 18 into my 20s, to the point where the days turned into night and then I just kept going. I miss her. Not all of that because a lot of it was reckless but I miss having that spirit. This thought gave me energy and made me want to skip down the street. I sat there on the red fabric seat thinking about how good it felt to be not good. Even if that meant going to bed later than typical (10pm).

Anyways, as always, here is what J’adored last week:

Persian Food in Tokyo My friend Roxy was recently in Tokyo and told me I must go to Bolbol. To quote her, “As a Persian it is better than anything in La.” That is a big statement. I already need to go back, the owner is so kind and the food is so good. If I go again and it is not with 4 people my concise order will be, skip the salads, order the ghormeh sabzi and the beef kebab. I have been thinking of this kebab a lot, it is so moist and to die for.

500 yen = $ 3.12. That’s how much my Thai food for lunch was on my way to my ceramics studio. I think I should start showing you how much everything costs here.

Fireworks in Japan in the summer. Nothing beats it.

After the fireworks I snuck into a ramen shop. This maybe has been my favorite ramen since I have lived in Japan. I mainly go for chicken ramen so if that isn’t your thing…

…then f off. Hehe just kidding. The noodles were perfectly firm, the broth creamy enough but not too salty. Not watery in flavor or texture. Lots of green onion.

Yuppa. Every wrap here is made with Yuba (tofu skin). This concept was really not sexy to me at first but then I fell in love. While all of the other flavors are very asian, Drew and I split this al pastor special. I have been thinking that we should take this business to the US. A healthy, quick, fast food option - just what the finance bros and hoes asked for. Paige sent me this place a few months ago and it took me until now to go.

Ceramics: These aren’t the plates that we ended up buying but I really love her style. This store in Aoyama switches the artist they present every 2 weeks. We stumbled in and the ceramics were all made by Kagami Tsubura, and I was so happy that it was. Walked away with a huge centerpiece bowl.

Nezu Museum

It was my first time here. I loved it so much - not too big - there was a focus. In a less grand way, it felt sort of like the Frick of Japan. All I came on here to say about this place is: I would pay for a ticket even if to only walk around in the garden for the afternoon. As a city person it is my continual goal to always find places that make me feel as though I am in nature.

German Restaurant

We snuck out on a rainy afternoon to Attitude. What a good name, and to clarify no one that worked there had an attitude. The door and windows were outlined in red paint, this detail is one of my dreams for a space of my own.

Finally, I had a non Wagyu steak. I thought I would never utter those words but every time I want steak to cook at home my options from the grocery store are generally only something marbled. We had salmon rilette on saltines and I was washed back to Malibu Seafood’s most delicious salmon paté, a taste of home for me. The shredded carrots were soaked in orange juice and orange peel - a fun shock to the mouth. Drew ordered Jägerschnitzel and the gravy was phenomenal- I kept dipping my fork into it- to have little licks. I really dislike cream sauces, you’ve never seen me alfredo sauce cus I have never had alfredo. On the side of my steak, I had an arugula salad!!!!! Probably my 2nd one in Japan. It is so funny what is easily accessible here, even just doing small grocery shops I laugh at small things. Like if you want celery it is 1 stalk wrapped in a long piece of plastic. 1 stalk! Small things like this feel like joy. Sooo who wants to open a steak frites/martini join in Tokyo?

Other cute things I saw this week

Cooking at home

Made this weird bread at home with my vegetable starter in the fish grill. Tasted not weird though.

On that note, I will be going to bed early tonight.

If you missed Drew’s soft cream coverage a few weeks ago, I highly recommend for any trip to Japan…. I may have had a little treat an hour ago from Serendipity (not the NY classic).

Enjoy yourself,

Sakura

Instead of a classic Bunny + Friends this week, Drew will be giving his non-definitive guide to soft serve cream in Tokyo. I said I will never write a traditional guide but I will let others do it. I assume you all know who Drew is, that’s my guy and I am so impressed with this list. I am not one for sweets but somehow Drew has convinced me overtime to where I even have started craving ice cream these days. When I asked him if he would do a J’adored Last Week for the blog he said he would prefer to write about all of the soft serve he has had since we moved here. Some days he eats 3 in one day.

In my childhood we would spend each summer in Japan, there was a farm called Ida Farms by my grandparents house, it has now closed. We would visit the cows while grabbing a fresh cone of milk ice cream. This memory to me is always my favorite ice cream memory. Even as a kid I thought this is how it should be. Always.

Enjoy…

The Non-Definitive Guide to Soft Serve Cream in Tokyo

By Drew Gleason

I am excited to share with you, followers of my fiancé, my Tokyo passion project. Visibility into the SCS. The soft cream scene. Soft Serve and Soft Cream are interchangeable to me, but here in Japan it’s soft cream only- and it’s important you know that when you’ve opened google maps in search of a cone. If you don’t want to read and have a busy day I’ve made a map that you can save.

~~~LINK TO MAP~~~

Cones aside, I’m excited to be writing something for Sakura. It feels like I am stepping into a forbidden zone and something that has always been uniquely Sakura. However, since we’ve started dating we find ourselves discovering the world and each other through the lens of food. It’s how we show love to each other, our family, and our friends by hosting and cooking. And while she is a baker, her palette naturally leans more savory while I have an unbridled sweet tooth.

This isn’t new news, anyone that has known me knows I have a long history of being an ice cream enthusiast. Funny enough, this year, the association went public as I have been posting cones on my story to much fanfare. The ‘bit’ is my truth, and I don’t believe in gatekeeping so the least I can do is put my research to good use.

My truth is also I was lactose intolerant as a kid. I drank Lactaid for years but the desire for ice cream was greater than the pain of stomach aches so over time and with perseverance (consuming large quantities of dairy) I overcame this hardship. Maybe it was this accomplishment that has pushed me further down cream road. Growing up I requested to skip a birthday cake and opted for an ice cream pie (it’s exactly what you think-ice cream layers, fudge in between, on a crushed Oreo pie crust and whipped cream).

Outside of birthdays, my childhood ice cream resume consists of a perfectly suburban lineup of frozen confections. Blocky scoops of Rite Aid Chocolate Malted Krunch, Dairy Queen Reeses blizzards, drive through Fosters Freeze cones from El Pollo Loco (RIP to that partnership), In-N-Out Chocolate Shakes. If we were balling, Cold Stone, but modestly, never larger than a Like It Size. When I spent the night at my grandma’s she would give us caffeinated frozen yogurt from Golden Spoon (a southern OC chain) and sneak us chocolate milkshakes (Breyers + Hersheys + Milk + Ice)for breakfast before getting picked up. In jr. high and high school, Yogurtland came onto the scene and was a go to date spot… or when I discovered weed my friends and I would get high and get milkshakes at Harbor House diner in Dana Point or Ruby’s Shake Shack in Crystal Cove.

Moving to LA for college at 18 then NY at 25 opened my eyes to new levels- an upgrade in accessibility, quality and price that metropolitan areas have to offer. The bigg chill for the first time with extra cookie dough. Salt and Straw. Magpies. Dodgers and Yankee mini helmet soft serves. Swirls with olive oil and salt at l’industrie/soft swerve/lilia. Butterfield’s. Morgernsterns + Bananas. Caffé Panna (best in NY). On and on. I’m glad there was a gym less than a block away as it was the only thing keeping me neutralized.

Historically, NY isn’t a soft serve city it’s an ice cream city and now apparently a frozen yogurt city. Upstate NY however, is a little more of a soft serve haven. Plentiful dairy farms and charming old roadside stands run by teens and retirees. Local fresh milk supplying these stands, it’d be offensive if not, and you taste all the difference. Since this is a soft serve story I would be remiss to not mention some of my favorite places that made me who I am today. Shoutout Holy Cow, Jolly Cow (competitor?), Lickety Split, Happy Clown, Samascott’s Garden Market, Mickey’s Igloo, 1900 in Philly. A new tier above DQ.

After reading this for the first time I felt bad DQ caught an aimless stray, as they were the place that introduced me to soft serve in the first place when I was a child. I did some digging and as it turns out they really ARE one of the first people to popularize soft serve, a US ‘invention’. The first was Tom Carvell , of Carvells in 1934 (the story goes his truck broke down and he had to sell the soft ice cream. People went Crazy. This was shortly followed by DQ developing a recipe off their backs in 1938 and expanding its popularity with their first store in 1940.

At some point after visiting Italy I transformed from enjoyer to maker. I picked up a Lello Musso machine, a 47 pound behemoth and subscribed to my first Substack at the time, Marie Frank (still going hard and is incredible). I learned about gelatos, ice creams and sorbets from her and some other reading materials recommended from the guy at 1900 who was giving out free game for years. Au natural ingredients with eggs and cream turned into a full on chemistry experiment with gums and glucose syrup and imported ingredients from Italy and experimented with fruits, chocolates, cakes, brittles, and seasonality.

TDLR I am not new to this, I am true to this.

Being here, I’m enjoying understanding how the Japan ice cream perspective differs from the American or Italians’. Speaking in generalizations, there is a stronger affinity for creaminess and milkiness. Utilizing the unbelievable dairy from across the country, especially in Hokkaido and paired with the culture of pursuing greatness, even the most casual spot hits above it’s weight. That and clean, functional ice cream machines with attention to detail in presentation.

In this sense, I don’t need to make a guide. You can keep your eyes peeled on a walk and look for little ice cream cone swirl statues placed outside of purveyor’s doors and windows. Coffee shops, retail stores, stand-alone, bakeries, sit down restaurants, pop ups, to be a soft serve enthusiast you do not have to be an ice cream shop. True that. I’ve seen at least 100 little statues and still have much of the city to discover.

For the guide I wanted to maintain a focused lens, there are some amazing gelaterias and ice cream shops but what drew me in was soft cream. If you read this and have a place you have loved please send it in the comments and will keep the list updates as I try new places. My to do list is at the very bottom.

THE LIST

This list is based off of my own personal preference and palette. I judge off of taste, quality, how much fun I had eating it, presentation, cone, unique traits. For those visiting and skipped the intro, expect the flavor when getting a cone is primarily milk, not vanilla. This throws some people off, but this is what makes soft cream unique in Japan and honors the ingredients, so the list reflects that philosophy

~~~LINK TO MAP~~~

Top 5 — Worth Going Out of Your Way For

*Dolce Tacubo. Earl grey & Maqaw. Unique, ribbony swirl. Quality ingredients, limited cones per day, house made cone, unique rotating flavors. Really have nothing bad to say it was beautiful to look at and amazing to eat. Can’t find it anywhere else.

*Serendipity Farmers Cream. This is purity and concept execution at its finest. 3 or 4 different premium milks turned soft creams from different regions every day. You can taste the subtleties of milk from the regions and what they feed the cows. All Japanese. Only Milk flavors. Definition of purist which I deeply admire.

*Tumugi — Milk with cookie crunch. Like a chic Oreo blizzard. Mild Milk soft serve, crunchy semi sweet chocolate topping. Extremely accessible (in Shibuya station). No reason to skip.

*The Matcha — This drops a tier if you’re living here, but it’s only right to put in the top 5. Get matcha soft serve in the place that produces the best matcha and best dairy in the world.

*Sowa- a little out of the way and a little ugly in the swirl department but top tier flavor, coldness, density, and sweetness. They are a traditional scoop shop but do milk soft cream and a special soft cream daily. -1 for presentation but still takes top 5…for now.

Honorable mention: regional Soft Serves at Roadside Rest Stations — Wasabi in Izu, gold leaf in Kanazawa, white peach in Okayama, 100 flavors in Iwakuni. Seek these out.

Solid — Go If You’re Nearby

Cremia — Everyone has a strong opinion on creamia. Because the best chains are still chains. That said, you should absolutely try it and form your own opinion. Mine came after a long day of snowboarding and it hit exactly right. The soft cookie cone, think Milano, is what elevates it, light texture, just right.

Laitier — Solid Soft serve, deep milk. Would go if I am walking distance. Interesting toppings and good portions.

Butter — Go for late breakfast, I just went for a cone. Pancakes looked amazing on a copper griddle-I got Sakura a stick of salted butter as a gift. Buttery, cone was fantastic and homemade. Slightly cheesy flavor, and beautiful.

North Cream — Too fluffy for me, I like it a little more dense. The milk flavor was almost cheesy.

Tamitu — Solid. The honey was a nice touch but would go only out of convenience if shopping nearby.

Mametora Coffee, Arms, Yoshida Coffee, — My local favorites where soft serve is their hobby not their main practice. This is representative of what you can find in your own neighborhood, similar to the food scene , the bar is high for even the most common experience. Mametora coffee soft cream with the bear hugging the espresso bean >>> this would have likely gone in my top 5 but felt like it was cheating.

Chavaty — I need to go back. Came for the non-dairy tea flavors, ended up with amaou and yomogi strawberry, which ran quite bitter. That said, I watched the staff throw out a perfectly good cone because the swirl wasn’t right, and start over. That counts for something. I would only get the ones with dairy, the non- dairy texture was tough and I would not go back for that.

Filcream— Nice outdoor area, short awkward hours, 100 percent jersey cow milk (breed of cow, not milk from New Jersey I made that mistake…) Soft cream only, light, refreshing. Really great spot.

Melting In the Mouth— To be honest I went purely because of the name. It was perfect small size and was exactly what I needed. Straight down the middle , nice texture, milky.

BonLumiere — Strange mythical hours that make coming impractical. I love a cartoonish tubular swirl and this delivers. Best I have seen served out of a truck.

Food + Company— First cone I had here, made a lasting impression as the first Hokkaido soft cream cone I had. Still remains one of the best. AND you can peruse overpriced groceries at the same time.

Novelties

Family Mart Premade Cones — Mid and artificial, but a genuine novelty. Haven’t seen anything like it stateside.

Coolish by Lotte — Same category. You massage the pack until the texture comes together, but creamy it is not. The sugar crystals stay intact and it skews sweet. Worth noting: Lotte is a ¥2.5 trillion company. Scale and quality don’t always track.

Hakone Tofu Ice Cream

Rice Cream — Amazake base, unlike anything I’ve had. Unnaturally sweet with a waxy finish. I probably won’t go back, but I respect the effort to work with rice and serve the dairy-free/gluten-free crowd. Personally, I’d just get kakigori.

Yoajung — Korea’s number one frozen yogurt, sitting right in the middle of Harajuku. Extremely convenient on a tourist day. The yogurt itself is solid, toppings selection is wide.

Cow Cow Kitchen — Cheese soft serve. Less cheesy than you’d hope, but still.

Overrated, not on the map

KKW Soft Cream — Still worth the visit. Great location and a genuinely good mission — they rescue pugs. But the ice cream itself ran too firm and icy for my taste, the olive oil was bitter.

Shiroichi — The one in Shibuya with the absurdly tall swirl. Visually striking. Texturally, skip it. Firm, not creamy, style over substance. Mediocre flavor. Don’t be tempted by its convenience.

Non-Soft Serve — A Few Worth Mentioning

Floto — A stone’s throw from the apartment and genuinely one of the best pistachio gelatos I’ve had anywhere.

Gelateria Acquolina — Soft serve on weekends. When I visited, the Japanese owner had just returned from training Italians on gelato technique. Truly unprecedented.

Asatte’s Gelato — Tiny house, nice backyard. Small batch, fresh, perfect.

Premarche Gelateria & Alternative Junk- Has a ton of nondairy options all with unique flavors, a wide spread, and most importantly no sense or shame for non-dairy people.

Miyajima Coffee (Hiroshima) — Coffee soft serve with espresso dust. The perfect afternoon. Watch the sunset, pet deer, see the beautiful island. Special memory but was not in Tokyo. You can find incredible coffee soft serve around though if that’s a scratch you are looking to itch add that to your search.

My Hit List

I have the following on my list below that may rearrange the list- New list will drop end of summer as I continue to power through.

La Bonne Grace

Hokkaido Milk Bar

Mayonaka Farm

TabeNenoshi (matcha)

Daily Chiko (8 flavors stacked — skeptical, but I’m open)

Morinoen (hojicha)

Aipuku (same silhouette as Dolce — a classic whodunnit)

Nanaya the matcha shave ice cream place that everyone loves.

~~~LINK TO MAP~~~

wooooo

Drew

I write this as I listen to the new Drake, thinking of hosting a Drake karaoke night. Doesn’t that sound fun?

I wanted to write a classic “J’adored Last Week” for today, but I’m feeling like I want a new form. So I’m going to talk about a couple things I did love, but I’m also going to talk about skincare. I am no pro at all, but I do get many compliments on my skin (not to brag), and many of you have been asking for the routine. Below I go into my staples to my emergency products, the things I must have down to how I have struggled with dandruff for a long time.

Right now, I am making a hibiscus and red raspberry leaf tea. Olivia Vigo reminded me last week how hydrating hibiscus has been, and her skin has been looking off the charts these days. It is my new cocktail.

I will say: we are all different and all need different things, and everything below should be taken with discretion. I am not an esthetician or a doctor. My philosophy is: why fix it if it isn’t broken? Find what works and stick with it. Stop trying everything and anything because someone hot told you to. As I stand here and tell you what to buy… I have never had work done, and I think maybe that is clear. I notice the first details of age in my forehead texture. It’s alllll real, baby.

I struggle with perioral dermatitis and sensitive skin, so I am very cautious of new products. My biggest lesson has been finding the right things and the right people to trust — and then sticking with it. And listening to my skin and its needs.

I cycle many of the products. Maybe I feel extra dry one day and super in need of a deep clean another. If I run out of something, I buy the other thing I like. This cycle usually starts with the season, and we go from there. Somewhere in my mind, I believe this way my skin doesn’t get reliant on anything.

I have products that I have been using since high school because they are good, and I know my skin likes them. I admit I am lazy too. At the end of the day, what I would really like to do is spend time in bed, not having water drip down my elbows.

Before I get into it, here are a couple moments from what I loved last week:

Soup Exhibit at the 21_21 Museum. They said everything that I feel about soup: soup is life, soup is you and me. There were recipe cards, and the work was playful and not serious. I have had soup every day since. After that, we went to lay in the park there, and every family was out picnicking with goods purchased from Dean & Deluca across the street. That night, I made chicken meatballs and cabbage soup.

Sourdough — maybe I should research Tokyo sourdough, as it is not something I see often. But I love this one from 365 Bakery. It is sooo soft in the center and crispy on the outside, and they sell it in small slices so you don’t need a whole loaf. I went back today to buy a piece again, but walked away with one that had figs and raisins in it!!

Drew got me some watercolors in Kyoto, and I have been playing and reminiscing about taking a painting class in college. Sometimes you just have to make the ugliest painting, laugh, and never show anyone. Secrets for oneself.

We went to Savoy, the pizza place everyone is talking about. It was good, but I don’t think I ever need to go back. I think Sam’s Woodfired has a better dough and a higher heat. You can taste the quality of his ingredients. Even Marumo has a nicer set of toppings. The space we were in felt very bare.

Solo dinner last night. I want to eat here every day, and I think that is the highest compliment you could give anyone. I have written about it before, but Grigio makes me feel so comforted. Everyone was a regular, and I sat at the counter while one woman cooked everything for a packed restaurant (and a party downstairs) with four pans total. I watched the people next to me order prosciutto draped over grilled eggplant the way you would over melon. I ordered the ribeye with rosemary potatoes.

SKINCARE TIME

I break this down in categories instead of a total routine and always have a mix of products available. So when my skin feels a certain way I will adjust as needed.

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Before I get into this week’s letter, I wanted to note that if you are a paying subscriber I would love to thank you for your loyalty, please private message me your address and I will send you a personal postcard from Japan. Available to any bunny who becomes a a paying member by July 31st.

Sometimes life is like that

Sometimes instead of going on Vipassana for 10 days you end up in LA. You end up in LA because two people in your immediate family are in the hospital at the same time the day before you leave. They’re fine.

My therapist I had in college said that I would say “You” instead of “Me” to make things feel further from myself. This makes sense. I catch myself doing this to this day. Example above. When I write “I” I feel exhausted by myself and I guess by writing “You” it feels like maybe what I am experiencing could happen to anyone. Because it could and it surely has. Everyone will see the world around them change. Typically we are attached to the weres in life. The way things are but more importantly what they were. Why not just let them be their new way, even if we don’t like it?

The 2 people in my family are fine - they also were just in the hospital about 2 months ago (again at the same time). They are in the hospital for totally different reasons, the invisible string between them just the feelings of stress and the unknown. Before that one of them was constantly readmitted every few months for the last few months. Living with pain. They are fine in terms of safety. Their current mortality. They may not be fine with the pain, the fear, the uncertainties, the reliances. I won’t speak for them.

I am calling this week the gray mornings. The way that there were blue nights for Didion - everyday I wake up to the bright gray hazing over the green mountains. Blue nights - I know them too. But they bring romance to me. These days that feel like a daze are always gray. Even when the sun is out the sun is blinding.

I had a choice between going to my silent retreat or going home. At first I had packed for the silent retreat: packing sheets, a flashlight, toiletries, baggy clothes, towels, trash bags. Nothing I can do from there. At the last moment I took out some of those things and replaced them with things to fly to LA instead. This consisted of work out shoes and snacks I had bought for everyone at 7/11 on my way home. Yuzu, my sister’s puppy, ate my work out shoes before there was even a workout. There is something I can do - and that is to be there.

It is a little more than being there as I walk the dog and help everyone as they aren’t allowed to be alone. I have wondered a lot this week: How do you know when the time is to go back home? I thought maybe I would move to LA next year out of my own desires. While I spend a decent amount of time with my family, I have spent most of the last 10 years living a 6 hour flight away. Now I live about a 10 hour flight away. Would the ecosystem be better if we were all closer?

My sister now knows which divot in the couch her pink water bottle sits perfectly in so she doesn’t have to constantly ask someone to reach and grab it for her. I brush her hair at night and braid it. Rolling Barefoot Dreams socks onto her tiny feet in the morning. We have a slumber party every night now that she is back from the hospital. With Yuzu between us we watch a funny sitcom about cheerleading until we both pass out. This is how it was when we were kids. Always dragging a futon into my parent’s bedroom and sleeping on their floor together. I walk Yuzu now at the strict hours one must with a puppy. Yuzu has barfed on my bed twice since I got here. I think it was nerves. One time she jumped on me at 1am, heaving. I moved quickly while asleep and let her barf on where my pillow was. If I didn’t wake it would’ve just landed right on my chest.

I have lost the schedule in which I sleep, blaming it on jet lag. And I have lost the schedule in which skin care exists. Not that I was on it that much before. This has turned into a sort of silent retreat. Retreating from the day to day going ons - the status quo.

In time there will be new feelings and new things to share.

But I wonder what will make it easier for them?

Nothing.

Letting Go I guess. I am not good at letting go. I am a ride or die for my feelings. If I hear one bad thing about someone from a close friend I tend to stick by their word and protect at all costs. Sometimes I have been proven wrong by that and I quickly apologize.

I can’t argue with him to not put sugar in his cappuccino. I hear myself muttering how the taste of sugar ruins the taste of espresso (FOR ME). I can’t get annoyed when my sister can’t do things on her own because she had a literal tube shoved inside of her all last week.

I can just say Ok. I guess the answer I gave was actually to the question - what would make it easier for me?

What is the difference between letting go, letting someone be and not being controlling. It is the same, right?

The house is so quiet. I put on a Sade radio last night on low just to change the frequency of the air.

A close friend who I share writing with recently sent me this piece of writing that I wrote a few months ago.

I realized this act of rolling rice into little triangles was the only way we know how to show up. It seems that many times, it is cooking that is the only way you can show up for one another.

In my own times of loss food is confusing - I end up just eating snacks or porridge. What sticks out to me is in the moments in which grief begins. I remember losing my house to a fire in 2018 - I was out at a talk by an artist I love, then went to the Cafe Gitane in Soho afterwards. My sister texted me updates of the fire lines as I ordered a moussaka. I bawled over each potatoey bite as the cute servers in their uniforms checked on me. I walked by almost daily for years and it always brought me comfort, this place, a safe haven. I always said, I have to go back and eat the moussaka. This year that original location of Cafe Gitane closed, I have been heartbroken over it. Not because I frequented it often or even like their food that much but simply because it was that place for me.

This was a reminder to me that this is sometimes the only way we know how to show up. And the only way you can at times.

----

I find that now that we are home, all I can do is cook. My mind has been blank except “fill the freezer, fill the freezer.” As my mom has gotten older I know she enjoys cooking less and less. I made turkey meatballs for the freezer, a roasted chicken and date cake for when my sister comes back from the hospital. Homemade chicken sausage and frittatas for a quick breakfast. Baked black sesame bagels in the freezer.

So Idk about J’adore Last Week but here are the foods that are sustaining us. When has a salad ever been comforting with its cold sharp leaves rustling down your throat?

First night back - Nabe, water based with tons of veggies and pork and beef. Side of ponzu and sesame dressing. With rice of course.

2 loaves of my banana bread - one earl grey sesame and one classic with chocolate chips

Frittata with spinach , cottage cheese, and yellow onions.

Savory chicken sausage - but everyone here prefers chicken apple so I am told !

Chili for the freezer

Canned tuna, Have’a Corn chips with guac, and salad. Is Have’a Chips a CA only thing?

I pack a bento to bring to my sister. A bagel with honey some sweets. Teriyaki chicken and bok choy.

Lunch Sando from Basqueria for me and dad

A romantic rose garden at the hospital

Sexy LA things

Teaching Yuzu about cooking

I started going to the Pantry by our house for Matchas and Courage Bagels with my dad. Me in their magazine <33

I had a few hours alone for dinner and was wiped. I stopped by Ralphs and had one of my comfort foods. Amy’s Pizza Pockets. My sister and I have obsessed since childhood. I throw them in the oven and chilled on the couch reading Lena’s book of course.

Green Basil Soup - before I blended it.

Tuna Mayo Rice Balls that my mom made. Dipped in the Ume powder from Mimaki

Turkey meatballs - for the freezer

A roast chicken for our first night all back home together. Carrots Hugging. Date cake with coconut sugar.

Bone broth with the leftovers of course.

Matcha with Ashu’s matcha, soy milk and homemade syrups by Kono

A bean and cheese burrito from Lillys.

Soondubu. You know it’s my favorite food by now.

Eggs and rice for breakfast

I had a gifted delivery of Organic Oren which has truly been such a dream. If you have been reading, you know I love salads but hate making them. This was so nice for the days where the couch was calling our names.

Love you and I hope you are nourishing yourself this week,

Sakura

Ps. Someone said maybe it’s too personal to post something like this. And while I kept specific details and a ton of other thoughts to myself + my family, I don’t know if I can find the point to writing a blog if I can’t write what feels right in the moment.

Thank you for reading. If you like this post, please tap the like button. It makes a difference and means a lot.

Please comment/message for any thoughts or questions.

Follow me on instagram @sakurasmith or @bagel.bunny

When you are lazy,

or have leftover pasta noodles in your fridge,

or simply craving something yummy,

Here is something cozy to make.

It is fast and easy. Always hitting the spot. There are many variations depending on what you have available in your fridge.

Before I get into it, if you are a paying subscriber I would love to send you a postcard from Japan. Please Private Message the best address and I will send one to you this month ! I am so grateful.

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This was written on April 28th so there will be updates to come.

I go on retreat tomorrow, which consists of 10 days of silence.

I spent much of my life around all things spiritual. I was raised Buddhist. Then I was shown other facets of spirituality from my aunt and from simply being raised in LA.

Instead of a team sport my mom would take me to yoga. I was serious and respected practicing but I will always remember one time when my sister and I locked eyes in the mirror while in the front row and had uncontrollable laughter. Holding a pose felt impossible as sweat and giggles dripped off of our little faces. My mom immediately pulled us out of the class and made us go home for disrupting everyone. She doesn’t remember this but I do.

So I am here to say you won’t hear from me for a bit. You will hear from me after. It won’t be a J’adore Last week because I won’t have a phone to take photos of the prepared meals or the grass or the shared room. But I guess I could draw it all from memory for you. But maybe that’s not the point. I don’t know the last time I’ve been silent like this. Maybe not since the womb. I hiked in Mexico last year and didn’t have a phone for a week and that was rewarding, a treat. But I could speak with the guides and fellow hikers in my embarrassing Spanish.

It makes me laugh how extreme something like this is - simply to get in touch. A challenge to access. I know I like stuff like this. When I was 13 I did summer camp at a Buddhist monastery in Northern California, and slept under the stars. While I could speak, much of the days were teaching us about solitude. It is the only way to get in touch. Under a tree I learned how to french braid my own hair and in the commissary kitchen I volunteered and made only vegetarian food with donated food items. Everyone there told me to become a chef. While I do not call myself a chef now I like to think I can make things go together and taste good.

I watched my mom chant everyday for most of my life. I joined her as a kid. I join her now when it feels right. I have my own mishmash of beliefs/rituals/practice. It is interesting how we all build those for ourselves. What do we take from each person and what do we pass on. I am excited to see what arises in my mind - what questions I will have- what answers- what fears - and memories I hold on to.

Before we get into my J’adored Last Week. I had such a NY moment in Tokyo this week.

Drew met up with some music people and I hesitantly joined because I was ready for bed. This artist man who is also an actor put out his hand in this awkward way to me. I normally am a hugger but it was a weird corridor so I just went with the flow. His hand was angled in a way that I thought he was dapping me up. So I went with it and we both just slowly stared at what was happening. This sort of dorky indie white boy giggled with me and we both said I guess this is what you do with your hands? It felt like two awkward kids having to come up with a secret hand shake. I helped them to get a table and as we all lingered with our drinks, I turned behind me and down the stairs came my old neighbor in NY. Not neighbors as in we live in the same area, neighbors as in I lived a few floors above her. We all scream. My adrenaline is pumping from seeing her. She brings over 6 coworkers and one of them is my friend’s sister. I help them to get a table. The owner says thank you and gives me my tea and Drew’s drink on the house. The run ins give me a high. This sense of familiarity gives me a high. A chance unexpected run in - that’s what NY was full of for me, serendipity. I guess that’s what I miss most. It makes me feel like home.

Here is what J’adored Last Week:

BANANA JUICE

They called it Banana Juice because what I call it is a banana smoothie. I had mine with black sesame and honey and Drew had his with blueberries and brown honey. Phenomenal, I highly recommend. While we stood in line outside of the shack I kept getting whiffs of herbal medicine from the Kampo (chinese herbs) doctor’s shop across the alley. He was mixing a cauldron of herbs. I was intrigued. The “shack” at the base of an apartment building looked hand built and like we were on holiday somewhere- not smack dab in the middle of Ginza. You could choose from an array of milk and flavors. What a perfect afternoon snack

Alishan Park soup outside- one of my favorite places to load up on veggies, and I love their sweets.

The crows came and tried to eat my food, I never noticed how frightening they are. I didn’t know how to shooo them away. I tried and everyone in the park just stared at me. Everyone just stared at me. like hellooooo. Here is a haiku I wrote about today (separate instance) :

The crow barks ten beats

He flees as the the butterfly

Meets. Me through the pane

Drew and I started saying haikus the other day on the spot when we were in the most beautiful shrine. I enjoyed the practice, now we do it all over town. Maybe this is my new practice in presence and observation.

Random

We went to a random Izakaya that served game meats late at night with friends to have a snack and it ended up being a full on dinner. Not mad. I would go back again. I heard someone order an Ochazuke so I will be back for that. Such a juicy omelette and hamburg steak.

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁Protein . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

I started boxing again and it feels soooo good for letting out energy. I was so sore, Where every step feels like a punishment. I missed that feeling. I tried this protein milk because I am sooo not eating enough protein and it was so meh and powdery tasting. But I will take it over the awful tasting protein powder I tried here the other day.

I just wanted to show you this perfectly bellied tree. What a joy to see this. Imagine it coming to life.

Grigio

My new favorite little lunch/dinner place. I enjoy a focus. Japanese people are really good at this. It isn’t rude hospitality here, they just do things the way they thing they are suppose to be in their minds. It is just the way things are. No you can’t get your espresso iced with a splash of milk but yes you can order an ice latte with a little bit of ice. A tempura shop only has tempura and a ramen shop usually only has ramen. It’s as if they are saying - Stay in your lane. Meanwhile many places in the US are trained to bend over backwards until you are tangled to please every guest’s needs. At times, I see value in both ways. This can be a longer conversation for another time.

For lunch they serve 2 things, chicken or steak. For dinner it is the same except he adds a simple pasta or 2 on the menu. I had a chicken salad, and my friends had chicken curry. He grills it all up right in front of you. What I really want to eat is their steak. Let’s all focus a bit more.

Ramen for Lunch

Had ramen with one of my oldest friends, Sonia. She had moved here a couple years prior to me and it was such a joy to hang with her again. Chicken ramen is my favorite and one of my coworkers recently recommended this place to me specifically for their chicken dan dan. I will need to go back and try all of the menu items to compare.

Sonia gave me these plum flavored eel chips and I was addicted and ate them in 2 sittings. Luckily for me, Drew had absolutely no interest.

Everything will be okay

One of my favorite little coffee shops and herbalists had a new tea and it made me smile. Need a cup of this everyday.

Bought these little tea bags for the bath tub while we were in Taiwan and truly they are sooo lovely. Makes me feel like a little chicken in soup.

A day date

Hung out with some friends in town and they took us to this coffee shop which ended up being in the cutest little pocket of stores. There was this ferments shop that serves lunch, and I wanted everything. We walked away with oat cookies that were pricy but exactly what I like. Crunchy to the point where it is almost crispy. Do you know the difference between a crunch and crisp? A crisp is higher in pitch, a crunch lower. I can’t remember who taught me this but it was very important. How mystical were these plates that were sold there? They made me smile.

Nawod Curry

For lunch we walked down the road and had Sri Lankan Curry. I have been craving this ever since. You get a choice of 3 curries. I had chicken and then all meals came with a coconut curry. Drew had the pork which was so deep and purposeful, and a fish curry which was more exciting than I had thought it would be. The curries were served with rice and sides of many different vegetables from shredded coconut to beets and lentils.

Ikea Date

The next day we had errands to run at Ikea and had a random dinner date at the Ikea. Ikea rocks, the food is mid but mid in the best way. It was truly popping at the Shibuya Ikea. People had their laptops out while they ate or looked like they were on dates. I guess it is a destination here. Of course as it is Japan, the serving was efficient.

Chicken Parm

I made chicken parm in the fish grill because now we have a fish grill ! Though still no oven. I had never made a chicken parm before but was inspired by our friends Leah and Jeffrey who are true pros at this dish. With it I made pesto pasta and a kale and carrots salad.

Other thoughts:

Let’s do big flowers from now on.

And Big extravagant plates of simple food.

But not like the Drizzle restaurants that serve little food on big plates. Drizzle restaurants. This is what I call those restaurants that make food look fancy for no reason. They add a little balsamic drizzle to the right of the duck or maybe 3 dots of a squash puree to the left of the leaf (your main course). Typically that is all a distraction from the perfectly average food.

But what I am saying here is yes to a huge cool plate for a normal size burger or something like this wagyu. Yes, it is a waste of space and maybe a fuck to the mind but it is playful and feels grand.

A quick trip to Ishikawa to share with you next week.

Lots of Love,

Sakura

Today we have on a special guest and my soul mate, my little sister, Konoka Lulu Smith. The more we get older, the more people have been asking if we are twins, which makes me smile because no one knows me better than her. We have an unspoken language. You know how when a toddler loves their baby sibling it is a reaction beyond, well I have been stuck in the feeling ever since. She has always been my dress up doll, my biggest critic, and my favorite co-conspirator. She is the quieter, cool younger sister, the chill to my crazy. She has helped me endlessly with Bagel Bunny and is the master of all sauce and toppings from bagels to sushi. At most times she is more responsible than me and I respect her immensely. Our dream together is eventually to open a restaurant together and I can’t imagine doing it with anyone else but her. Here is everything Kono j’adored last week:

hi, it’s kono, saku’s sister!

Okay, I love potatoes. In the past couple weeks I have eaten quite a good amount. Japanese potato salad, steamed Japanese potatoes - where I proceed to add butter onto each bite, and then honey glazed sweet potato with the left overs from what I didn’t eat steamed. Lastly of course Chick-fil-A waffle fries. I love Chick-fil-A!

I took Yuzu, my new puppy to the Madhappy opening in Malibu. It was her first time around so many people and she actually did pretty well considering she is a crazy dinosaur.

A dessert I have been loving is plain yogurt. I normally pick the siggis brand, then I put Varsity Bakers maple granola with strawberries, chocolate chips, topped off with cinnamon and honey from El Salvador where my boyfriend’s parents are from. It’s sooo yummy and a perfect sweet treat with protein.

I attempted to make my sister’s bagels, BAGEL BUNNY, however they didn’t turn out as pretty as how she makes them. Although they tasted really good I need to work on my form by making a hole for the bagels so it comes out nice and smooth. It is definitely a whole long process to make these bagels. It is truly amazing how nothing compares to this bagel. I think I could eat this everyday. In the past, my sister used to do Bagel Bunny pop ups in New York where I would help her and be in the kitchen creating the bagel toppings. It turns out sashimi on top of bagels is so tasty and special to our childhoood. We grew up around sushi and to have this combination of two things I love so much- SUSHI and (to see it with something my sister makes) BAGEL BUNNY makes me happy. And honestly it just tastes really really good. My goal is to bring back our sushi bagel creations.

Matcha, matcha, matcha…. Love, love, love. Especially Ashu’s Matcha, we first met Ashu’s Matcha at the Farmers Market in Malibu where they were whisking matcha for customers. My dad and I then started to go every Sunday just for their matcha and nothing else at the farmer’s market. It is that good. We became close friends with the owner Zayna and her mom, Ashu. They work directly with Japanese tea producers and each matcha is chosen carefully and nothing feels rushed with what they create. All of their matcha is stone milled, shade grown and they only select the best, most precise harvest windows.

I made this summery dish with pearled couscous, asparagus, corn, edamame, and herbs, with a lemony dressing. It was good and perfect for a hot day. I also tried making onigiri but I am not the best at making the perfect shape like my mom who is the best at making onigiri. I crave it about once a week, especially with a tuna mayo filling. I wanted to test out different kinds of flavors of onigiri. All of them had tuna mayo on the inside, duh. But I coated the first couple ones with miso, the next was with soy, and the third one was glazed in yakiniku sauce, and of course just the OG tuna mayo. The ones that were coated I put on the stove to toast up and darken. They were good but I have to stick with my simple tuna mayo onigiri topped with katsuo mirin furikake. I don’t think anything will be able to top that.

I was finally able to finish a whole book. I am not a fan of reading. It is hard for me to stick with one book but my sister recommended this book called Tart. It was a fun read and since I work as a line cook it was nice to read about her working in different restaurants.

Sandwiches. I LOVE them! The bread I always use is Sourdough from Varsity Bakers. I also tried their sea salt focaccia which is used on the salmon sandwich. The salmon sandwich was nothing like any other sandwich I have made before. It includes a purple cabbage coleslaw, avocado, and salmon. It was salty and a bit sweet from the balsamic vinegar I added. I liked it and 100% would have it again. The other sandwich I made was prosciutto, mozzarella, arugula, avocado, and sprouts. Which is a go to sandwich I make at home, consistent and yummy every time I make it. Is it bad that I eat avocado everyday? I think I am going to turn into an avocado.

We saw SpaceX outside of our house that made a cool spiral. I looked out the window and at first I wondered, “What is that… ?” It brightened up the sky and was quite pretty.

I was craving steak. So I had steak. Easy simple dinner, salt n pepper seared on a Le Creuset cast iron. Side of yakiniku sauce and soy w wasabi. It was perfect.

I enjoy simple meals at home. Normally I will do some sort of rice bowl. This time I chose thinly sliced Japanese meat cooked in ponzu. My sides were kimchi, my current fav. I used to not like it but I eat it all the time now. My favorite brand of kimchi is Jongga Cabbage Kimchi. I also added broccoli - cooked salty banchan style, and last but not least avocado. It’s so easy to make these sort of bowls and they are yummy every time.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a good week without sushi. Frankie and I were working on Dipped In Blue and decided to take a lunch break at the popular Sushi Fumi. We both have been wanting to try this place but we know that at dinner time there is always a line, so it was a perfect day for us to try it out for lunch. It was fire, and I would go again for lunch and try new things. Pictured is seared engawa, always my go to order at any sushi restaurant if they have it. It seems to have gotten more and more popular over the years so more restaurants have it now. I just love engawa seared! It is soft and a little chewy with lemon or yuzu kosho. I can eat it every day if I could.

I hope you guys liked what I did and mostly what I ate. Hope to be back soon on The Bunny Diaries.

Byeeee,

Saku’s sister Kono. <333

I’m back on my iced Americano BS as the sun has now finally come back out after weeks of on-and-off rain.

I don’t think I’ve talked to you guys about the dog situation here, have I? The dog situation here in Japan is that most people treat them like actual babies. Adult’s toddlers will walk beside them while they roll their dogs in a cart. The dogs get groomed often and usually have perfectly coiffed fluffs. I just didn’t know about this because growing up my grandparents and their neighbors all had big dogs. The guy I work with even has a dog biscuit company, I love that about him. The product is gluten-free, of course! I’m not against supporting your dogs and their health. I understand how pretending anything is a baby doll makes life more fun. There are also no trash cans on public streets so people have to carry their poo back home with them, which is actually insane and would deter me forever from having a dog.

On my way to work today I passed a well dressed man about my age and we made eye contact. I wondered where is someone like that going? Is everyone going to work at this hour? On my way home, I passed him in the exact same stretch of the street. I thought maybe I should stop and ask what he did all day, but didn’t want to commit to a conversation or seem strange. Instead I pretended that when we passed we entered a portal into somewhere new. And here I am now.

Although I had a lovely past week, I didn’t feel inspired to write or share this week. But I always do, here is everything J’adored last week (JLW):

Girls night

I have started to make a sweet group of girlfriends. We have been having dinner about once a week, it is always a potluck and there is always something sweet for dessert. It is nice to get to know new people, and humbling at times. It really does make living here more fun when you can have a little chit chat with the girls. One of my friends’ daughter made us ice cream sundaes with M+Ms and that filled my whole heart.

Girl Breakfast

I met up with some NY friends at the classic Kayaba coffee. It is slightly touristy but delicious and in a beautiful 2 story home. The egg sandwich looks like it is the way to go, the beef stew that I had was creamier than I prefer. Miso soup was great and coffee was great. They know what they are doing stylistically from the color of their mixed cushions to their business cards. Take time to walk around this area, it is so lovely.

On my walk I found this Rice Cracker shop that has my heart.

An old lady stands behind the wooden cabinet, that looks as though it was made to stock candy but instead of gum drops they are filled with all different kinds of rice crackers. She told me that she makes them all in the back, but I also assume she lives in this same building. I bought some as a gift and she carefully wrapped it in paper for me.

Mid-week Lunch

Drew picked up little lunch bites of Vegewest, a health food grocery store/café that I love going to. Tofu patties with hijiki!!!, miso soup with cabbage and pork, an ume rice ball, and a green (chunky) smoothie that tasted really good. Though sometimes textures like that are impossibly hard to get over.

Secret Spot

I will take you one day if you are in Japan because this was shared with me and it was asked to be kept private and that I will respect. Highlight for me was putting mentaiko in carrot salad, yes! It makes the crunchy carrots almost buttery.

My friends open a bar! - Chowa Bar Tokyo

Chowa originally started out as a box company which quickly propelled into Ray + Yudai building out private spaces and even private libraries. Now they have taken form as a bar in Nakameguro. While they are always in motion, the core of what they are building is traditional craftsmanship but with a more modern mindset. While preserving the way things were with thoughtfulness the boys are also promoting things like “tell your mom I love you”. This is something that people don’t really say to each other in Japan, especially men. My friends took weeks with their own hands to build out the 2 story bar. I walked by one dusty day during the process and yelled inside “YUDAIIIII!!!” He ran slowly upstairs with the dust blowing up all around him. It felt as though it was slow motion. It made me laugh and the results are beautiful. There are not many dark sexy bars like this that I see in Tokyo, it feels good to be back in a space like this.

Upstairs is lovely cocktail bar, and downstairs is a lounge that is typically only available if you are looking to buy a bottle. They now also have their branded sake or whiskey. If you need to get in, please contact me. ;)

Insanity Shabu Shabu Buffet

We had a group of 11 and a last minute dinner to plan before a show same day. There were 4 kids also visiting and we always wonder what are the most interactive ways to enjoy dinner for kids. So Drew found this shabu shabu place, with a buffet of vegetables, tea, and ice cream. AND unlimited Japanese beef and pork. This was insane but it was truly a ball and the kids were sooo happy. We chose half sukiyaki and half shabu shabu. Good for a group though generally I am scared of anything “unlimited or all-you-can-eat”.

Intrigued

My favorite lunch right now

At Ballon, the salad + falafel with coriander and extra tahini is my go to right now. It isn’t mind blowing but it hits so many spots. I brought an extra bowl to the woman who runs my ceramics studio and she was so excited about trying her first falafel. I had to explain to everyone in the studio what it was. This gets in soo many greens and makes me so happy. They have a soymilk soft serve that I am looking forward to trying.

There are so many flowers blooming right now and it makes me feel ALIVE!

I hope you have a lovely week,

Sakura

Hello Bunnies,

So as you heard on the last Bunny + Friends, I baked the baked goods and launched Bagel Bunny publicly at Salter House, which feels like a dream to think back on it. What a treat it would be to go back in time for a morning when I would open the doors and the sunshine would shine in from Atlantic Ave. How I miss the kids and the dogs wandering in after school. One of those daily wanderers became my now close friend, Jake Booth. He is the quintessential man around town. I miss NY for the fact that I can’t run into Jake everyday. We knew of each other through friends before but it wasn’t until these morning where we would chat for hours. He would bring lovers for a post sleepover black sesame bagel, and Archer the dog on the other days. Forever in my memory is Jake sitting in the sun eating a bagel or many times even two.

Knowing Jake is knowing a puppy dog - loyal and loving. You know how love can be embarrassing? You could share it with him and he would egg you on, he would never let those feeling feel bad. We connect over being California babies - I have even swam with him in the waves of Laguna Beach. He is like family to me.

Hi Bunnies,

Jake here. I’m one of Sakura’s hapa homies. I live in Brooklyn and manage 194 New York, a really awesome vintage store on Eldridge St. If I’m not holding down the shop, I’m walking or watching the sunset – things I started documenting and “philosophizing” on my Substack, @outoftheblue22 . I’m really excited about this new project and hope you can pass some time with it :).

Sakura and I met a few years back when I had just moved to Brooklyn Heights and she was trapping bagels out of Salter House. I used to pull up and have a bagel and a slice of black sesame tahini cake (my future wedding cake) and an americano or two and talk shit with Sakura every morning during that era. Obviously a deep friendship spawned out of that shared indulgence!! Here’s what I indulged in last week…

Sunday Morning Carroll St Farmers Market

I don’t know if y’all are tapped into the latest egg news, but popular “healthy” egg brand Vital Farms was recently cancelled for raising chickens that aren’t actually “pasture raised.” This really fucked me up. I was eating so many of those eggs, those deceitfully beautiful orange yolks!!! But I suppose this was a blessing in disguise. Now, I’m extra motivated to wake up early Sunday morning and get the local shit! I only want to eat eggs that have exposure to sunlight and are not pumped with soy and corn. Look how gorgeous they are… Copped some Chinese broccoli and a beet juice from Lani’s too. Copped a lil cortado and cookie on da way from La Bicyclette.

ROUTINE MEALS

I’m a big time creature of habit. I find a meal, restaurant, work out, strain of weed that makes me feel really good and I stick to that shit until I stumble into the next best thing. I’m never really seeking out that next best thing, though. I trust that they will enter my life naturally - chasing after newness doesn’t mix well with being grateful for what you already got.

Right now i’m feeling energized and grateful for:

Breakfast: 4 pastured raised eggs soft scrambled with a shit ton of french butter, Comté from Formaggio Essex (shoutout Elias), figs, espresso with half and half, and some beet kraut juice !! Every fig tree in NY state was definitely frozen the week I was consuming these, so every bite felt like a mini vacation. I was also missing someone who I ate a lot of figs with this summer, so this felt like a nice way to lean into that nostalgia.

Dinner: Grass fed ground beef, white rice, a veggie, and beet kraut. I’ve been trying to “bulk” lately and this is my favorite meal to achieve that with. After moving some kettlebells around, this “dog bowl” makes me soooo energized and strong and happy !! I’ve noticed my skin feeling a lot healthier since eating a few pounds of ground beef every week. Eat your skincare - shoutout Sami Reiss.

Dessert?: Re-bulking - almost after every dinner or breakfast, I chase down the meal with this pretty insane shake: Naked Mass protein powder, grass fed whey powder, Siggis, maca and spirulina. The whole thing is almost 1000 calories, 125g carbs, and 60g protein. This is the first shake I’ve put together where my stomach doesn’t feel crazy after - I actually feel great and functional.

Shop Lunch

Alright y’all. Listen up. Best sandwich in the city is at Formaggio Essex in Essex St market… They got a sandwich or 2 d’jore on a lil chalkboard behind the counter. Try them all, everyday, figure out what you like, be nice to the folk making them for you, work up the comfort to eventually order your own custom. Got to eat this Bresaola with sheep’s milk cheese, raspberry jam, sundried tomatoes, arugula, and olive oil 2 days in a row this week. Fucking hell. Eating a sandwich like this in the sunshine makes you forget about any pain in the world for like 8 minutes. FUCK!

NOODLE PUDDING

Linked my little brother midweek at Noodle Pudding in Brooklyn Heights. This spot is sooooo cozy. I had some Ragu and Aidan had some lasagna (picture from his POV). Octopus and beet salad to start. Huge serving sizes. No fuss. A lot of young families. A lot of old couples. Feels suburban in the best way :) Came here in January for my friend Lucas’s birthday and the whole staff sang to him. Wholesome. Cash only. Full belly. Smoked a cigarette and walked home after to get that digestion flowing. This neighborhood is the best during the winter.

SUNFLOWER SEEDS AT THE BEACH

Oh shit !! I’m on the other side of the country now - back home in Laguna! Sunflower seeds are kind of a forgotten snack since I moved to the city / stopped playing baseball / am not at the beach everyday anymore. I feel like a pure, old form of myself in a Tommy Bahama beach chair chewing on seeds, collecting them in a solo cup. Not much else to say here. Simple pleasure.

RAW MILK

Flew home to Laguna and was bestowed with my parents credit card for grocery shopping, so we copping shit like Raw Milk and ground beef with liver hahahah. Picked these up at a place called Fermentation Farm. It’s the perfect place. All local, pasture raised, grass fed, organic, etc., You can eat there (I had brisket tacos with sauerkraut) or just do some groceries. I hope to run a place like this with Sakura one day… I was sipping the RM out of the bottle on the drive home playing Playboi Carti from my high school days - big fucking vibe.

This has to be the biggest blessing in my entire life - the opportunity to come home, be with my family, and eat delicious food. Eating mad ribeyes and asparagus off the grill. It’s 87 degrees and there’s sand in my hair while I write this… blessings man.

I hope you all have a lovely week <33

I just got back from a lovely few days in Taiwan. Everyone is begging me to start making travel guides, I am not interested. Only because 1. Why can’t I just write? 2. I don’t think with a small week of travel I can tell you where is best. I am not an expert or a local, I don’t know if you should listen to me. But I can share with you what I did in my time and offer some reflection on how it felt to be somewhere.

As I said in my last blog post I am reading Taiwan Travelogue and the characters speak of how “traveling is living in a foreign place…experiencing all four seasons of normal life in a foreign place. Leaving behind a home environment where one’s habits have settles into old, tired ways and spending one’s days somewhere else, trying to find some new feeling in the mere act of being alive in this world. In this sense, traveling is a way of cleansing one’s body and mind-starting afresh.” While maybe this trip was short and we pushed a lot in I do think that this statement encapsulates how I wish to travel through different places. I hope that way can work for you too. We did release our usual habits, this is something I have found to be true even as we have moved to Japan in the past few months.

My step-grandmother was from Taiwan, my grandpa had lived there for a few years. I don’t know much about this time in their lives but I do know how grand her garden was in Washington where they lived when I was a kid. How it cascaded down the side of the hill, it was the first time I remember being amazed that you could grow your own produce. We would nibble strawberries under the bush and I learned how potatoes and carrots grow underground. She would always make us Dungeness crab fried rice in their kitchen and I remember looking forward to that anytime I was in town. I would say those are my only true memories of those times when I was young. Now that I got to visit Taipei where she was from I can see that the lush city had of course influenced her to make an oasis wherever she was. I was quite taken a back by how green grew on every gray building, leaves draping down from the windows onto every street. Lush and the air was moist.

What I would’ve done differently this trip is I would’ve stayed for longer to allow for time spent in the south. Every local Taiwanese person I know says it is just beautiful and I am dying to go to Alishan. And I would’ve purchased more teas and herbs to bring back.

So I will break this down day by day and I will just say I wore comfy pants most of the days simply for fitting in just one more bite, and as they say again in the book, “A glutton can’t hide her true colors!” -

First of all, how cute was our snoopy flight on the way there!. We flew with Starlux I recommend this because the flight attendants were adorable and lovely with a strong skincare routine. Even in economy you had ample amounts of leg room, snacks, food, TVs. While on the flight back to Tokyo I tried to save money and flew with Tiger Air (no tv, everyone working being chaotic, smaller seats, no food). I would probably pass on that if the opportunity arises again.

Day 1

We landed at night and go straight to bed because we knew we wanted to pack in THE MOST the next morning. We rose around 7am ? Maybe even 6:30 knowing Drew. We decided to go to the Famous Fuhang Soy Milk, where every single person said was actually than everywhere else. The line is long though it moves fast, we grabbed a coffee at Cozy Sun Day a block away at so our mouths had something to do while we stood.

Here is my takeaway: if you go for savory soy milk, the flavor is deeper than one other tried else but overall the soy milk place I will talk about later is a better overall experience. But I recommend to go to both. It’s is fun to enjoy different things at each one. We ordered the egg pancake, I think pass on that and get a filled flat bread instead.

I grabbed a tea to go from the same food court before getting on our way to the National Palace Museum. This is a grand building showing over 700,000 pieces of work dating over 8,000 years (crazy). I was so inspired by their paintings, ceramics and jade that I went home and started to paint filled with inspiration. I am not a painter. I felt this resonance with auspiciousness and the themes of mystical characters. Most anywhere you go in the world from Oaxaca to Taipei, ancient civilizations have always made work around creatures that are there to symbolize. Why do we not still connect deeply with that? In the rain we sat in the timeless gardens.

Lunch : We had pre-booked this classic style Taiwanese restaurant, called Golden Formosa. Formosa is what Taiwan used to be named, you will see this word around. They do have one Michelin star and have been open since the 1950s, making it a 3rd generation run restaurant. I respect a family business. I recommend to go to this place with more than 2 people. I was dying to try the uni noodles but that would’ve been the only thing we could have ordered. Noting that I do not care too much simply about if something is Michelin rated but I do think holding a star especially for many years in a row actually means something.

Here was our order which we chose based mainly on what some of their specialties were.

1. The Crispy Pork Ribs. Rubbed with a classic Taiwanese mixed spice which adds warmth in flavor, super soft and tender to eat.

2. The best Liver of my life. Truly thick and textured but still mildly melty

3. Prime Mullet Roe Fried Rice

4. Stewed Chinese Cabbage with Pork

5. Golden Formosa special Crab (Secret Recipe)

I would skip the crab, get everything else. The cabbage reminds me of a thicker version of my cabbage soup so of course we finished THE WHOLE POT.

We wandered around this area and found a wood shop, 皇冠台湾桧木, where everything made with wood from old houses in the south that were damaged in the major earthquake. The owner, Janet, was a sweetie, and gifted us pieces of hinoki wood and incense. She told us how this kind of hinoki only grows in Taiwan, Japan, and Oregon. Her store was beautiful and I would’ve loved to live in it.

We took the bus and took a full tummy nap on it until we arrived in the Datong district and wandered quickly though Datong District where all of the herbal shops were. We quickly strolled through the Sin Hong Choon Tea Museum, this is a historical cultural center with rotating exhibitions it seems. I walked away from 黄長生薬行 with medicinal tea, jujubes and snow fungus.

We went into Monsoon Books, which I wish I could’ve spent more time in. There is a tea house connected, this combo feels like a romantic afternoon with yourself.

Afternoon Snack: Milk Powdered donuts at Curly Mama’s

This is the kind of sweet that sticks to the back and deep divots of your teeth. Tastes unlike anything I have had before and made me feel like a baby. I liked it. Apparently this is viral but there was no line or anything so one would never know.

Night 1

Before Dinner, we stopped by Hiboru Taipei (play on the word high ball). When I say stopped by I mean had a reservation which I recommend. Before he could even say “hello, welcome” the guy at the door spilled out the words, “Do you have a reservation?” as if he was in defense.

This is also rated as a top bar in the world, it was good. The best thing that I would go back for was the shiso and mapo tofu spring rolls, I almost had to order a second round. The bartenders were professional and you could tell. If I will be totally straight with you, I don’t remember one of the drinks we had not because I drank and can’t remember but because they were just fancy funky drinks. The Oolong liquor I try later in the trip is a unforgettable though.

Note: we did Uber or Train as walking around to each location is not really as possible as I thought it would be. It is a large city.

Dinner

We wandered through Nanjichang Night Market. This feels like a very accomplishable night market. A wild move according to some, but our first stop was boiled garlic clams at Clam Breath. Then we kept seeing sweet potato puffs and do note that they do have a stand at every night market that we ended up going to. Surely they must have been mixed with potato or rice flour as at first airy bite they were crispy but then hollow. As you chewed it became mochi mochi texture until it melted fully into your mouth. We had ours seasoned with plum seasoning, something I saw often in Taipei even at fried chicken shops. We had dumplings at a place around the corner, with the sassiest woman running it, which is how you know it is good. Or maybe it wasn’t even good in any special way but it was good because she was that way. We grabbed a corn that was seasoned as hell, texture was softer than I prefer but the seasoning was lick-able. For dessert we had peanut tong sui, a sweet peanut soup with baby mochi inside. I was only going to eat one bite but was surprised with how nice the texture was of boiled peanuts as they get crushed between your teeth.

Day 2

We rented a car and hit the road but of course we needed a snack before. We stopped by Tian Jin Onion Pancake for a scallion pancake with eggs and basil. That is the only way to do it because the basil is plentiful, the aromatics wash away any idea that you ate too much the day prior. We shared one and had coffee at the shop right next door, Protaste. We filled up gas along the way and they handed Drew two packets of toilet paper. I giggled but I guess it made sense, where would we be going now?

We drove through golden statues and green mountains to Pinglin District to visit a tea farm. We were greeting at the farm by the sweet son who has decided to spend his weekends to help his family run their tea farm. His dad moved back to his home town for retirement to be able to do this. They showed us to pick, roll, dry, drink the tea. I loved them. They made us breakfast of sweet potato, seasoned egg, edamame from his organic food company, and tofu patty.

Afterwards, I wanted to hike a bit so we found this trail that ended up being a million stairs up a mountain. I was not mad at that. It was misty but the views were magical, plus there was a tunnel of love.

We drove to Ruifang old street, a popular though fun tourist street. It started to pour so we bought ponchos ( a first for me) and ran through the streets laughing and getting hit by everyone’s umbrellas. Rain really changes the way you view a new place. We ran into this iconic tea shop that inspired the movie Spirited Away, I could feel the magic of it being perched up on the hill. Though I do think there are better looking tea shops in the area. The sweet sesame crackers were wonderful and we had these little pastry balls with jasmine tea leaves inside, they were mild but had that distant flavor like a memory.

Before driving back we had dinner at the Keelung MiaoKou Night Market in Ren-ai. This was my favorite market of the ones we went to and worth the drive. It did feel like any booth inside that you had would be good. My favorite was a booth numbered 31 - pork thick soup king, I wish I had gone back and just had one of everything there and not gone anywhere else. We had Lu Rou Fan an it was truly just the perfect amount of salty sludge to rice.

In moments like this, one should just follow steam, sounds, smells of the famous stinky tofu one minute and sweet nuts. Usually I hate lines but in this context they can be fast and if it is full of locals I find that they know where the right places are to line up at. Next, we had a meat bun down at the end of the market and this is my perfect food. We had to try the famous peanut ice cream roll, which is essentially a crepe like layer rolled with crushed peanuts and 3 flavors of ice cream. I can’t tell if I hate it or love it. I don’t think I ever need it again.

We waited in line for these mini Taiwanese Sausages.

We saw everyone walking around with these pink bags full of chicken. So we walked down the street away from the market until we found Nenji Lady ( cannot find anything online about this place). This is next to another fried chicken place but with the absolute opposite branding, dark and “masculine” though no one was waiting in line there. I wanted to understand the chicken shop rivalry more, I could sense the man next door starting to feel desperate while everyone waited at Nenji. Here they fry a full chicken leg in thick batter. You can have it seasoned in a handful of ways from plum to wasabi to pepper (which is what we did) . It was insanely juicy but I found the batter too bready for my liking. Drew burnt his lip on this, and while we waited for it to cool down I used what felt like a 3 pounder as a hot water bottle.

Yes, we are not done eating for day 2.

An online friend, Jess Eng, who we really trust, recommended a couple spots before our trip. One of them was this 24 hour tea house that you would need to get to by car. She said something along the lines of “Maybe it is a bold move for your first time in Taipei.” That’s exactly the kind of thing you must say to make me want to do something. SO at 10 pm, half of that Nenji Lady chicken in the car, we drive up a mountain in the dark and see some cars lined up on the side of the hill. We guess we must’ve arrived to Yao Yue Teahouse. I am full but I can do it. We order a Pu’er tea and a medicinal chicken soup, aka my favorite food. This nourishment from this broth was what I needed to keep me going in life. Chicken soup will always do that. We also get xiao long bao simply because fuck it. The table next to us played cards for hours and the table behind us held a cat in their lap. If I grew up locally, this is the place I would’ve wanted to go as a teenager when you wouldn’t know where to go after 10. Drew and I reminisced about the late night diners we would go with friends when we got to the age where we could drive. I remember feeling so much freedom in those moments at 16. Waffles at midnight.

One more stop, and I haven’t stopped dreaming of it

We get foot massages, and I think it is the best of my life. Nothing can top this.

At 不老松足湯台北信義行館 they soak your feet in a tub and rub your back before taking your downstairs to a dark room where you sit and enter bliss. My masseuse had no hesitation he knew exactly what to do. I fell asleep, and then was sad to wake up. I didn’t want him to stop. I recommend you call and make a reservation.

And Finally we went to sleep afterwards.

Day 3 - We chill out a bit. I think?

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Last week was so busy I honestly forgot that I had time to eat. But you know I always do find the time. I finished Butter and now am onto Taiwan Travelogue as I am in Taiwan and wanted to read along with the journey. Both are wonderful works on writing about food without forcing it to be about food.

Here is what J’adored (in Japan) last week:

Rainy day ramen

I am one for celebrating all weather with a meal, Ramen is made for Rain and there is just no other way. Sunshine= a park picnic, Snow=a stew, Rain = Ramen always. I walked into a place that I had been eyeing for a while on my way to a shoot. I prefer a thin, hard noodle and a chicken or salt broth over soy or miso broth. I always ask for extra menma (bamboo shoots). Entering or exiting a building in the rain feels romantic and dramatic. She shook her umbrella and waved out her hair as she stumbled quickly through the sliding glass door. She ran into a salary man on his way out, also in a rush. Ramen is for rushing. Ramen is for rain. Behind the counter, steam floated up as the kind smiled and round faced chef tossed the noodles in the basket. She sat herself in the corner seat. Have you ever had butter in your ramen? I used to do this a lot as a teen and was reminded about this method in the book, Butter, in which one of the characters recommends that first, you have sex and second, while your partner is sleeping you must run down in the wee hours of the morning to have a bowl of buttered ramen. Ramen is good for that. Good for the self. That is why it is good for a rainy day.

Best Craft Service

I helped a new friend by acting in her short film and we were met in the early morning with a nourishing bean porridge. Later we had Vietnamese for lunch by Yoyogi Park. This herby lunch set rocked and their Vietnamese coffee is sounding good as I write this.

In Nagano

I guess this is like our upstate now. Going to a friend’s house outside of the city is always a treat. I hope one day I can do that kind of hosting. We spent all of the afternoons cooking, the most enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.

Sarah + George showed us the lakeside town of Suwa and it was so aspirational. It feels old while having the thoughtful touches of places like ReBuilding Center to spark/support younger residents and visitors. They took us to their favorite mapo tofu place, Mabo Shokudo Don Don (Port Alley), run by a single man in a French striped shirt. This building was remodeled into multiple studios for several different shops. I ordered the deer mapo because why not and it brought a sweet flavor compared to the classic. His miso soup is the same as I like to make mine: carrots, onion, daikon.

A few doors down the most adorable woman runs this vegan cafe. How inspiring is the pastry cabinet. I love an inlay.

Treehouses

We went for a walk to the tree houses designed by Terunobu Fujimori, who grew up in this town. What a whimsical world he lives in. This is the kind of stuff that makes me want to build. In advance, you can reserve to have tea in the tree house, while the people working there called it pricy I think it would be arguably worth it. He also designed a cake factory near Kyoto that I am dying to go to.

Butter and shirasu bagel

Sarah’s natto egg bagel. # Inspired

Family dinner

I have missed having friends to cook with and a home to cook at. It is fun when everyone wants to do a job. Sarah on pie, George on sashimi and salad, Drew on carrots and choco-chip cookies, and me on spaghetti alle vongole. Everything was so good. It doesn’t really get much better than this.

Herbs

In the morning we wandered to Herbal Note, a whimsical wooden cabin filled with books and herbs. We bought sachets for the bath and bags of herbs to make teas with. Ever since I have been in Japan I have struggled with dry skin and a dry scalp. I have fixed the skin but the scalp still seems to be an issue. They sold me on rosemary water (which immediately helped my dandruff) and then told me to drop rosewater and jojoba oil in the scalp. I want to be like the owner when I grow up.

Shizen

No not the Salon in Greenpoint but a beautiful smoky room. I wonder how this is legal in a building where the first floor is a charcoal yakitori place and then this is above. Everything was thoughtful and good, but maybe not mind blowing or memorable. The kumquat beer was tart and truly good enough that I bought it.

Usually I leave tastings beyond full. I was surprised to find that we all left hungry, or just questionably full. One should never wonder after paying for a prix fixe, “Am I still hungry?” We had an eel wrap that was very good, a mix of textures and sweetnesses from the greens to the tare. Their rice was perfect. But overall will not go back again, there is simply too many places with better food that would fill me more. I felt almost embarrassed that I took visiting friends here. The price we sometimes pay for going somewhere new.

Sukiyaki #2

So this sukiyaki looks different from the one above. Sukiyaki is something we always eat at my Uncle’s house. Think of this as the advanced version of shabu shabu. You cook veggies and meat quickly in a strong simmering broth which you then place in a bowl of mixed egg. You put your egg covered items onto rice and enjoy that. How beautiful is that. This place just opened that week and was giving quiet and interesting vibes but I would go back again.

Shaka Shaka

A new matcha place opened yesterday. I accidentally popped into their soft opening thinking it was already open. This shop is owned by Kobori Sosho, a famous Sado ( tea master). I met the kindest people in the shop including Tomoko who started a beauty line after suffering from skin problems, where all of her products are made from tea leaves. I look forward to trying it but she is gorgeous so I am sure it is lovely. Shaka Shaka serves matcha from around Japan, traditionally. There are lattes for to-go. I did both.

Frozen Yogurt - hug.

Soooooo I wish this was creamier but it itched an itch. I will go back for their fresh yogurt as I have a feeling it will be creamier than this. It is located in the basement of a building with steep stairs, where the smell of fresh baked yogurt loaf hugs you. A beautiful woman steps away from baking to say hello and take care of you.

Hope you all have a lovely week. Looking forward to sharing Taiwan with you all soon.

Take care,

Sakura

I went to the largest food expo in Asia this month and had a ball. It is mainly for Photos we were not allowed to take of people without permissions so I don’t have a wide scale but imagine a red carpet guiding you across a huge modern expo building. The ability to organize an event and while it was phenomenal to pull off I do think that sections could have been organized with more clarity.

The PR team from the Expo set out a trend forecast prior - This consisted of ":

Swicy - Sweet and Spicy flavor combos. I love this. I didn’t know

Premium Instant - High quality instant food which I think Asia has been accomplishing for many years anyways.

Craft Snacks - a highlight on the maker and quality over the quantity. This was interesting because this whole convention was a flip flop between large companies and small companies showcasing their food crafts. Making this seem like an obvious category.

I felt that these categories are already so classically Japanese so I walked into the space with the desire to let the booths speak to me.

My curiosities lie mostly in the Japanese regional products. I spent the most time there and in the global arena where companies from Taiwan to Italia showcased the foods of their countries. Italia seemed to really push it and China had their own pavilion. But I wasn’t here to try olive oil, I was just in Sicily at Partanna in September and there already is so much olive oil accessible in Japan.

Everyone is here to sell - pushing banana chips into your hands, and jellos of random colors. Putting translators or cute girls to the front to help with the distributions of products. There was a total of 19,991 visitors and over 14,00 of those being buyers internationally.

The event was held at Tokyo Big Side which made you feel as though you were in an evil space movie.

There was a lot to digest, So here is what stood out to me:

My Number 1: Fish Stock - Dashi

I adore this family, they have a fish shop in Ehime, Japan. They started selling their Dashi, which is some of the best I have ever had with a rich fish flavor. I will be visiting them at their shop one day this year. It is sold in a concentrate versus a powder which feels more fresh to me. While dashi is not a mind blowing product, trying a good dashi can be hard to come by. It is a dashi that makes ask yourself, “Have I ever tried dashi before?”

Celery stand - #1 overall booth design

A clear focus lends itself to good design, depending on how you go about it. In Japan at the grocery stores you can only buy celery in single long stems, I laugh out loud every time I get one but it makes sense because in soups I only end up using 1-3 stems anyways. This would be difficult if I was making celery juice everyday but I don’t have room for a juicer in this kitchen.

The celery was sold either pickled or just chopped. The pickling was light and not too sweet or salty which I find can easily happen here.

#1 Snack : Tsukudani Macadamia

There were sooo many nuts at this Expo, and specifically there were even more boiled nuts. This softness reminds me that I like my nuts crispy and crunchy for the most part. Except at the end of a chaotic line a sweet man stood at a table with minimal signage. He placed some unknown brown looking beans in my hand, I ate them and was so happy. The macadamia nuts tsukudani ( simmered in soy sauce + mirin) was a perfect savory sweet snack.

Instant Beef broth soup - from Taiwan

Absolutely no notes except that I burnt my mouth. Everything is hotter in Asia. This instant soup I would drink every single day of my life. I was amazed that this is instant, there was full spices to it and the kind of oil that I find you can only find in homemade soups. If they predicted premium instants to be a highlight of this show, this product proved it to me.

Plum

Smoked plum juice - Welp, I have never tasted anything like this. It isn’t sour in the way a plum drink would be but has that richness of body that plum liquors have with the enveloping warmth from the smoke.

On the note of plums- I got to try dried plums that get modified to become frankensteins with other dried fruit. How has no one ( that I have seen) done this before?! It is genius. The balance of the tropical-ness of pineapple and the taste I know so well from plums.

Cherry Kombucha - Korea

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