Vegetarian kaiseki class and finding wagashi and matcha

May 14 - Today was the day for my vegetarian kaiseki course that I was looking forward to with much excitement. Yumiko is a very popular and leading creative vegetarian chef in Japan, writing around 10 books (I thought it was "only" 6 and found her place with rows of books that she has written on vegetarian cuisine.

Entering the place for her class, which is used for her restaurant as well, is very peaceful and calming, like Yumiko herself and her food. There is a stone path with small salt bowls to send away any evil spirits. You enter the hallway, which has the feeling like being in old Japan with a beautiful wooden statue at the end, old wooden floors, and tatami rooms for guests.

And then you enter the kitchen, which is very modern and wonderfully set up as a demonstration kitchen for the classes she holds here. Every month, for one week, lucky students are treated to a new set of creations she makes before them, with recipes, and then everyone gets to try them. She is wonderful in the kitchen and even if you didn't understand any Japanese, I think you would be able to get the warmth of her kitchen, the creativity and care in the preparation of her food using the highest quality ingredients, and her careful gestures and showing of certain ingredients and techniques. She is assisted in the kitchen by her sister, who also helps her with her weekly weekend meals as well.

With all that is on her "plate", besides writing several articles for magazines, writing a few more cook books, teaching several courses a month, she manages to squeeze in still cooking meals in her restaurant "Sen" on the weekends that are booked way in advance. I'll have to try and book far in advance for next time I'm in Japan as I can't get in, though hopefully she will be still here as Yuki says she changes her career once in a while just to keep her life exciting and fun. She opened a bakery that was very popular, then she decided to close it down and help open a ecovillage in Nepal for a few years, and then she came back to Tokyo to start vegetarian cooking and teaching and writing about it.

Finding wagashi and matcha tea. ...
Well, in the afternoon, we stopped in Shibuya to do some shopping and Yuki wanted to have some wagashi (Japanese traditional sweets) and green tea with me as a break. Now, usually finding this would be no problem, but she said it has become harder and harder with the city filled with Starbucks, coffee shops, French pastry and cafes, etc. We tried the Tokyu department store and although they sell a lot of wagashi in their basement food area, as most department stores do, they said they had nothing like this... lots of restaurants of all kinds, French cafes, coffee shops, etc. but no wagashi and tea. Yuki finally founded a place in the Seibu department store nearby. In the basement, was a lovely area off to the side of the food area with a variety of wagashi and teas to choose from. It was beautiful, relaxing and delicious. It's something that we also definitely need more and not less of in our hectic and stressful lives. I love coffee and coffee shops, but why not have a balance of peaceful tea houses where we can enjoy the best in tea, the highest quality sweets of the day, and the superb presentation and service to accompany this, along with enjoying it with a good friend.

In the evening, I went to Veggie Paradise to join a macrobiotics class and got to the "taste" the results of the class. Life is tough in Tokyo!