ESCAPADES | Sugared & Spiced

2015/02/172015/08/05

[Taipei] Kajitsu 菓實

Kajitsu 菓實

Add: 2F., No.128, Kangding Rd., Taipei / 台北市康定路128號2樓
Tel: 0978870653
Hours: Wed-Sun 12-9pm
Website: pojowowo.blogspot.tw
Price: details here.
Visited: Feb 2015

Two months ago back in Paris, I was home after another long and exhausting day in the kitchen. As usual, I was mindlessly going through my Facebook feed (not the best thing to do before going to bed but it does loosen me up after an intense dinner service), and a page called “菓實 Kajitsu” caught my attention. I started browsing through their beautiful pastry photos paired with down-to-earth writings, and was immediately charmed. I decided that I need to visit this place when I’m in Taipei.

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So here I am, two months later, in Kajitsu’s homey and cozy pastry studio located in an apartment building of Wanhua district, a very old neighborhood in Taipei City. I met the couple behind Kajitsu, Abby and Evan, who welcomed me with hot tea and freshly baked pastries. Abby is the pastry chef and Evan, an industrial designer by trade, takes care of the marketing part of the business, including photography and graphic designs.

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Abby didn’t start young as a pastry chef. She was a psychology major in university and worked as a Japanese translator briefly after graduation, before she decided to start her pastry career as an apprentice for Japanese pastry chef Tadashi Yanagi (柳正司). She then spent a year at Boîte de Bijoux before launching her own studio in October 2014, where she could have more freedom in both ingredient choice and product design. They purposefully chose Wanhua, where the rent is much lower than in the hotter areas of Taipei, so the extra money can be spent on quality ingredients such as imported Isigny butter from France and Nisshin flour from Japan.

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2015/02/142015/08/05

[Taipei] Light One Cafe 光一咖啡

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Light One Cafe 光一咖啡

Add: 2F, 1-4 Lane 20, Section 2, Zhong Shan North Road, Taipei / 台北市中山北路2段20巷1-4號2樓
Tel: (02) 2531 0131
Hours: 12-9pm
Price: 140-200 NTD/coffee
Visited: Feb 2015

A cafe renovated from an old apartment, with giant windows that let in plenty of light and shades of green from outside. A pleasant space to sip on a cup of coffee.

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2015/02/142015/08/05

[Taipei] The Tasting Room 啜飲室

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The Tasting Room 啜飲室

Add: 14, Alley 5, Lane 107, Section 1 Fu Xing South Road, Taipei / 台北市復興南路一段107巷5弄14號
Tel: (02) 8773 9001
Hours: 5pm-midnight
Price: 100-250 NTD/beer
Visited: Feb 2015

啜飲室 The Tasting Room opened just shy of one month ago in a quiet lane of Fu Xing South Road. What it is: a beer bar that features a selection of some 20 craft brews from around the world, and a gallery that showcases local Taiwanese art. The design is simple but stylish – it’s one big open space with a shiny beer bar on the left, communal tables at the center and back, and a few smaller tables on the right. Warm woods, soft lighting, and jazzy piano in the air. It’s a charming space, a love a first sight for me.

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The menu is written on the blackboard right above the bar, and if the names don’t tell you much, the friendly bartenders will. As it was my first visit, they made a few recommendations and let me try a small dose of each before choosing. The prices are very affordable – a glass of beer ranges from 100-250 NTD – making this a easy place to frequent without breaking the bank. For now there is no food on the menu, though I heard talks about 滷味 (Taiwanese braised snack foods) for the future.

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2015/02/122015/08/05

[Taipei] Savour Cafe

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Savour Cafe

Add: 115-2, Section 4 Xin Yi Road, Taipei / 台北市信義路四段115-2號
Tel: (02) 2701 2498
Hours: 11:30am-10pm
Price: [drinks] 100-200 NTD [food] 140-200 NTD
Visited: Feb 2015

A stylish cafe with bare concrete walls, warm wooden furniture, plenty of natural light, and pretty baristas. Decent drinks, decent desserts, decent service.

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2015/02/112015/08/05

[Taipei] 2½ Months Soba 二月半そば蕎麦麺

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2½ Months Soba 二月半そば蕎麦麺

Add: No. 1-1, Lane 20, Zhongshan North Road Section 2, Taipei / 台北市中山北路二段20巷1號1之1樓
Tel: (02) 2563 8008
Hours: 11:30am-2pm, 5:30-9pm (closed on Wed)
Website: www.facebook.com/healthy.soba
Price: 250-350 NTD/person
Visited: Feb 2015

Taipei has a plethora of ramen and udon joints, but soba shops are a rare find. Unable to get good buckwheat noodles in the city, a Japanese couple decided to open their own restaurant and named it “2½ Months Soba”, which refers to the two-and-a-half-month process of sowing and harvest to produce buckwheat. As far as I could tell, this place is authentic with many Japanese customers.

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The noodle menu is roughly divided into three parts, including hot soup noodles, dipping soup noodles, and cold noodles. I tried the XO樱花蝦芝麻酱蕎麥涼麵 (190 NTD), which is soba noodles served with a XO sauce + sakura shrimp + sesame sauce. Also comes with mashed turnip, chopped green onions, and dried seaweed slices.

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2015/02/112015/08/05

[Taipei] Fresh Station Sushi & Fruits 逸鮮棧

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Fresh Station Sushi & Fruits 逸鮮棧

Add: No. 500-5, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao Dong Lu, Taipei / 台北市忠孝東路4段500號之5
Tel: (02) 2725 3555
Hours: 11:30am-3pm, 5:30-10:30pm
Price: [lunch] 320-660 NTD [dinner] 600-1200+ NTD
Visited: Feb 2015

When some friends invited me to have dinner at “Fresh Station Sushi & Fruits”, I wasn’t sure what to expect. “Fresh Station” itself sounds like a salad bar, and the sushi + fruits combo just threw me off completely. Apparently this is a sushi bar that incorporates fruits into its cuisine, which sounds like a desperate attempt to differentiate itself from the hundreds of other sushi restaurants in Taipei…but the friends who invited me to dinner are serious foodies, so I trusted their opinions and went in for a try.

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Upon being seated, my friends told me that they are actually not a fan of Fresh Station’s fruit cuisine, but really enjoy the more traditional sushis prepared by the chefs here. So that’s what we had that night.

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One of the restaurant specialty is its large variety of pickles – apparently they pickle everything – which are supplied to customers generously throughout the meal.

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2015/02/102015/08/05

[Taipei] Si Zhi Tang 四知堂

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Si Zhi Tang 四知堂

Add: 18, Section 3, Jinan Road, Taipei / 台北市濟南路3段18號
Tel: (02) 8771 9191
Hours: 12-10pm
Price: 800-1200 NTD/person
Visited: Feb 2015

Si Zhi Tang, a low-profile Taiwanese fusion restaurant with dishes that are a little bit out of the ordinary. Reviews of this place are highly mixed, with the negatives generally focusing on its high prices. I was debating whether to try this or just go to a good old Taiwanese restaurant with guaranteed good food and good prices, but decided to come here anyway to see what it’s about. The meal turned out to be quite pricey as expected, but the dishes were delicious, the service was smooth, and the overall dining experience very pleasant. I’d say it’s a nice place to try at least once.

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Si Zhi Tang might be slightly hard to find even if you have the exact address, especially if you go after dark. When you reach No. 18 on Section 3 Jinan Road, look for a small alleyway-like entrance that will lead you to the restaurant.

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2015/02/092015/08/05

[Taipei] Stoppage Time 補時

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Stoppage Time 補時

Add: 30, alley 15, lane 96, Section 2, Heping East Road / 和平東路二段96巷15弄30號
Tel: (02) 2736 6506
Hours: 11am-11pm
Website: www.facebook.com/stoppagetimecafe
Price: 100-160 NTD/coffee, 130-140 NTD/pastry, 220 NTD/sandwich
Visited: Feb 2015

A stylish cafe that opened up pretty recently in Taipei. They’ve got a huge kitchen area, communal tables, and individual desks. They serve coffee and tea, sandwiches and sweets. They play good music, and they project movies and soccer games onto their big white wall from time to time. I like, quite a lot.

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2015/02/052015/08/05

[Taipei] 1789 Café, by Cyrille Courant

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1789 Café, by Cyrille Courant

Add: 97-1, Section 2 Renai Road, Taipei / 台北市中正區仁愛路二段97-1號
Tel: (02) 3322 2089
Hours: [Tue-Sun] 11am-8pm (closed on Mon)
Price: 120-150 NTD/éclair
Website: www.1789.com.tw
Visited: Feb 2015

Chef Cyrille Courant has been roaming around the world for a while. He started his cuisine training in France, and subsequently worked in Germany, England, China, and eventually Taiwan where he decided to settle and open a pastry boutique (more details on his professional career here). I first met Cyrille and his wife Sabine back in 2013 at a little cafe in Paris, where we shared our pastry stories (his being infinitely richer than mine) over a few of glasses of wine and some saucissons. He was still in the planning stage of his boutique at the time, and – without having tasted any of his pastries – I could already tell that he is someone passionate for and dedicated to his profession. Cyrille opened his boutique in early 2014, and during my current trip to Taipei, I finally had the chance to try his creations.

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Cyrille’s boutique, named 1789 Café, is dainty and efficient. It starts with a bright pastry display, a few tables just behind to the left, a chocolate display corner, and an exhibition kitchen with counter seats for those who want to gawk at the pastry chefs at work. The boutique opens at 11am, but I went in earlier to see the kitchen during their morning prep time. Here are some action shots…

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When I arrived at 9:30am, Cyrille and his two pâtissiers were in the middle of finishing the éclairs – piping the cream, glazing the top, decorating with chocolates and fresh fruits, etc. Seeing them at work reminded me of my days at Fauchon, where I garnished and glazed endless éclairs day after day…I really wanted to roll up my sleeves and join in on the action!

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2014/11/162015/08/05

[Normandie] Honfleur & Deauville

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Day 2 in Normandie started with a large coffee, toasted country bread, and homemade jams for breakfast. With sunlight spilling in from the windows, even better.

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Then, we drove over to Honfleur, a touristy port town that has managed to maintain some of the charms that once inspired artists like Monet, Courbet, and Boudin.

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