Nagoya in May – Perfect!
June 26, 2008
I recently had the chance to travel again
to Japan – and at the perfect time of year. I always feel fortunate
when I am able to visit this beautiful and complex country but especially
so in May and October; the sky is clear, blue and crisp, the temperature
comfortable sunrise to sunset - and low humidity! The primary purpose of
this visit was to spend time with our friends at the Sweet of Oregon, work with
them on a new seasonal drink menu, and help three of the staff prepare for
a barista competition. As I always try to do, it was not all work on this
trip; I was able to explore a bit more of Nagoya and travel to Osaka for
the day.
The first few days of the trip I spent working with the manager
of the Sweet of Oregon, Mt. Hood Café and two of her employees to
prepare for a regional barista competition. This was the first competition
for all of them, so as you can imagine, they were quite nervous. They have
been pulling shots and making drinks for more than a year, working behind
the espresso bar at the café several shifts a week, but never under
the scrutiny of judges and a room full of observers and competitors.
After getting ten
minutes to become familiar with the equipment the competition was on. To
add to their nerves, two of the three were numbers 1 and 2 in the
competition order! Each competitor was given ten minutes to prepare, ten
minutes to compete, and ten minutes to clean up. Judging was based on
typical SCAA criteria although there was no signature drink.
All three
performed well and did Sweet of Oregon proud. They waited anxiously for
announcement of the winners and although they did not place this time they
were all pleased that they had participated and look forward to continuing
to improve their barista skills before the next competition. Yes they
want to put themselves through it all again! We celebrated with Fukuoka
style ramen at Ippudo Ramen in downtown
Nagoya. This has been my favorite ramen since living in Fukuoka and
it’s not unusual that I eat there three times a week when in Japan.
Almost everything else I can find in the states but not good Tonkotsu
ramen.
I took
the following day off to visit the Tokugawa Art
Museum in central Nagoya. Tokugawa Ieyasu was one of the most well
known and influential shoguns in Japanese history. The time of his feudal
regime is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city
of Edo, now called Tokyo. This impressive collection contains art,
furnishings, swords, armor and garments as well as nine items designated
National Treasures, including the world-famous 12th century Illustrated
Tale of Genji. We wrapped up a great day with an excellent meal -
incredibly fresh vegetables and seafood shared with our good friends from
the Sweet of Oregon. This is my buddy Taki-san making a recommendation.
As you might have noticed from my previous blogs I am a huge fan of
Japanese shouchu and was not disappointed with their sweet potato
selection.
The
next day I traveled with Hasebe-san my good friend and president of Sweet
of Oregon. We boarded the bullet train to Osaka to visit with DCS. DCS
is an Osaka based company that sells and services coffee and espresso
equipment. They do a great job! These folks were kind enough to loan us
equipment for last year’s SCAJ and we visited to thank them –
and ask if we might be able to do the same at SCAJ 2008; fortunately they
agreed.
After our day trip we returned to Hasebe-san’s house and
enjoyed a house party with some of the Sweet of Oregon folks and our
ZIP-FM DJ friend, and OSU graduate,
Kobayashi-san. Here he is pointing to his Portland Roasting cap – always the promoter. We hope that he will be visiting Oregon later in the year.
I spent the balance of my trip at the café, making drinks, meeting with customers and creating some new drinks for the approaching hot season. After much trial and error, and the patience of customers and staff, we added several new frozen and iced drinks to the menu. During one of my final days at the cafe I had the good fortunate to be visited by the new director of the Japan Representative Office of Oregon. Mokudai-san recently joined the JRO after an impressive private sector career. He is an excellent choice by the state of Oregon and a great guy. We feel very fortunate to have him on our side.
Again, the trip was a bit too
short and soon time to get back to Oregon. I have again enjoyed my time
in Nagoya, a city that I
have come to feel a bit like a home away from home. Located in the Aichi
prefecture, in the center of the country and bordering the Pacific Ocean,
Nagoya is the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Japan with nearly 9 million
people, more than 2.2 million of them in the city. It feels to me like the
perfect blend of old and new, large and familiar.
Until next time, travel lightly.
Paul
The first few days of the trip I spent working with the manager
of the Sweet of Oregon, Mt. Hood Café and two of her employees to
prepare for a regional barista competition. This was the first competition
for all of them, so as you can imagine, they were quite nervous. They have
been pulling shots and making drinks for more than a year, working behind
the espresso bar at the café several shifts a week, but never under
the scrutiny of judges and a room full of observers and competitors. After getting ten
minutes to become familiar with the equipment the competition was on. To
add to their nerves, two of the three were numbers 1 and 2 in the
competition order! Each competitor was given ten minutes to prepare, ten
minutes to compete, and ten minutes to clean up. Judging was based on
typical SCAA criteria although there was no signature drink.All three
performed well and did Sweet of Oregon proud. They waited anxiously for
announcement of the winners and although they did not place this time they
were all pleased that they had participated and look forward to continuing
to improve their barista skills before the next competition. Yes they
want to put themselves through it all again! We celebrated with Fukuoka
style ramen at Ippudo Ramen in downtown
Nagoya. This has been my favorite ramen since living in Fukuoka and
it’s not unusual that I eat there three times a week when in Japan.
Almost everything else I can find in the states but not good Tonkotsu
ramen.I took
the following day off to visit the Tokugawa Art
Museum in central Nagoya. Tokugawa Ieyasu was one of the most well
known and influential shoguns in Japanese history. The time of his feudal
regime is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city
of Edo, now called Tokyo. This impressive collection contains art,
furnishings, swords, armor and garments as well as nine items designated
National Treasures, including the world-famous 12th century Illustrated
Tale of Genji. We wrapped up a great day with an excellent meal -
incredibly fresh vegetables and seafood shared with our good friends from
the Sweet of Oregon. This is my buddy Taki-san making a recommendation.
As you might have noticed from my previous blogs I am a huge fan of
Japanese shouchu and was not disappointed with their sweet potato
selection.The
next day I traveled with Hasebe-san my good friend and president of Sweet
of Oregon. We boarded the bullet train to Osaka to visit with DCS. DCS
is an Osaka based company that sells and services coffee and espresso
equipment. They do a great job! These folks were kind enough to loan us
equipment for last year’s SCAJ and we visited to thank them –
and ask if we might be able to do the same at SCAJ 2008; fortunately they
agreed. After our day trip we returned to Hasebe-san’s house and
enjoyed a house party with some of the Sweet of Oregon folks and our
ZIP-FM DJ friend, and OSU graduate,Kobayashi-san. Here he is pointing to his Portland Roasting cap – always the promoter. We hope that he will be visiting Oregon later in the year.
I spent the balance of my trip at the café, making drinks, meeting with customers and creating some new drinks for the approaching hot season. After much trial and error, and the patience of customers and staff, we added several new frozen and iced drinks to the menu. During one of my final days at the cafe I had the good fortunate to be visited by the new director of the Japan Representative Office of Oregon. Mokudai-san recently joined the JRO after an impressive private sector career. He is an excellent choice by the state of Oregon and a great guy. We feel very fortunate to have him on our side.
Again, the trip was a bit too
short and soon time to get back to Oregon. I have again enjoyed my time
in Nagoya, a city that I
have come to feel a bit like a home away from home. Located in the Aichi
prefecture, in the center of the country and bordering the Pacific Ocean,
Nagoya is the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Japan with nearly 9 million
people, more than 2.2 million of them in the city. It feels to me like the
perfect blend of old and new, large and familiar.Until next time, travel lightly.
Paul
