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太愛我的鄰居們了。
從太平山街往下走，經過摩羅上街的古玩店，順勢沿著東街往下走，右邊出現一個個綠色的排檔，再經過左邊的百年香料店，最下面那個排檔是做鐵器的。樹幹一般的大「菜板 」用來切割鐵片，還有古老的燒焊器; 有充滿香港味道的郵筒，鐵箱，還有茶罐；身後掛著－拍照每張＄200 的招牌，只怕慕名來拜訪老伯的遊客已經不少。老伯大約已70多歲，身體還是好得很，嘰哩咕嚕地跟我討論他做得茶葉罐手工如何如何地好。
我和老伯訂了四個大鐵罐放在店裡裝茶葉。希望上環永遠不要變，可愛的排檔古老的街頭技藝永遠不要消失。
想要見識見識老伯手藝的，下次來teakha 找我吧。
明記不鏽鋼工程在香港上環東街17號（對面排檔）
tel: 2543 5560 / 9438 9214
Coming out of the National Museum of Art and walking towards the Okawa River I discovered a nondescript building belonging to one of Osaka’s leading creative units “graf” and their lovely café “fudo” on the second floor. Like a utilitarian version of Whiple in Taipei or a grander version of Hong Kong’s After School Café, fudo is laden with the “tools of life” that are the hear of soul of graf’s designs – function and practicality oriented designer objects that are meant to be used for a long time.
When I came downstairs from a most satisfying lunch however, I discovered something even more interesting. It was the annual Tweed Run, a group bicycle ride first initiated in London in 2009 during which cyclists are expected to dress in traditional British cycling attire, particularly tweed plus four suits (breeches or trousers that extend 4 inches (10 cm) below the knee). Classic vintage bicycles are encouraged and any effort to recreate the spirit of a bygone era is always appreciated. Since 2009 the run has spread to more than 25 cities around the world, including Tokyo. It was Osaka’s first Tweed Run this year, and graf was one of the rest stops sponsoring tea and cakes. It was like stepping into a Sherlock Holmes movie set in the middle of Osaka, with cyclists donning pipes, bow ties, hats and all carrying their own dainty porcelain teacups.
What do you say to teakha hosting Hong Kong’s first Tweed Run?
graf is at Address:
graf bld., 4-1-18 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka
Open: 12:00-20:00 (Closed on Mon&Except holidays)
Tel: 06-6459-2121
Flipping through some of the pictures I have taken in the past year finding references for my forthcoming teashop I was delighted to find images of Mado Mado in Kobe. Perhaps it was the unpleasantness of the trip (it was not Kobe itself I assure you, rather it was the company) that had subconsciously forced memories of Kobe out of my head, but Mado Mado is in fact, thinking back, one of my favourite teashops in the world, and one that is perhaps closest in style and philosophy to my own.
A wood-laden, rustic, organic, and laid back tearoom with pages upon pages of different milk teas and chais to choose from – what were the chances of me stumbling upon this heavenly place? Moreover, their black teas are all single estate and carefully graded according to origin and quality, for example FOP/ TGFOP (flowery orange pekoe / tippy golden flowery orange pekoe), a dedication few people in this coffee & wine overloaded society would recognize and understand. Back home, I did a quick search online and found that Mado Mado is in fact only one of Mahisa’s four tearooms in Kobe all dedicated to black tea in its different shapes and forms. Perhaps Kobe is in fact the black tea lover’s lost paradise?
Tearoom Mahisa
神戸市中央区下山手通2-1-12 エーコービルB1
tel: 078-333-7451
open13:00〜23:00（土日祝12:00〜）
Tearoom Mahisa
神戸市東灘区本山北町3-6-9
tel: 078-451-8411
open12:00〜21:00
Tearoom Mado Mado
神戸市中央区三宮町3-2-2 伊藤ビル2F
tel: 078-332-7590
open11:30〜21:00
Tearoom Organ
神戸市中央区三宮町2-5-11 2F
tel: 078-333-5319
open11:30〜21:00
I have been dreaming about Ippodo teas since I left Kyoto earlier this year. I was hence super excited to hear about their first teashop opening in Tokyo from my friend Alisa, and hurried to visit first thing.
Ippodo is a teahouse more than three centuries old. However, its first tearoom outside of Kyoto, the Kaboku Tearoom in the Marunouchi district in Tokyo, aims to bring a young edge to this old traditional tea brand with cute, almost whimsical packaging and clean, sleek lines in the form of dark, solid wood. Guests choose from a small selection of three different categories of teas, matcha, gyokuro (the finest and most expensive form of Japanese tea), sencha and bancha (often referred to as common tea), all of which contains three more kinds of teas within each plus a matching dessert for guests to choose from.
We ordered the o-buku-cha (literally, great happiness tea), a specialty tea drunk around New Year’s time, paired with a lovely, soft and fluffy dorayaki. The waitress patiently explained how to brew our tea and left us to play with the tea amongst ourselves. Ah… such fragrant tea!
I know not many of you would agree, but this was already worth my flight to Tokyo.
Ippodo Tokyo is at Kokusai Bldg. 1F 3-1-1 Marunouchi Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo 100-0005
Tel: +81-3-6212-0202
Hours:
Store: 10:00 am to 7:00 pm
Kaboku Tearoom: 10:30 am to 6:30 pm ('last call' 6:00 pm)
On a quiet side street branching out from busy Omotesando lies an old Japanese style house with a peculiar brass cube structure standing in its main room. At first sight you might be tempted to think of it as a contemporary exhibition of some sort, but on closer inspection you will soon be greeted by sweet whiffs of coffee aroma and sounds of happy chatter between owner barista Eiichi Kunitomo working on his La Cimbali machine and his loyal customers, many neighbours living in the area.
Mr. Kunitomo came to Tokyo a few years ago to open Bread and Espresso, having started his career as a barista in Osaka. He has since then moved on to become a coffee consultant, counting Tyler Brule as one of his biggest fans and now supplying Tokyo’s Monocle Café with his coffees. Omotesando Koffee was his pet project to test out new innovative ways of serving coffee. Mr. Kunitomo came across the owner of this 60 year-old house and persuaded him to let him use it as a mobile coffee kiosk.
“A kiosk is the perfect form. Not only is the space cost-effective so that I can focus my efforts on the quality of the coffee, it also allows for intimate, personalized attention to our customers. I can also easily move this kiosk to a new location from time to time,” says Mr. Kunitomo. However, this space has since proved so popular with locals and expats alike that Mr. Kunitomo has persuaded the house owner to let him stay and allow the rest of the house to be used as a museum exhibiting rare books.
Come quickly, before the Monocle fans overrun it.
OMOTESANDO KOFFEE
Address: 4-15-3 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Opening Hours: 10:00-19:00
Tel: 03-5413-9422
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