Seattle Bon Vivant

Cafe Amati: A coffee oasis inside Shijuku Station

AGFA Ultra 100 on Rollei Prego 90

We had our Japanese breakfast with the fishmongers at the market then took the JR back towards Shinjuku, to go back to our hotel and take a nap before heading back out to Roppongi.

But we had not had any coffee that morning and we were a little bit sleepy after such an early wake up call. While walking towards the station's west exit, we came across a tiny and beautiful coffee house that looked just like the place we need to rest our feet (the fish market is a few football fields too big) and get some much needed caffeine.

Café Amati offers table service, it is lovingly lighted, with pretty silverware and a collection of Wedgwood porcelain. Every place setting is different, all of them beautiful and the thimble-like silver creamers cute as a button and small enough for Thumbelina to take a bath in.

The coffee, was dark, creamy, strong and delicious and the toast, my gosh, the toast! Thick and eggy, brioche-like served hot and golden with a choice of jams and Hokkaido butter.

In such beautiful and warm surroundings and with coffee so delicious, we were no longer in a hurry for any nap. Who says you can't find Zen while having a cup of coffee?

Café Amati
Shinjuku Station
Shinjuku, Tokyo

*For more Tokyo photographs please visit my Tokyo Monogatari Flickr set. As always, new photos--from Seattle and everywhere else--are uploaded everyday. :)

Postcard from Tokyo

Wake up call at 330am. Auction. Breakfast. Sashimi with fish market workers. A fabulous time was had by all.

We are having a wonderful time. It has been non-stop food, wine, trips, walking, talking and metro and JR hopping and frankly when you are enjoying yourself so much sitting at the computer is the last thing you want to do.

But I wanted to check in and say hi. Many photos have been taken, many wonderful things to tell you. Soon, soon!

Off to Japan!

For the last two months we here at Seattle Bon Vivant have been preparing for a trip to Japan. We have been learning Japanese, immersing ourselves in Japanese culture and language, film and books to get us ready for our  journey.

The bags are almost packed, the iPod is fully charged and in a few hours we'll be driven to the airport. The laptop and the mobile are staying home. Other than a few cameras (okay, about seven!) this is an experience we want to enjoy with all our senses and no distractions.

I'll try to check in from the road. I might moblog a bit using my Sidekick3 until our United Airlines flight departs SEA-TAC later today but that's about it. I promise to tell you all about it next month!

Let Suntory Time begin! :)

Chew on this: Air France announces non-stop service from Seattle to Paris!!!

Sunday breakfast for two at L'etoile Manquante in the Marais

Here is one more reason to love living in Seattle and a bit of news that will make all of us local Francophiles very happy.

Seattle Times travel writer Carol Pucci (who by the by just returned from Paris herself) reports in today's paper that Air France will start daily non-stop service from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Paris this summer with a new flight into Charles de Gaulle Airport starting June 11.

How cool is that?

So, no more having to endure 6am departures from Seattle with connecting flights through Atlanta or New York, Pittsburgh, Newark, Houston, O'Hare or the worst offender, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport.

No more schlepping of bags across terminals, with minimum connecting times between flights and the resulting running through long and maze-like concourse corridors, up and down escalators and stairs to make the next shuttle and catch the next flight to Paris only to have the connection delayed or canceled.

Or worse! To arrive in Paris like it happened to us in March 2005 only to find that our bags never made it to our JFK-CDG flight. And it was winter! And a blizzard was covering the country and England. And we were taking the Eurostar to London that week too! I still get very cold when I think about it.

And-sorry Boeing--but we will be flying Airbus with those personal televisions at every seat and over 9 film and TV channels to keep this cinephile happy. Just thinking about it is making me giddy already.

Now all of you fellow gastronauts out there, isn't this the best incentive to make Paris your next travel destination? Imagine this: early dinner in Seattle, a few fab films along the way, perhaps a long nap et voilà!... brunch in Paris the following day? Dreamy huh?

Mais oui, bien sûr!

Air France to start non-stop service from Seattle to Paris

And away we go!

It has been a hectic week. A lot of work and travel planning, many errands, shopping, multiple calls a day, and giddy anticipation that keeps me up at night.

I have not packed yet. In a few minutes Mr. C should be arriving at SEA-TAC from Fairbanks, Alaska, only to unpack his bags and pack them again. We do not plan to go to bed tonight since our wake-up call will be two thirty in the morning with car service picking us up at 3:30.

But...all the photography and film equipment--the vintage Polaroid cameras and TLR's, the film (to record new movies and photos, to make new family memories) and cans of old family Super 8 movies taken by my father, not seen in too many years--were shipped Express Mail this morning to avoid the hassles of bulky carry-ons, heavy lead film bags while going through the TSA screening process at the gate.

Tomorrow, before most of you are up having your first cup of coffee, we will be on our way to Puerto Rico. And what a different visit this will be from our last one, five months ago.

This time around no hospitals, no waiting rooms, no stress, no tears. Just a fun time with my parents, my only sister, family and friends. To celebrate life, love, health and five months of my mom being cancer free (October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month). Coming full circle (no pun intended). ;-)

Back in Seattle, the cat will have two dear friends keeping him company while we are away. Down south in the Caribbean, my parents, who have spent the last few days getting the house ready for our arrival, will be greeting us with a feast of favorite dishes that they have been planning for weeks in advance, a lifetime worth of menus, to be consumed over the next 9 days.

The weather report says it might rain in San Juan tomorrow They were torrential rains today, thunderstorms, flash food advisories. This, after all, is the peak of hurricane season.

But frankly as soon as we fly over the Florida keys, when surrounded by loved ones with all that green, coconuts, mangoes and deep blue sea, all that glorious food and music, a little Flamenco, a lot of surf and sand, hot sun and clear skies.

And next Saturday, a big party to celebrate being together. Come rain or come shine, it is going to be paradise. We can't hardly wait!

I'll be reporting from the road so stay tuned..

Puerto Rico on my Flickr (May 2006)

Christine Ferber Confiture Envie

Reason #145 to keep going back to Paris. Pears, black currant and violet. Thick but not chunky, easily spreadable but not runny. Excellent on PB & J or over Greek yogurt. I finished the last of it this morning. Sniff, sniff!  € 8.60 (about $10.33 USD) at Pierre Hermé.

Hawaii or Mexico? Where and what to eat?

We are skipping Paris this spring (and until September), thinking instead of going somewhere sunny and tropical, perhaps even beachy.

But I can't seem to make up my mind about where to go: Mexico or Hawaii? And within Mexico: Oaxaca or Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo region?

As long as it is not terribly crowded with tourists, retail, big hotels and such and the cuisine is exciting, authentic and fresh (slow food in all price points) we are open to ideas.

So if you have any Mexico (Amy?) or Hawaii (Reid, can you hear me?) favorites that might helps us plan our holiday, send them our way, please.

Thanks a bunch!

I'm leaving, on a jet plane...

In a few minutes I'll be on my merry way to Sea-Tac, where I'll have a little breakfast before boarding a flight to Philadelphia and from there a connecting flight to Paris and London via Eurostar.

Again, you say? Oui, pourquoi pas? A mixture of work and play, visiting with old friends, research and inspiration for a couple promising projects simmering, at very low heat, somewhere back home.

Barring any unforseen last-minute connection or battery juice snafoos, I shall be moblogging some of my culinary exploits, food shopping discoveries and visits to favorite places, checking email and reading your comments via Sidekick II, my trusty, constant companion.

So, until we see each other again, dear readers, live well, count your blessings, continue supporting the Katrina relief efforts and take good care. À la prochaine...

Halli, Hallo, Hellay!

Last night I finally unpacked my Cannon Beach trip suitcase just in time to pack it up again and take off to Los Angeles! In what has become a yearly event, I'm heading back to spend some good times with great friends and visit a few of my favorite spots. We'll eat, drink, shop and play over a long Fourth of July weekend.

In my bag, all the essentials and in my Sidekick II's favorites, a new bookmark, A girl's guide to LA.

By now a girl named Alex--who used to live in Seattle-- is now a bonafide LA resident and along with Mary Catherine, one of the voices behind this great new website.

These ladies are experts on all things delicious, fabulous and fun in the City of Angels. If you live in LA or are planning to visit soon, you need to go check out what these girls are dishing out.

Have a safe and super fun weekend everyone!

For those of you traveling this weekend: Flight Suits

Salut à tous!

We are back in Seattle, happy to be home, mildly adjusted from jet-lag and with the suitcases in the hallway--only the food items are have been unpacked, of course.

Other than heading out to see the superb Florencia en el Amazonas last night at McCaw Hall, all I've done is sleep and sleep and sleep some more, making up for all the non-stop walking, eating, drinking and shopping. I've also been playing around with Typepad's template style settings. Tee hee!

The trip was fabulous. There is much food talk to get into--and oh Meg, I did find M. Guy Allart and his  Tournesol Honey, yay!--but for now I'm going back to bed. Bon nuit!