He open his first restaurant in Japan in Shichirigahama, off of the Enoden-line. I hadn’t ridden the Eno-den yet, but was rather excited as it’s quite old, having been around since 1900.

photo courtsy of hamapenguin on Flickr

When I think of a celebrity chef, I usually think of a stiff atmosphere, and prices so high I swear I’m paying for white on the plate, not food. Bill’s is quite the opposite. While the prices are a tad higher than usual, it’s nothing out of the ordinary in Japan.

I ordered the Ricotta Pancakes with Honey Butter and Banana. It was incredible. At first thought, one would expect a cheesy flavour, but as ricotta does not have much taste by itself, this is was not the case. They were incredibly filling (as pancakes usually are for me) and highly recommend them.

In hindsight, I should have ordered coffee or something bitter to go with my pancakes, but how does one see an Orange Juice, Banana, Yogurt, and Berry drink? You can’t. Given the price of ¥700, I was a little disappointed in the amount received, but it encouraged me to savor the flavour that much more.

Conclusion

Bill’s in Shichirigahama comes highly recommended. The food was delicious and not overly expensive. The view of the ocean makes it the perfect place to enjoy a quiet Sunday morning.

The pace of life and the treatment of fellow humans was the most welcome change. In Japan, there’s this concept of “Slow Life”. Slow Life is the simple idea of living life simpler and slower. The ideals of organics and local food are part of Slow Life as is the idea of natural goods. So, you will often see a lot of earthen colors, natural woods, and the like. Slow down. Enjoy your coffee. Notice your surroundings.

I strive for Slow Life, but as I live in the Yokohama/Tokyo area, where the pace of life is decidedly Fast Life, can make this difficult. Experiencing Slow Life, if even for the weekend, has given me enough of a taste that I think I know how to get there from here.

The first place we went to was a cafe for lunch called Cafe Shozo. Approaching the cafe from the dirt parking lot the first thing we see is the following sign.

It says “Please don’t be a nuisance to the people around you.”

We sat outside in perfect autumn weather, sunny with a slight chill in the air. I ordered an egg sandwich with some french roast coffee.

After lunch, the next stop was to go visit some Llamas on a Llama farm. We couldn’t really pet them, they were cute. Minus the spitting. Thankfully they didn’t spit too much.

The short hike up the mountain to the farm was enough to make you feel like you were a million miles away from the city and all of the stress it brings with it.

Alas, it was getting late, so we decided to head into town to a group of shops where our friend works.

We first stopped at a used book store. The atmosphere at the store was really great. They played classical music and they had a room where you could sit, drink tea, and write letters or read.

Walking to some of the other shops in the area, we saw the owner of Cafe Shozo roasting some coffee at his shop in town. We talked about coffee and how fresh roasted coffee is catching on in America and Japan.

Staff waving goodbye at the cafe upstairs.

It’s given me a reason to explore all of these alyways I’ve looked down longingly in passing but have never had a “reason” to walk down. It’s further urged me to drop in those cafes that aren’t so brightly lit and don’t have a mega-corp behind them.

Today’s photos were taken at such a cafe. It’s local to me here in Totsuka and the entire place is run by one person. That’s right, he does the orders, cooking, servicing, everything. This is actually my second visit K’z cafe. The first visit was unsuccessful because it was full. More impressive is that he remembered that previous visit from about a month prior and commented on it on our way out.

I was / am thoroughly impressed with the quality of the meal provided and will be going again.

K’z Cafe

Totsuka-ku Totsuka-cho 4807. Yamaguchi Building, 1st Fl.

045-866-0140

Diary with plant.

Rokomoco. Hamburg with an egg over rice.

Tiramisu. He encouraged to mix it a little so as not to cough from the Cocoa powder.