Vegan Cleanse Day 6

Today was a gorgeous day in Tokyo! It was so warm and sunny, ideal weather to go for a jog in the morning. We jogged to...

Tokyo Tower.

We had brunch at Le Pain Quotidien which is located in Shiba Koen, right by Tokyo Tower.

Day 6 of my Vegan cleanse, I had the green salad and side of Hummus.

Signs of spring! My favorite season is right around the corner!

 

For dinner, I had a Shungiku Salad with Sesame Oil & Salt, and sauteed Enoki mushrooms.

Tomorrow is my last day of this Vegan/no alcohol cleanse! It's actually gone by really fast and wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. My body definitely feels lighter, especially when I go for a run.

Vegan Cleanse Day 5

Went to Pure Cafe again (went 2 days ago...) because I can choose anything off the menu and it'll be Vegan. Today, I ordered the Sandwhich platter:

Lettuce, tomatoes, onion, cucumber, potatoes, nanohana, mustard and tofu sauce (mayo replacement) on Rye bread. Also comes with a side green salad and soup of the day (today was carrot soy).

 

For dinner tonight, I'm planning to eat another salad.

 

This is also my 5th day of not having a single drink. I can't even remember when the last time I went without having a drink for 5 days was...

Vegan Cleanse Day 4

For brunch, I had an open-sandwhich on Rye bread with banana, peanut butter and honey.

 

Then for dinner, I had this salad:

Tofu & Avocado Salad on a bed of greens with Sesame Dressing

On the side, I lightly sauteed Maitake mushrooms with Avocado Oil and then sprinkled some truffle salt.

Vegan Cleanse Day 3

Today was a beautiful day, until it started to cloud up in the afternoon.

We walked over to Omotesando.

The Farmer's Market is held every Saturday and Sunday here. We stocked up on vegetables & vegan Rye bread.

 

For a late lunch/early dinner, I had this Vegan "Chirashi" plate at Pure Cafe, a Vegan cafe inside the Aveda Salon in Omotesando.



Vegan Cleanse Day 2

Day 2:

Only having 1/2 an apple and a cup of coffee for brunch, I walked over to Hiroo for an early dinner.

Hummus & Vegetable Sandwich and housemade Lemonade at Homework's.

Substituted with their tofu sauce instead of mayo, and added Avocados. I'm not sure if this bread was Vegan, but it didn't occur to me until after I ordered my food, that there could be eggs in them.

For dessert, I togo-ed an Acai bowl from Island Veggie, a macrobiotic cafe.



1-Week Vegan Cleanse

Haven't blogged in a WHILE...!

To be honest, I don't even know if anyone reads my blog anymore and it's worth my time to upload/post pictures/write about what I eat. Anyways, I decided to blog again this week as a journal for my week-long trial of eating Vegan, cutting out alcohol and only eating healthy carbs (brown rice, quinoa, grains, etc). Just wanted a detox/cleanse. We'll see how I feel about it in a week and take it from there.

My last Cappuccino with dairy before my cleanse:

 

 

 

Frey's Famous Pizzeria

Hadn't updated with a legitimate restaurant blog in a while...

Last week, we had lunch at FREY's Famous Pizzeria. I've previously blogged about Savoy (link here) and how much I loved their margerita pizza. After that visit though, my favorite pizza chef had quit and told me that he would be opening a new pizzeria on his own. After waiting years for him to get in touch with me again, I hadn't heard back and had given up. That all changed when my boyfriend happened to drive by FREY's and noticed the pizza chef and told me that he was sure it was him. We went to eat there for the first time last week and told him the story. He was so excited and we were just as excited because he remembered us too.

I was so happy to get in touch with him again, but most of all, soo happy to be reunited with his pizzas again!! Even with the same exact ingredients, I couldn't believe how different the pizza tasted when the chef changed. I will definitely be going back to this cute pizza joint!

Sat at the pizza bar, right in front of the chef.

Marinara.

We split the Marinara and Margerita, and this was the first time I had his Marinara and must say that it was just as amazing as the Margerita!

Favorite Margerita Pizza ever.

Cute shop located a block away from Roppongi Midtown.

Poules Moules

Before our train back to Paris, we had dinner at Poules Moules in Bruges.

They are known for two things: Poules (Chicken) and Moules (Mussels) and that is what we ordered. The Chicken was a bit too dry, but the Mussels were so good! It was one of the largest servings of Mussels I've ever had and of course comes with a side of frites.

Hertog Jan

Haven't updated in a while. I've been fully enjoying my stay in CA but I've also started to countdown the days until I fly back to Tokyo.

Finishing up on my updates from our Eurotrip...

The reason for our detour to Bruges was to eat at Hertog Jan. The Chef and Sommelier co-own the restaurant and they organically grow most of their vegetables, herbs and flowers to create modern, gastronomy dishes (you can read more here). They earned 3 Michelin stars last year in 2011 after taking over the restaurant in 2005.

We ordered the 5-course menu paired with wine. Luckily, we got seated right next to the kitchen so we were able to watch all of the chefs in action.

It's difficult to put into words all the elaborate flavors of each dish. Actually, its impossible.

All I can say is that this truly was an "experience". Once we step in the restaurant, we get an opportunity to sample a taste of Chef Gerd De Mangeleer's culinary genious. All of the paired wines that we had were very interesting (never had wines from the mountains of Portugal, Greece and small islands in Europe) but was the perfect accent to that specific dish. The interior was so simple but the ambiance was warm and inviting and not at all stuck up. And the service was beyond amazing. They explained each dish and wine in depth, made sure everything was perfect without being in your face or staring you down. Everything about the restaurant and the food had an elegant flow that made us forget we were in there for a good 4 hours.

If you are ever in Belgium, the trip out to Bruges and Hertog Jan is SO worth it.

Frenchie Bar à Vins

Our last meal in Paris was at Frenchie Bar à Vins.

This wine bar is adjacent to Frenchie, Chef Gregory Marchand’s restaurant that is very challenging to book. They made this wine bar so that you can enjoy Chef Marchand's dishes tapas-style with wine, without having to make reservations months in advance. We didn't want to wait so we just went 15 minutes before they opened and were able to be get seats. By the time we were leaving, this tiny bar was PACKED! The food was unique and delicious (my fave: foie gras mousse, 3rd pic) and the wines were very reasonably priced.

Marché Biologique Raspail

On the sunny Sunday before visiting the Louvre, we walked from our hotel to an organic farmer's market that was recommended to me by my Mom.

Street in front of our hotel.

We stayed in the Montparnasse area.

Walked through these types of buildings. This architectural style was my image of Paris before visiting. I love all the details and windows!

Organic farmer's market on Raspail Blvd held every Sunday from 8:30AM-2:30 PM.

We bought some Zucchini & Greens Soup and Yogurt back to the hotel for a light brunch.

Everything at the market looked so fresh and delicious. I wanted to buy the yogurt (above) by the case to bring back... and cheese... and bread... and honey... there's really no end to what I wish I could have bought to haul back with me to Tokyo.

Agapé Substance

Agapé Substance is a restaurant in the Saint Germain district that opened last year. It was voted one of the most anticipated restaurants of 2011 and is a contemporary, gastronomy/molecular French cuisine. Gastronomy/molecular cuisine is very fascinating to me, especially with the bizzare flavor combinations and modern presentations. The menu at Agapé Substance is very unique because they hand you a card with a list of ingredients, nothing more (current menu is on their site). You don't know how it's prepared or what other ingredient is in it, until its served.

On a side note, the multi-seed epi bread (5th picture to the left) was fantastic. In general, every restaurant has great bread (and butter!) but this bread really stood out.