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For some it might sound weird to be inspired by food- but well … I am ..colors, smells, forms, presentation  and …let’s face it, it is easier to create art with a filled stomach as well. So here are some food related impressions from Japan :)

Daiwa Sushi at the Tsukiji fish market was the best sushi I have ever had totally worth the 45 minute wait. The tuna was the most intense red tuna …and a beautiful one for sure I have ever seen and eating Sushi at 7am in the morning was def. differently and set for a good mood :)

Imagine walking around and smelling fresh baked dough and seeing how Ningyo-yaki are being made. Each cookie made by the man with the mold revealed later on a beautiful design on the outside of the waffle representing the Seven Gods of Fortune and the inside sweet red bean taste was delicious. The cookies in the front are also tasty but different.

Ramen – oh man – we ate sooooo much Ramen – and I loved it. It isn’t your student food in a cup if that is what you have in mind – instead you get fresh veggies and meat if you wish in a wonderful Japanese stock with homemade noodles. The picture above shows one of the fun Ramen Counter Booth Seating Charts – crazy fun.

This is probably the most beautiful ice cream I have ever eaten! It was Matcha (green tea) ice cream and the waffle showing the messenger fox with a key were a great treat at one of the temples.

Pickled vegetables ….I loved the signs and the wooden buckets they were stored in at a market

And yes …I was intrigued – since most we had no idea what it was

But it was pretty like the one above ….

Yakitori- grilled chicken with veggies …it was not only amazingly tasteful but the presentation was beautiful too.

And of course all the different labels of those Sake bottles from a Sake tasting intrigued me. See the tag with the string on one of the bottles- what a cool label.

And of course I loved the beer label as well – which btw- American Craft Beer always has some amazing artsy labels- I need to do a blog post about that too :)

We stayed one night at a tradition Ryokan with traditional food served in the room and we changed into home Kimonos – it was fun and very comfy!

The food served there was so pretty and the all the little dishes were just insane.

Often we had no idea what we ate and to be honest some of the food was even for us foodies a tiny bit challenging but it was an experience I wouldn’t wanna miss.

The fish up top was delicious and I just was reminded of Marsha Valk’s wonderful video at Creative JumpStart where she showed a gorgeous project based on a Picasso inspired fish dish.

Here is the breakfast with some things staring back at me- LOL.

As I wrote earlier on my blog post about Tokyo I took a cooking class and wow- was that awesome! We went to the market beforehand and smelling, seeing, using different fresh ingredients was just awesome. Here you see the our instructor Yukari crushing black sesame seeds with a wooden Japanese pestle in a porcelain mortar which has grooves on the side. Needless to say that I had to hunt down this pestle and mortar and bring it back home – LOL

And then look at the table setting -it is a feast for the eye – and it makes you just happy to look at this. In the middle you see a Chirashi Sushi which I would describe as a Sushi Salad. DELICIOUS

Here is our cooking class group with two more from the States, one women from Singapore and one from Finland- so much fun. If you are in Tokyo take a class with Yukari-she is AMAZING!

Home made udon noodles …and I mean like right in front of me made udon noodles with vegetable tempura. Oh man – it was one of the best meals EVER. I am still dreaming of those Udon Noodles and my mouth is watering while I am writing this.

Well worth the hour wait in line alone (my husband was at a conference) – in fact – good food is a big thing in Japan and you just get a bit more patient (although living in the NYC metropolitan area waiting in line at a restaurant is not unusual for me)  and usually you get more than rewarded once you are inside. BTW- you get your menu and order while waiting and you pretty much get your food a minute after you sat down.

And yes –this is a pizza. Now I am picky as hell when it comes to pizza since I am a real half Italian but boy ….this was hands down one of the best Pizzas I have ever eaten …and it was in Tokyo at Pizza Studio Tamaki. It was a pretty crazy experience.

I hope you enjoyed this kind of different inspirational post ;) Are you hungry yet?

Nat