Happy Birthday WaCafe an-an

Well, well, well...

10 years.

I mean all year round, but it has finally been 10 years since I took over the shop and the chicken cutlet curry on the menu from OO-My at 27 Boundary Road in June 2014.

To be precise, I received the keys on 14 June 2014 and started operating on 21 June.

So this year, we are planning a lot of events to celebrate our 10th anniversary from 14 June.

Well, it's going to be a birthday month where we will look back over the past 10 years and respond to requests from our customers.

During the period from 14 June, from 9am to 3am (last order 2pm), the menu will be normal.

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Summer wagashi workshop on 14 and 15. Each is limited to six people and reservations are accepted.

Friday evening from 6pm to 8pm and Saturday from 3pm to 5pm for two hours. You will make fruit daifuku and seasonal confectionery. Anko (sweet bean paste) is included to take home so that you can make them at home. (￡30.00 per person)

On 16 (2pm to 4 pm), there will be a calligraphy and ink painting workshop. 

sorry cancelled 

On 18 & 19 Jan, summer wagashi workshop again. Each is limited to 6 people and reservations are accepted.

The workshop will last two hours, from 6pm to 8pm on both evenings. Participants will make Daifuku fruit and seasonal confectionaries. Anko (sweet bean paste) to take home so that you can make them at home too. (￡30.00 per person)

The 20th is the summer solstice, so we will have a takoyaki party to eat octopus. 

We will also grill okonomiyaki. We will be grilling in a trailer, so sunny weather is essential! Plant-based okonomiyaki, available. (Negi is unavoidable, so it can't be a vegetarian dish. Sorry!)

(All-you-can-eat from 5pm to 8pm. ￡30 per person)

21st and 22nd, from 3pm, Birthday cake buffet, 90-minute limit, with pancakes, Japanese sweets, cakes and pudding a la mode. There will also be nostalgic Showa sweets. (￡25 per person, including one drink). Sorry! 22nd is postponed TBA

25th to 29th June, Wacafe an-an is Closed.

29th June, Wagashi Sales at Brighton and Hove Japanese Club at St Paul's Primary School 

6th July, London Wagashi Sales at Croydon Japanese School 

(Cafe is open as usual)

13th July, London Wagashi Sales at Maeda Gakuen "Summer Festival" 

(Cafe is open as usual)

23rd to 27th July, Ghibli Afternoon Tea 

Max 5 tables each day. More details will be announced soon.

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All events at the cafe are by appointment only.

More details will be posted on the Facebook and Instagram event pages, so please read carefully before registering.

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We will be making lots of delicious treats to thank you all for your support!

I went to TOTO London with 1000 Dango

 A lot of days have passed, but this is the story of the day we delivered the dumplings and the day we visited the event.

Somehow the number of dumplings went according to our calculations and we ended up with about 1,000 and 20 three-coloured dumplings.

The three-day event period was 21~23 May, but the only day we could leave the café was Thursday, the 23rd, so the delivery was on Sunday, the 19th.

Eh? Do dumplings last that long?

If you are wondering, yes, they do not last long. An An's dumplings, which use no preservatives or moisturisers, taste best when they are freshly steamed. So, along with 1,000 frozen dumplings, I also brought a steamer. It was quite a big load, so I asked my husband to drive me in a big car.

　

It was a rare sunny day in May in the UK, so the two-hour one-way journey was nothing to be sneezed at. I enjoyed it very much.

When I entered the centre of London, there were many people! It was a Sunday and the weather was so nice that the streets were swarming with people... I would never have been able to drive. I'm glad I asked my husband to drive.

Oh, over there at Blackfriars station is St. Paul's Abbey.

And here we are at the TOTO Showroom. (Top photo).

　

The event space in the shop had already been decorated with a four-and-a-half-mat tea ceremony room, and a table space had been prepared for a miniature karesansui (dry landscape garden) making experience under the guidance of a professional gardener. Don't miss the miniature toilet that is firmly hidden away!

I was allowed to set up like this on the counter table next to it. Oh no, I was nervous.

When I explained how to steam, how to wrap the cellophane and how to fasten the cellophane with a handmade QR code sticker, he readily agreed and said, ‘I'll advertise it a lot’, to which the manager smiled. The dumplings were steamed on the spot and the director and his family tasted them and said they were delicious, which made me smile too.

I smiled too, and said, ‘Good luck with that!’ And then I hurried back home.

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On Thursday, the last day of the event, I went to pick up the steamer, and also to take a look at the Karesansui (dry landscape garden) workshop! I arrived at lunchtime to find that the workshop had already finished and there were dozens of dumplings left!

I was a fool to think that I would take the dumplings that no one had taken back home with me.

The steamer was also nicely packaged, and we put it in the cart and were on our way home. No, it was a bit annoying to leave without experiencing anything, so I decided to borrow the toilets.

What a surprise, there were three different toilets with washlets in the bathroom!

It's a showroom, so that's no surprise! We asked those who had experienced it for the first time to write down their impressions and put them up on the wall. They wrote: ‘I've never experienced anything like this!’ I can't use other toilets anymore’ and many other interesting comments.

I also had my first experience.

Tada-!

This is an oversized washlet with European specifications.

Too big to fit in an ordinary UK household toilet... 💦.

The stability is unbelievable. And the price is also not half bad.

In Europe, it's still slow to spread to ordinary households, but I hear that expensive washlets are being sought after in high-end hotels. I can see why! If the toilets are Washlet, I want to stay there even if it's a bit expensive. Subconsciously, Japanese buttocks are sucked into washlets.

Anyway, it was an event where I learnt a lot. Ah, it was fun.

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Finally, the warden's craftsmanship.

‘The steam was illuminated by the lights every time the lid was opened, and it was insanely live.’

I got some feedback from him. It must have been hard work for him to steam 1,000 sanshoku dumplings. How good a man is he✨.

instagram.com/toto.europe.uk/