I'm Not There

I wrote a great newsletter last night, but it turns out I was dreaming. I woke up and looked at the clock, 2AM. Beautiful. Jet lag is what you get. Icarus. Farming out the newsletter last week was great. Why didn’t I think of that earlier?

Remember in the cartoons when Bugs Bunny would dig his way through the earth to China and everyone was upside down? Welcome to my world, Bugs.

Corporate guys talk about quitting their jobs to “become their own boss.” Ha. There is some implied agency in ownership. I’m the boss and I said no Japan trip this fall. But a cheap flight came up last minute and we were out of matcha… The trip is starting to feel like a commute. An errand. I had my shopping list written on an index card.

Matcha
Sencha
Katsuobushi
Arare
Gifts for Trinity, Gabe, Lucie, Rebecca, Liam, Russell

My sister sent me a photo of an indigo dyed blouse she wanted from 45rpm.

“Can you buy? Thx.”

Alright add that to the list.

As I was explaining to Rae under the train tracks at Chin Chin Ken, you spend your early years chasing after the game, and then with luck you get to a place where the game comes to you. Just pop over to the Precce in Roppongi and do the Ozu shopping like it’s the co-op. The list writes itself. Russell’s newsletter had me thinking about hiyaoroshi, a kind of seasonal sake aged over the summer and released in fall. Throw a couple bottles in the cart.

Every trip over there the universe sends me its cute little notes. This time I kept seeing Ozawa written everywhere, on billboards, buildings, trucks. Is it time? Our old man neighborhood Asakusa in Tokyo has become trendy, lots of little coffee shops and boutiques appearing like mushrooms after rain. The pitch: a legends only Ozu in Asakusa, ashtrays on every table.

Oh shit we’re driving under a rainbow. Oh shit we’re driving under a double rainbow. Surrounded by peaks in Kamikochi. Smelling the salt air drift onto the tea fields of Shizuoka. A private tea room in a woodworking shop. But nothing was as beautiful as the glimmering golden cottonwoods of Lena St.

---

Niigata senbei
Japanese rice crackers, choice of black pepper, uni, squid, nori, or a mix of all 4

temaki
choice of blue crab, maguro, kanpachi namerou, or ikura

sesame miso bagna fredda
local raw vegetables with an umami-rich anchovy dip

hiyashi salad
local lettuces, radish, cucumber, sesame ginger dressing

owan
rich fish stock miso soup

white anchovy salad with shiso vinaigrette
marinated white anchovies over local greens with fresh shiso dressing

scallop ceviche
raw sea scallops, sudachi, ikura, aonori

kanpachi namerou
tartare of kanpachi with white miso, ginger, shiso, over rice

hamachi bento
raw yellowtail with yuzu hot sauce, over Japanese rice with hiyashi salad and pickles

seared scallop bento
seared sea scallops over Japanese rice, hiyashi salad & pickles

maguro bento
raw bluefin tuna over sushi rice with hiyashi salad, pickles

chirashi
raw kinmedai, maguro, saba, shima aji, scallop, tai, ikura, uni over sushi rice*

basque cheesecake
yuzu coconut rice pudding