Coffee milk.
Just looking at the strings of letters gives me a sense of calm and satisfaction.
You can also find this exquisite item in Sendagaya, a 10-minute walk from Yoyogi.
The shop is called TasYard.
If you walk towards Harajuku from Yoyogi Station, which is bustling with businessmen and students, and turn one block inwards, the building's graceful exterior will appear in front of you.
Stretching your legs and spreading your wings like this is also good for your mental health.
The overall look is one of contrast between black, brown and white, all in wood.
Opening the door, you can see the kitchen at the back, where the staff are working tirelessly to satisfy the hungry customers.
However, perhaps the fact that it is located in Sendagaya means that it doesn't look rushed.
In any case, even the water tastes good (or so it seems).
On the blackboard in the center is a menu titled "Workers Lunch."
Curry, pasta, sandwiches.
Yeah, I’m a worker.
When it comes to lunch for workers, curry is the obvious choice.
and ordered curry.
Of course, I ordered coffee milk as a set drink.
"Coffee milk please."
But if you think about it rationally, it's not the kind of menu item a grown-up would order with confidence.
I imagine this happening in a large family bathhouse, where a young boy clutches a 100 yen coin spit out of a coin locker and goes to a vending machine to buy a ticket.
I ordered this coffee milk at a cafe located right in the heart of Sendagaya, adjacent to Harajuku, a mecca for young people.
This really hits home.
Taking advantage of the fact that I had realized this after ordering, I calmly waited for the curry.
The curry that arrived was mild.
Then a spicy kick.
The flavor of the roux is of course great, but the vegetables are also superb.
The only red thing about curry is the red fukujinzuke pickles
Festivals, beer gardens, BBQs.
Fireworks, festivals, and beach houses.
Summer events are intensely fun, but they can also be extremely hard on the body.
When it comes to my body, my appetite, which is already small, becomes even smaller.
I can't eat food, but I can drink water, so I drink beer.
Vegetable curry is perfect for me when my "take care of yourself" spirit has been blown away.
I finished eating it in incredible speed, and, enjoying a healthy feeling of fullness that I hadn't felt in a long time, I sat blankly waiting for my coffee milk.
As I immerse myself in the natural light streaming in through the window, I wonder what it is about this shop's relaxed atmosphere.
It's too common to be called a "cafe."
There is no energy as intense as that of a set meal restaurant.
As the midsummer sun pours down on us, the town and people can be seen reflected on the asphalt from inside the store, which is comfortably cool.
Ah, I realize it's a coffee shop.
TasYard is not just a coffee shop where you can drink coffee; it also offers a lunch menu and has the atmosphere of a moderately lively coffee shop.
"I want to see how it feels"
Unable to contain these overwhelming emotions, I spoke to the store manager, Mr. Narita.
- You don't often see coffee milk in cafes, do you? How did it end up on the menu?
Narita-san: "We've had it here since the time of the previous store manager.
The direction of the store is to aim for TasYard to be a coffee shop, neither a cafe nor a restaurant, so they thought that coffee milk would suit it well.
Narita preparing the drinks. He has a long beard.
-So originally you designed the shop with the idea of positioning it as a coffee shop.
Narita: "When setting up the shop, our CEO Nakahara was influenced by Japanese coffee shops and Austrian cafes.
The influence of Japanese coffee shops is reflected in the menu.
And the ambience is influenced by Austrian cafes.
The atmosphere in Austrian cafes is a bit oppressive.
But the people who come to the store are cheerful.
So I heard that the theme color was "black" and the concept was "a store that is easy for men to visit alone."
-Indeed, coffee milk could also be made to look more catchy.
Narita: "If you want to make something cuter, there are lots of ways to do it.
But instead, they serve it looking like an iced cafe latte.
For example, the container that the pudding comes in is made of ceramic.
It's not glass or plastic,
Even if a man is eating pudding alone, it is impossible to tell from the outside that there is pudding inside.
We're creating our store with that in mind."
Just as I was finally understanding the true nature of this cozy atmosphere, the coffee milk arrived at just the right time.
Outside, the cicadas are chirping loudly. Inside the shop, the breeze is blowing, and there is no background music.
Coffee milk, the kind of drink adults order at coffee shops.
A combination that exudes sophistication.
How should I order next time?
TasYard
〒151-0051
Maison Blanche 101, 3-3-14 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-3470-3940
http://tasyard.com/
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