Ai Yamaguchi and Madsaki

Shingo and Ai’s little dude Rei is a picky eater and didn’t make it out. So this is the best I got. We ate at an izakaya place called Gomaya, which translates to something like sesame seed shop. You guessed it, that’s the theme, sesame. Michelle may be vegan, but somehow she’s getting through this trip unscathed, yet, it seems like it’s all about veggies. Tomato, cucumber, fava beans, tofu, soba, and stuff like that. The occasional rice ball, and it seems to be working. I’m sort of glad, I’m able to explain what a vegan means in Japan. You can say, no fish, no eggs, no this or that, but until you say, no dashi (which is from bonito fish), then they trip out. 

This is Shu, he does art and also helps Ai and Shingo. He’s a quiet dude who I’ll guess always takes that middle path.

That’s Ai and Shingo. I haven’t seen them in a year and a half. They’re showing me pics.

That’s Miss Premium Yuko who helps out Ai on the weekend. In front is a veggie medley, cooked simple and it was good. The egg behind it was amazing, my blood orange juice of course great, behind the OJ was the sesame tofu which was almost dessert like. Impressive. I’ve had it before, and don’t remember it being as sweet. It was powdered with sesame. I’d suggest this to anyone who’s into tofu. To the right is gobo, flattened and seasoned like a chip.

Rice ball. The piece of seaweed kept flopping over like a comb over hair cut. They often refer to it as a bar code, but I found out that it’s sort of taboo to make fun of that.

Madsaki is a Japanese artist who lived in the states for years, but now rock in Tokyo. We met him for coffee. He seems like a good guy.

In case you don’t know her work, this is what some of Ai Yamaguchi’s work looks like below. Take a look at more pics where it came from: Edition Works.