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by Steve
Trautlein
Café Slow
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As soon as we walked into Café Slow's
cave-like entryway, we knew that this would be a good place
to kick back and take our sweet time-which is fitting
for a restaurant that's part of the Slow Food movement.
The winding, bulbous sandstone walls were both strange and
inviting, and the books, pamphlets and goods on display begged
our attention. But the thing that really caused us to linger
was Café Slow's aroma. The scent of vegetables
and grains simmering in soup kettles, which we're so
accustomed to in health-food shops and restaurants in the
US, was like an old friend welcoming us back after a long
time away.
As we made our way over to our corner seats, we noticed that
those odd walls were encrusted with brightly colored stones-a
nice bit of dazzle in an otherwise earthy interior-and
that hemp products and tribal jewelry were for sale along
one side of the room (see feature).
We turned our attention to the menu and noted that the vegetarian
and vegan lunch fare included two specials for ¥850, one
of which was an interesting-looking scone platter with cheese,
as well as a full slate of everyday sets.
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We chose vegetable curry (¥1,100) and
quiche (¥1,100) sets, which both came with salads and
assorted side dishes. The Japanese-style curry, not usually
one of our favorites, was thin and a bit spicy and filled
with vegetables-ten in all-including the bitter
Okinawan goya. As we would expect of a health-minded restaurant,
the rice was only partly whitened, with flecks of bran, a
chewy texture and earthy flavor. The quiche, meanwhile, was
marvelous. Eggy and rich, this was a dish that would be at
home in the most epicurean of restaurants. It was also accompanied
by two slices of fresh toast, of which the raisin-nut bread
drew big raves. We were also excited to see that the quiche
set came with quinoa soup, but were disappointed that the
flavor of the nutty grain, which we've never been served
anywhere else in Japan, was overpowered by the tomato-based
broth's intense flavors.
The friendly staff served our food on heavy earthenware plates,
whose muted tones complemented the colorful food. Our meal
ended with a cup of excellent coffee from Ecuador-Café
Slow buys exclusively through fair-trade organizations-and
we were pleased to note that for a restaurant dedicated to
slow food, Café Slow has service that's quite
prompt. Our fellow weekday diners consisted mostly of locals,
and the staff told us that the restaurant is popular with
another kind of slow lifer-elderly women who migrate
over from the nearby McDonald's and spend hours chatting
in the welcoming space.
1-20-17 Sakaicho, Fuchu-shi. Tel:
042-314-2833. Open Sun-Mon and Thu 11am-7pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm,
closed Tue-Wed. Nearest stn: Keio line, Fuchu stn (take the
Keio bus bound for Kokubunji station until the Keio Store
stop) or Chuo line, Kokubunji stn (take the south exit to
the left-side bus terminal, then take the Keio bus bound for
Fuchu station until the Fujitsuka stop). www.cafeslow.com
(Japanese)
Photos by Martin Hladik
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