review no31 hugo&leo french bakery

The headline of this piece should really be: Persian breakfasts made possible for Kiwi girl by French baker in rural Japan.

One of Japan’s biggest problems is its lack of brown bread. I’m serious. It’s devastating. That artificial crap (sorry, but it really is) sold at the supermarket must die! This is where Hugo&Leo, the loveliest french bakery (with a legit french baker + yogi!) comes to the rescue. Situated in the serene Nishiawakura Village of Okayama, their delicious bread has been my saviour. So what makes Hugo&Leo so special? Well, apart from the most welcoming owners, their ingredients are simple, locally sourced and where possible, organic. Their tasty menu boasts a variety of breads including wholemeal fig and walnut, rye, walnut and prune and millet corn bread. Are you salivating yet? I’m day dreaming about fig and goat cheese bruschettas to be honest. Anyways… in addition to good bread (and by good I mean spectacular), sweet treats such as croissants, muffins and cakes are also on offer. And if all that ain’t enough to lure you in, be sure to try their vegetarian quiches and pizzettes.

Hugo&Leo operates on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10am-5pm but try to drop by early as they’re super popular! I’m hella lucky that their place is a mere 10 minutes away but if you have to travel a long while to get there, trust me, it’ll  be worth it. Dine in or out (the view is just gorgeous) and make a day of it! X

For more info head to their super informative website here.

black rice bread

Yesterday marked my 2 week anniversary of living in Japan. Which reminds me of the time my first boyfriend (age 12? 13?) and I celebrated our one month anniversary at a Steak House – just ridiculous! Any who, so far, I’ve come to learn many things including the cold hard fact that it’s extremely difficult to find raw unsalted nuts and brown bread in Japan. Oh how I long to splurge out at Piko or Liberty Market! The supermarkets here are very different to the ones back home – most items are  salty, sugary and full of preservatives (of course making them delicious) which has me wondering how come the Japanese are so damn thin? Life is unfair. My colleague says its to do with a healthy diet of rice, miso and sashimi.

Having been craving a Persian breakfast, I set out on an important mission today. Unfortunately I did not find any brown bread. However; I stumbled upon this bread made of back/purple rice which I deem even better! Not only is  black rice full of fibre and antioxidants, it’s also rich and delicious. I wonder if you can find it in New Zealand? Also, these nuts were labeled “raw” but still taste slightly of salt. Nevertheless, I did also buy fresh mango, edamame beans, asparagus, broccoli, banana, free range eggs and fresh organic milk. So really, I’ve nothing to complain about!