Café Japon/L'Esprit de Miyoko

To those who have enthusiasm for baking!

 

Before opening a bakery cafe, I worked for a company called Denso for a long time, which is the one of the largest and the best automotive component suppliers in the world. I was involved in ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) which encompasses navigation systems, electronic tall collection systems, DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) technology - which is, I believe, used for the next generation safety system in the vehicle to avoid car accidents.  When I opened a bakery/cafe, I did not think so much of the business aspects. That was passive.  My objective was to make the best tasting baguette. It sounds crazy, but true. Believe it or not, I wasn't thinking about how I should make the café successful.  Rather, the focus was to take advantage of this opportunity as an incubator where I could try the things which interest me - what if I serve authentic French dishes or what if I make Japanese kaiseki, etc.  We did them all. We served breakfast, lunch and dinner, provided our authentic French bread to the high-end restaurants and a gourmet store in Ann Arbor, and catered lunches to the professors at the U of M medical school. Of course, we made Authentic French breads, croissants, cakes, tarts from scratch with good quality ingredients.  

 

Now I refer to the restaurant as my ADDS restaurant. Can you imagine how many items we prepared and served at a little café?  Il y a vingt- quatre heurs dans un jour. Crazy. We opened from 8:00 am until 10:00 pm.  I worked for long hours (you don't want to know how many hours I worked) for 5 years until my battery was running out and I could no longer stand on my feet and walk; but I was not permanently dead. Huh.  I closed the cafe at that time.  It took me two (2) years to recover. My staff was baking for the Ann Arbor Farmers' market during my recovery.  To date, I am still baking croissants and baguettes to see my customers at the Farmers' Market. It is almost the end of 2016, and what I would like to do at this moment is changing; I am fascinated by French authentic chocolates, cakes, tarts, ice cream and confitures.  I want to learn them in depth.  So, you will see me with cakes, tarts, petit four, bon bons at the Farmers' Market.  Instead of baking baguettes and croissants in volume, I would like to share my knowledge and know-how for making croissants and baguettes.  Please register for the classes.  I look forward to seeing you in my commercial kitchen.

​

Love and Happiness,

​

Miyoko Honma

Café Japon/L'Esprit de Miyoko

 

​