14. Café Angelina's (Downtown Kyoto)--Kathryn
"Matcha Green Tea Cappucino"—this menu special lured me to Café Angelina from across the narrow street.
Only days earlier in Sapooro, I had been introduced to matcha: powdered green tea used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony. Through Ken's conference, spouses of presenters were offered a class on the tea ceremony (in addition to classes in calligraphy and an opportunity to dress up in a kimono). In Sapporo, I got to watch, whisk and sip alongside a tea master and several other women.
By then I'd also read about half of The Book of Tea—a text chronicling the history of the drink and its relationship to Eastern spirituality.
Neither the book nor the class lifted the veil of mystery around the ceremony, but both did pique my interest in the thick, almost bright green brew. Combine this zen cocktail with its Western cousin espresso and smother with whipped cream—yum! Angelina's also provided three thumbnail cookielets for dunking.
Café Angelina is on Teramachi-dori, a half block North of the long covered arcade, just across Oike-dori.
Ken and I returned to Café Angelina once for breakfast--scrambled eggs with salsa, a sprout-filled green salad, and thick wedges of white bread. Ken got Jamtoast. (Mmmm Jamtoast). At my request, the sweet guy who ran the place supplied me with a block of butter.
—Kathryn
Café Angelina: Kamihonnojimae-cho 481, Teramachi dori, Oike agaru, Kyoto, Japan