Arts and Crafts day

Kyoto, Japan Another lovely weather day, which we spent admiring the arts and handicrafts that Kyoto is known for.

We managed three design and crafts museums, and could have done some real damage in the gift shop of each of them, had we not been mindful of the packing consequences.

The Museum of Crafts and Design was beautifully designed itself. It was so easy to navigate without missing a single one of the best-in-class examples of the arts that Kyoto is known for — 74 of them, to be exact.

All that art deserved a break, so we settled down for some tea and cake. In a big room near the café, there was a crowd of people and lots of activity. I was told it was a “beauty contest,” which explained a lot of the hair colors. At one point they must have been on break as groups piled into the café. They were bubbling with excitement and more than happy to pose for the paparazzi.

We next went to the Kyoto Handicrafts Center, which was basically a three-story gift shop, as all the goods were for sale. I was so overwhelmed that I forgot to take pictures, and did manage to walk out with a shopping bag.

Our last stop was the Museum of Traditional Crafts, which had some very special examples of Kyoto’s best.

Beautiful weather, and a beautiful collection of what Kyoto has offered the world of design.

Don’s Food Corner

After getting drained and cross-eyed from looking at three floors of amazing examples of all sorts of craft items, we happened to fall into a small restaurant with a limited menu that looked like it had just been transported from Southern California.

They were out of the shrimp and avocado sandwich, so we ordered a fresh ham sandwich on a yummy whole grain bread.

Then, we ordered that vegan wonder, the Buddha Bowl. With some quinoa on the bottom, it was piled high with avocado, some diced beets, pickled red onion, legumes like chick peas and other healthy stuff, and then tossed in a light dressing. All artfully arranged, of course, for a Japanese take on the dish.

I looked up the origin of the Buddha Bowl, convinced it was a Southern California invention along with fish tacos, smoothies, and avocado toast. Interestingly, it isn’t. There have been mixed bowls of fresh veggies and grains (or noodles) in a light dressing for centuries in Asian countries.

But it was Martha Stewart who coined the name Buddha Bowl for a dish that been previously known as a Hippie Bowl. The idea is that the Buddha (and later Buddhist monks) would carry around an empty bowl and take whatever people put into it. Sometimes food; sometimes money.

We also had lemonades that were so intensely lemony that they were almost bitter. But clearly everything here was fresh, homemade and served with heightened aesthetic awareness. In Japan, although things look simple, they aren’t, just like this restaurant’s centerpiece.