Centre de Bakery in Ginza

So where do I begin when talking about bread?  Let's start with a line.  Two lines to be exact.  One for  Centre de Bakery loaves of bread the size of cinder blocks.  But you wouldn't want to build a house out of these bricks, because they're not as hard as they look, and in a short time you'll find yourself covered in a delicious soft mound after your fragile house collapses.  And you won't be calling the paramedics for help when this does eventually happen, instead the local market for a delivery of butter, jams and jellies so you can eat your way out of this heavenly disaster!  Now that you've been warned, the second line is for the Centre de Bakery cafe.  That's where our story should really begin:

I was in line when I thought of taking a photo of the front of the bakery, but didn't want to get out of line.  And when I departed the cafe my stomach was getting a bread hug from inside so didn't take an 'across the street' shot.  So, all I have is this extreme-angle photo from the cafe line.

Cafe line, with the bread line in the short distance.

The wait was about forty-five minutes, and we were happy to see that a line continued to form behind us - this place must be good!  Some of the folks around us had purchased the bricks of bread so our determination for staying in line firmed up when a warm whiff blew our way.  It smelled so good!  Thanks for the encouragement you bread-loving stranger!

When we finally made it inside we were asked to share a table that holds eight people, and asked to sit side-by-side.  There was a couple sitting across from us, and we couldn't tell if they were on their first date (they kept cutting everything right down the middle and she giggled at everything he said) or were just a couple of people with cootie concerns who actually enjoyed each other's company.  They finally ended up ordering the two piece toast set which comes with two pieces of bread with only butter and a BLT that would be served later.  Meanwhile, to our left, sat four older women with fancy purses dressed for an outing of shopping .  Those four didn't even look at menus and went straight to ordering pork cutlet sandwiches, which were delivered quickly with the crusts cut-off and placed like fries in a cup on the side.  And the ladies just left the crust without eating it.  Fancy bag fools!

Our toaster.  I'll call her Brownie.  She didn't disappoint.

After we placed our order it was time to pick out a toaster.  So many toasters to choose from!  All my years of toasting bread, which legitimately only broke down to maybe a few minutes a week, left me severely unprepared for this task.  To top it all off I knew people were staring at me browsing the toasters, and would either nod approvingly or snicker at my disastrous choice.  So, I did what I often do in situations like this - I picked quickly to make it look like I knew what I was doing.  Besides, what kind of bread place would offer defective toasters for toasting?  Our toaster was stylish.  So not only were we now at Centre de Bakery to eat bread, but now there to be seen eating bread in style.  The couple across from us chose a roundish red toaster.  Seriously?  *snicker* *snicker*

Assortment of jellies, spreads, and honey.

Our order came with jellies and spreads, though in hindsight we could have had an enjoyable experienced if we ordered our bread only with butter.  In the photo above left to right (back row) is blackberry, orange marmalade, and strawberry jams, and (front row) mystery white spread (maybe white chocolate), praline spread, and honey.  We were asked to not spread directly onto the toast, and instead drop the contents onto our plate for sanitary reasons.  I just hope everyone takes instructions as well as we do.  I would say that one thing that isn't considered is that eating bread is a very hands-on experience.  Therefore, you might want to use a napkin when you handle these communal spoons in the spreads.  Just saying, that's a place for picking up germs.  Yeah, now I'm starting to behave like the couple sitting across from us.

Information on the bread types, butter types, and instructions on how to enjoy your bread.

The Japanese love to give instructions so you can have the ultimate dining experience.  After all, it's been a while since I toasted bread myself, I might go digging into a plugged-in toaster with a metal knife.  Your concerns about the right setting will be eliminated because someone will explain to you that the toaster is already on the correct toast setting (ours was marked with a blue smiley face) and they will even show you how to push down the handle and eject the toast - every toaster is different after all.  I'm sure my server was impressed that I managed to turn the toaster on all by myself, though she didn't behave that way.  I had her number - play it cool for now and then go home and tell the husband and kids all about the man from a foreign land with mad toasting skills.

Everything you need for a bread party - except the bread.

But instructions are good sometimes!  And while I wanted to instinctively ignore them the server went over the sheet with as much diligence as an airline attendant does with safety instructions.  I was shocked to find out that despite all my hard work getting the toaster, that they did NOT recommend toasting the Japanese bread.  Seriously, no kidding, this was shocking.  Meanwhile the North American bread should be toasted or non, and the English bread well toasted.  Who knew?  The Japanese, of course.

Salad, to make us feel good about eating a bunch of bread for lunch.

Oh yeah, and we got a salad.  Why?  I don't know, but here is a picture.  It was actually pretty good.

The bread and butter.  *tah-dah*

Then our bread arrived, displayed exactly as shown on our instruction sheet.  We carefully picked up the Japanese bread, delighted by its heavy weight, and slowly tore it apart.  I was surprised at the bread's moistness, and absolute absence of any crumbs.  But mostly that the bread wasn't warm at all.  Almost cold.  After separating a piece I gathered up some butter (which wasn't too cold so wouldn't shred the bread) and merged the two together.  The bread held up well, didn't become smashed, and there it went - into my mouth.  What made this bread so good?  The fact that it was just made?  Yes!  The softness, yes!  The thickness of the crust (it was thick) which was significant and slightly crunchy compared to store-bought bread that was a mere ribbon around the loaf.  And then there was the taste.  Buttery, along with that overwhelming softness that didn't stick to the top of my mouth when I ate it but instead kept up its structure despite being so soft.  What a unique experience!

I quickly finished the Japanese piece, and put the North American slice into the toaster.  I was probably hasty in this area because the North America bread could be toasted or not.  I should've tried it non-toasted but when there is a toaster sitting at your table you just have to use it!  The North America bread was good, the butter melted right into it, and I topped it with blackberry and strawberry preserves.  Being about an inch thick the bread held up well to the spreading.  The North America bread was good, but maybe it would've been better non-toasted?

The last piece of bread, the British bread, was recommended to be well-toasted.  I added some more butter and marmalade.  And darn it if it wasn't confirmed that I just don't like orange marmalade.  What a waste of a piece of toast.  Sorry marmalade fans.

It's at this point I'm thinking maybe getting the spreads and jellies was a bit too much, and butter alone would have been fine.  At a certain point we were given a 'last call' for the bread accompaniments.  It's nice to know that they didn't want anyone to park there all day - there was still a line of people peeking inside the restaurant from outside waiting for their turn to indulge.

They also make sandwiches!

Looks like three people are required to make these heaven bricks.

We visited the bakery on a Sunday morning, it was a really short walk from the Oedo Antique Market held every third Sunday of the month starting at 10 am.  There you'll find endless rows of very well displayed Japanese antiques.  Our purchases there included an occupied Japan era camera-shaped lighter and Godzilla (and friends) figurines.

"Life changing" was our mutual consensus regarding the bread,  but as I was trying to write this entry I tried my best to describe the eating experience.  How the bread in my mouth made me want to close my eyes have an out-of-body experience, so out-of-body that I actually stopped chewing for a moment - after all I wasn't in my body for a moment.  Eating the bread was too fleeting, I should've paid better attention to the experience.  What a missed opportunity!  So, eight days later I went back for an entire loaf:

My ticket for bread.

It was a Monday so no cafe line - the cafe is closed on Monday.  I went inside and there was a bread line - the attendant was very patient with me, giving me a choice of the Japanese or North American bread.  She asked me for the number of loaves, (some people were getting as many as four) but I only asked for one loaf of Japanese bread, and after handing me my ticket I was told I could not change my order.  This information was going to be passed onto the workers ahead.  For the next fifteen minutes I waited...

Those three kitchen workers still going strong.  It's nice to pass the twenty minutes in line watching their mastery.

Standing in line also gave me a chance to take photos of the toasters.  Hi Brownie!

Also available for purchase were the preserves, bread slicer (measures the slices of bread before you cut it to keep consistency), the Centre de Bakery cookbook and a bread knife.  Because I didn't want to mangle the bread I did purchase the bread knife.

The line finally turned and I could see the bread being pushed out from the kitchen.  Ahh, the wonderful smell.  Once the bread was out the line moved quick.  In about five minutes I was out of that place.

And there is the bread - those perfect loaves.

And yes, I remembered to get a photo of the outside of the building this time.

People were sitting outside the bakery eating their fresh loaf, but I took mine back to the Airbnb and we ate it later that night.  Cold again, we cut thick slices and ate it this time without butter or jams.  And there it was, the taste and texture that was make a man travel thirty minutes by subway, walk ten minutes, then stand in line for twenty minutes.  So while this post began with a line, it also ends with very committed line too .  That next time I'm in Tokyo I will definitely be visiting Centre de Bakery again. 

Map to the Bakery