January 22, 2014
By Ayana Mochizuki and Yuki Kurisu.
Café Foodelica is a nostalgic café and bar located in the northeast corner of Kyoto, just a one minute walk east from the Shugaku-in Station on the Eizan train line. Just look for the café’s bright red door. We can enjoy home organic foods and deserts, healthy lunches and handmade pasta. They make their own sausage and ice cream, but also have a vegetarian & vegan menu. It is a really relaxing and fashionable space. You can use Wi-Fi and owner of this café and her husband can speak English.
We talked with the owner of Foodelica. Everyone calles her Sasha, although her real name is Sachiko. She has lived in Kyoto since her childhood, and she also lived in England for few years. So, she can speak English extremely well. She was exceedingly kind to us. She has her own blog (http://foodelica.wordpress.com/) where she mostly writes about food.
Why did you open the cafe in Kyoto?
I am from Kyoto and have worked at many different cafés, but this is the first time to open my own café. (Café Foodelica opened 23rd November in last year.) And it is near Shyugaku-in Station, so it takes just 1 minute on foot and many people pass this way. It is near some good sightseeing spots, for example, Manshyu-in Temple and Shyugaku-in.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of locating a cafe in Kyoto?
The advantages are:
・We are in the suburbs of Kyoto city.
・I take just 20 minutes to commute between my house and my café.
・I have lived a long time in Kyoto so I am comfortable here.
・My friends often come to eat my dishes
・I have made many friends from the customers that come to my cafe.
The disadvantages are:
・There is no one to be seen on the street in front of the café from noon to night. I want to reconsider the business hours of my café. I have a new idea to open my café in the early morning for older people. Also, I want to help make the city an active place.
・We have to pay more tax to Kyoto city compared to other cities in Japan. this is because they have to maintain many tourists spots, such as temples, and so on.
What is the concept of your shop?
Almost all of the food is handmade; we don’t use canned tomatoes when making pasta sauce. I use tomatoes dried in the sun, because of they are more delicious. We also make herb sausage and ice cream. And I’m particular about the interior of the shop, such as the chairs. They came from a church in England.
Who comes to your café ?
First of all, a large number of our customers are older people. When I opened my café at first, I thanked many young students who came. Almost all were from Seika and Shyugakuin universities. Next were tourists who like organic foods. Also we have many friends who drop by the shop.
Where does the café’s name come from?
As for the origin of my shop’s name: first, is “food” and then I like the band Primal Scream. And the album I like most is called Screama Delica. So I combined Food and Screame Delica to create my café’s name. And also we have a logo for our café. It was designed by my grandfather. The Blue Kite is a brand of flour, and this image was printed on sacks of flour. The bird is a Japanese kite.
Map
HP: http://foodelica.com/2013/hours/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foodelica
Ayana MOCHIZUKI
Yuki KURISU