Organic and gormet ingredients for sale

We are now selling some of our favorite ingredients at the restaurant.
Everything from maple sugar to soy sauce from Japan.
They are a bit on the pricey side, but they are selected very carefully by
Kimiko chef! so they won't dissapoint you!! And they will be a great addition to
your healthy kitchen!!

Macrobiotic cooking class 4/26

(Mixed green salad with summer island dressing)

Our excutive chef Kimiko san held a macrobiotic cooking class on 26th.
These are the photos of the foods that she taught.



(BBQ tempeh bowl)
YUM!!


(pan frying tempeh to make tempeh bowl)

And she also taught how to make creamy corn soup.


(Kimiko san and her students!)

Mystery of Sake event

Last Thursday, I went to the event called "Mystery of Sake" to promote
Shojin!

It was very nice to talk to people who are interested in vegan and macrobiotic foods.

We brought rosemary cookies and house dressed tofu cheese salad to give out! They were
such a big hit! Everybody loved our food!

course dessert~Strawberry Tart

It feels like summer already!

it's a berry season!
so come eat my strawberry tart! which is served as one of the course menu.

A little less earnest, a little more flavorful and luxurious-L.A.'s macrobiotic restaurants are going mainstream!!

Did you see the Food section of LA times today!!??
Shojin is introduced along with other hip microbiotic restaurants and cafes around LA.

The article goes,
"Shojin: Shojin restaurant in Little Tokyo (in the Little Tokyo Galleria) has a more formal dining room than the cafes mentioned above, complete with white tablecloths and low lighting, and the kitchen strives to create dishes that match the ambience. Organic soba dishes such as vegetable tempura soba are a highlight. Appetizers include a bright orange-kale salad and sauteed mushrooms, and desserts are artfully plated."


Big Smooches to LA times!!

sweetner

As our websie tells you
"We offer organic and natural meals influenced and inspired by macrobiotic and Japanese style[...]
We don't use refined sugar; instead we use brown rice syrup, maple syrup and maple sugar."

This maple sugar and syrup are usually my must-have items when I make my desserts at Shojin.
It is not healthy if you use too much of them, but they are much much more benificial for your body than refined sugar. They contain a lot more minerals and come in a pure form, which totally matches the concept of macrobiotic. It has been a bit of challenge for me to use these sweeteners and other macrobiotic ingredients since I was trained and worked in regular sugar surroundings. I, however, love the idea of having and offering this great option for people with a sweet tooth.
So come enjoy our desserts! and make yourself feel better!! They won't give you any sugar rush, but they will sooth you and indulge you :)

sushi class report!

I know I was way too behind on this report...
I am sooo glad that I finally got to update these pictures!!

well...
it was a very cozy and fun sunday afternoon with a small group of
sushi learner.

some of them are already expert at it.



They learned how to make some rolls.
and make miso soup and cook brown rice.

Teaching hand and learning hand... :)

Happy Easter to everybody!

This picture is from a couple wks ago when Toby took his big party
to our restaurant.
Toby is our loyal customer who comes in very often! He actually came in yesterday to
taste our Easter special Pizza!! He and his friends told us that it was so good!




And these lovely ladies are here today to enjoy the pizza!
Muchos Gracias, Mama!!




And Ai-san! with the slice of yummy pizza!

Birthdays~!!

As I mentioned before, we are very very happy to celebrate our
customer's birthday.

Yesterday, we had 5 birthdays to celebrate throughout the day!!
I especially love the moment when the birthday boy/girl blow out the candle that
I put it on my plated dessert *0*

thank you always for choosing our restaurant for your special day.

Sneak preview II Vegan Sushi Rolls!!

Yesterday, we all tried these new sushi rolls.
Not just 2, but we have more items to show off :)

These tastes like summer to me!
a lot of cucumbers and refreshing ingredients!

And I got to plate these!
I love to plate everything! not just dessert!
Right now I am learning how to make sushi from my boss~ ;)

Sneak preview!! new item!

Corn Chowder!
creamy and sweet corn soup.



Salad pasta!
with new special dressing.

come and try our new item!

Pizza Pizza, All American for Easter!

We are going to have an Easter Special! for this weekend.

Saturday and Sunday, Lunch~Dinner
Reservation only! Please Call 213-617-0305 to reserve this special pizza meal by Friday

Special Salad, Shojin style 10" Pizza (2 different kind of pizza to choose from), and Chocolate Sundae for $15

Of course, everything is organic and natural, vegan and macrobiotic friendly!

I tasted the pizza Kimiko san made yesterday! It was sooooo good!

new dessert!! Chocolate Tart

I added a couple of items yesterday to my dessert collection.

the first one is Chocolate tart with vanilla ice cream!

Dark and creamy chocolate ganache in a chocolate crust. (pic above)

I made a petite chocolate tart for matsuri party, and it was received well so

I decided to make it bigger and better.

And the other one is strawberry mousse.  It is not just a strawberry mousse, but the kiwi gelee is hiding inside of the mousse.  

hopefully this will bring a spring and early summer feeling to the restaurant!

XOXO!

April! spring menu!!

Spring has come!

We are going to add some new menu.

For me, I was thinking about using strawberries and some other fruits...
I don't know yet..
The strawberry mousse that I served for the sushi class (pic above) was received very well so I was hoping to make something like that :)

I've got to go and experiment!

Pictures of Matsuri!!

(Cute baby, Hana chan with her beautiful kimono on!)

The party was such a success! I think....

Except the fact that there were few people who coulnd't get inside...or

eat well because of our unorganized arrangements....

We learned a lot from this biggest event yet.

So hopefully, for the next time, we will be a better organizer!

(A lot of people were sooo excited to eat vegan nigiri!)

(Mr. Kanda's live music performance.)

(Great presentation and yummy sushi.

Thank you, Hiro san! and Yuya!)

We are thinking about doing this again for the summer.

I'd let you know the details soon enough!

And most of all,

Thank you very very much everybody for coming to our 1st year anniversary!

We are so lucky to have you and your love for Shojin.