Nebuta Festival 09' August 16 (Sun) 7pm

We will have every exciting events in Little Tokyo in August.

Nessei Week August 15 - 23.

TANABATA MATSURI: 8/14~16

Nebuta Festival: 8/16 7:00pm ~

One of the best events will be Nebuta Festival on Sunday, August 16.

Nebuta is one of the biggest festival in Japan which is held in Aomori city every August. There are so many huge floats with lantern decoration, dancers named "Haneto" and Japanese unique music.

Nebuta float was huge (17 ft high) float, which was designed in the shape of Samurai Warrior and was decorated with over 600 lights.

Kodomo Nebuta Festival

Nebuta first appeared in mainland U.S. was 2007. Please check the video of Nebuta 2007.

At Shojin, we hope you can enjoy the Nissei Week events as well as our healthy and delicious summer meals. So we extend our business hours on the weekend as follows:

8/15: 12:00~22:30

8/16: 12:00~22:00

8/22: 12:00~22:30

8/23: 12:00~22:00

Come on to Little Tokyo and enjoy Japanese traditional summer festival!

☆Birthday cake order ☆

We do custom made birthday cake!!

no refined sugar or daily.

It is soooo much healthier than any other cake you can get.

I do a lots of chocolate x chocolate cake.

But this time, the customer was allergic to chocolate, nuts and so on.

so I came up with Raspberry tofu cream x yellow sponge cake!!

We can take those customer orders in 1 wk advance.

please check out our website to see more details :)

This week's special!!

For this week, we have very very special limited items!!

These items are on our special course menu as well so if you

want to check it out, it is better deal!! (you get to taste everything +dessert)

If the course was too much for you, you get to order them by itself!

Curry flavored tempura tofu and broccoli served with Shojin ketchup.

curry spice makes it so appealing!

Creamy and delicate soup made with corn, onion and soymilk.

my favorite soup! ever!!

Sautéed mixed mushrooms on mixed greens with orange miso dressing

mixed mushroom itself is well seasoned!

Pan-fried seitan chunks seasoned with spicy soy barbecue sauce

on brown rice served with assorted blanched vegetables.

July 26th cooking class report!

On July 26th, chef kimiko did her monthly Japanese cooking class.

The menu for that day was...

Strawberry Daifuku

Green Pesto spaghetti

Summer vegetable soup

Look at this picture!! They are having great time, rolling

their own strawberry daifuku :) YUM!!

Cuisine Minceur/dessert

So yesterday was my big day!!
I got to express my creativity again!
Thanks to my bosses who gave me this great oppotunity :)

I'd love to show you what I did this time~!

Asparagus and caramelized pecan rice ice cream


Red bell pepper mousse with seasonal fruits and lemon glaze
paired with St.Clemont


Cold honeydew and cucumber soup with petite shiratama mochi


Poached Tomato with mint granite and rosemary cookie
Paired with Tropical mixed drink



Edamame Mont Blanc
Paired with Hot green Tea


Sweet potato, carrot and mango cheese cake with carrot orange rice ice cream
Paired with Raspberry iced tea


Using summer vegetables, I got to make lots of good stuff!
It was soooo much fun again.
And the best part yet is talking to the customers who loved all the desserts.

The last customer of that day, I got to meet Gary who came the day before to dine at
Shojin. He is a serious foodie :) and he told me that the Salad (Poached Tomato with mint granite) was exquisite and almost three star michelin level. OHHHH *O*

All my sleepless nights finally paid off !!!

customer snapshot!!

Happiest couple on earth!!

They got engaged!! here at Shojin today !!!!!

Isn't this sooooo exciting???

I got to make the crepe with the engaging ring on it :)

Congrats!! Dawn and Candice!!

Happy birthday, Meagan!

She got tiramisu as her birthday cake!

thank you for coming! see you soon!

customer snapshot!! and my final prep for tomorrow!

My final prep for tomorrow is....

the cake for mont-blanc.

This decadent chocolate covered layers (sponge/chocolate cream/cookie)

will be under the edamame mont-blanc cream.

Tattiana!!

She write her own vegan blog!!

www.vegangoldmine.com

hope to see you tomorrow!

Our good friend, Jun san's birthday!! He actually worked here

before!! He is a great sushi chef :)

We are sooo happy that we got to celebrate him yesterday.

Happy birthday! JUN san!!!

Happy birthday! Vanessa :)

We had a big party yesterday!!

Gary enjoyed my dessert today.

so he decided to come to eat my dessert courses tomorrow!

see you tomorrow! Gary.

customer snapshot!!

Happy birthday Ali!!

Natsumi san and her family!!

She brought her mommy and her grandma!

Three generation enjoyed shojin *o* how wonderful!!

Jane and Billy. They came here from Topanga Canyon!!

Loved shojin's food!!

thank you :) see you soon.

five course of dessert heaven!! July 25th (sat)

This is the dessert of the dessert for the upcoming event,

Five dessert course prix fixe!!

Carrot, Mango and sweet potato cheese cake with

carrot orange chocolate chip rice ice cream!!

I think we will pair this with raspberry iced tea (raspberry is pureed and

mixed with my beet simple syrup)

It is all natural!! and totally from scratch!!

So please enjoy and look at the vegetable from different perspective!

July 25th (Sat) 12:00-15:00PM

reservation number (213)617-0305

Compassion over killing fundraiser

COK is a nonprofit animal advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Working to end animal abuse since 1995, COK focuses on cruelty to animals in agriculture and promotes vegetarian eating as a way to build a kinder world for all of us, both human and nonhuman.

Please visit their website:

WWW.cok.net

On July 20th, there were fundraiser party, hosted by them.

We donated tons of our gourmet vegan foods to support the organization!!

Amazingly, everybody at the party knew about Shojin!!

the pic below is chef kimiko, serving foods for the guests.

Seitan Nuggets

All the foods that we brought were well recieved by everybody!

One of the organizer told chef kimiko that the high light of the event

was the Shojin's meal!!!!

We are so please to hear that!

A big party for JCWN!

For the party, I prepared special desserts:

Roasted Sesame rice ice-cream

Strawberry Daifuku mochi

Two kinds of Miso cookies

Strawberry daifuku mochi was a big hit!!

(***Chef kimiko san will teach this recipe at

the Japanese cooking class, which is coming up on July 26th

so if you are interested! you should come and get learn on :)

please call and reserve your seat for the cooking class

(213)617-0305

Chef Kimiko san.

Explaining the menu for today.

There were a lots of questions about vegan/macrobiotic foods.

Kimiko san has all the answers :)

Two Thrids of Personal Bankruptcy Due to Serious Illness

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I was surprised that illness and medical bills are contributing to two thirds of personal bankruptcy in United States.

Even though we have your own health insurance, serious illness ruins your financial

Deseases: Average Cost Top $20,000

• Heat Disease $21,955
• Stroke $23,380
• Diabetes $26,971

The healthy diet with pure and natural food protects (or even cure) ageist most disease.

Good health protects your financial more than stock or real estate does. Heartily diet is the best investment to quality of your life.

Yes, I consider Shojin would be one of my best investment.

New Menu: Tomato & Tofu Carpaccio

Tomato & Tofu Carpaccio 5.95

Sliced fresh red and yellow tomatoes, marinated tofu and shiso leaves with basil balsamic sauce.

"At farmers market, there are colorful red, orange and yellow tomato that makes me feel to grab some." Chef Kimiko said. "Tomato exposed to summer sunshine tastes sweet and delicious."

It has sliced 2 color tomatoes, marinated tofu and shisho in season with our original basil balsamic sauce. This is good when you get tired because of summer heat.

Vegan Chocolate & Raspberry Mousse

Chocolate & Raspberry Mousse 6.50

Decadent chocolate mousse and tangy raspberry mousse are

layered on top of chocolate sponge cake. Chocolate truffle and

fresh raspberry are hiding inside.

Pastry chef, Chie, said " normal mousse uses eggs and gelatine. Instead, I use agar for texture."

I really recommend this, it is my favorite dessert!

Also, those who have not heard the dessert event on July 25, please see some amazing desserts by Chie.

Vegetable Dessert Course Event - Trial Tasting

Summer Vegetable Dessert Course:

Date: Saturday, July 25 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Price : $25 per person

Space and availability is limited, so please call now to make a reservation at 213-617-0305 .

Please note that the menu items are subject to change without notice.

customer snapshot!!

My friends came here for the lunch today!!

Bob and maya and luke!!

Happy birthday! Rose!!

Happy birthday Luigi!

Vegetable Dessert Course Event - Trial Tasting

After midnight of July 17, 4 of sweet lovers and dessert critics (including me) gathered to taste some trials for Vegetable Dessert Course Event on July 25.

(July 25: Vegetable Dessert Course "Summer Vegetable" )

Here is the dessert course we taste

"Summer Vegetable" Dessert Course
Appetizer:

Three Kinds of Glaces

(Chocolate carrot, Pumpkin raisin, Asparagus pecan)

Soup:

Cold Honeydew and Cucumber Soup with Shiratama Mochi

Salad:

Tomato Compote with Mint Granite and Rosemary Cookie

Entrees:

Edamame Mont Blanc with Casis Cherry Rice Ice Cream

Dessert:

Red Bell Pepper Mousse with Seasonal Fruits and Green Tea Spinach Cookie

All of us agreed that each item was great, but it was not perfect as a "dessert course" to impress our customers. So we discussed with Pastry Chef, Chie-san.

After discussion, we decided we never compromise. We will seek the best taste of "vegetable desserts, so we asked Chie 3 items for a "little" adjustment, but all of us agreed that 2 items are approved! with no complaints, which are truly excellent desserts way beyond our imaginations.

Tomato Compote with Mint Granite and Rosemary Cookie

When tasting this, we all were quite for a minute to appreciate depth of flavor with mild tomato and mint sherbet Every things were perfect!

Red Bell Pepper Mousse with Seasonal Fruits and Green Tea Spinach Cookie

Image bitter taste of red bell pepper with sweet-sour lemon sauce.

Believe me, it's fantastic!

After the little adjustment, I am sure that Pastry Chef, Chie will offer the best "vegan dessert course" on July 25. This is the best vegan dessert event that you should come.

For those who are not reserve the space, please call now to make a reservation at 213-617-0305.

Summer Vegetable Dessert Course:

Date: Saturday, July 25 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Price : $25 per person

Space and availability is limited, so please call now to make a reservation at 213-617-0305 .

Please note that the menu items are subject to change without notice.

happy birthday!!

Thank you very much for celebrating your birthday with us :)

Happy birthday Alice!

Happy birthday! mimi!!

happy birthday!Geeta!!!

Shojin 100% Vegan (dairy and casein free)Restaurant

Last month, Quarrygirl posted an eyeopening article about an investigation of 17 so-called vegan restaurants in Los Angeles. Surprisingly 10 out of 17 vegan restaurants found that their food item contains certain non-vagan ingredients such as casein,egg, and/or shellfish.

If you have not heard this story, please visit Quarrygirl.

Quarrygirl: Operation Pancake: Undercover investigation of LA vegan restaurants, June 28, 2009

As a vegan restaurant, we take it very seriously. Even we didn't intend to use non-vagan ingredients, it is not excusable if we provide food with non-vegan ingredients by selecting wrong products.

So we contacted vendors or manufactures, and the following "vegan" products that we use are 100% vegan (dairy and casein free).

• Tempeh
  Lightlife Organic Tempeh
• Vegan Mayonnaise
  Follow Your Heart Vegenaise
• Rice Cheese
  Galaxy Natural Foods: Rice Vegan Slices

We also believe it is important to tell our customers what and how we cook menu items, so our customers feel safe what they have at Shojin.

I will continue to post who we are in this blog.

this week's special course!!

starting with Yuzu seitan!!

Okara cake with vegan mayo and house dressing

Sea vegetable salad

then two pieces of lunch sized hamburg steak with mushroom sauce.

+special dessert