Last night after dinner, Tod & I stopped for coffee and dessert at a coffee shop that captured our eye.

The sign was decorated with a mosaic of elephants, and carved wooden elephants lined the display case. The name of the shop is “Zou no ko” which means Elephant Child.

One middle-aged man tended the 30 seat restaurant. Hand-lettered signs tacked up on the walls gave the menu and prices. We opted for a 700 yen cake set.

“Your choice of cake, ” he said, gesturing to the glass case at the front of the restaurant. We selected our cakes while he started the coffee.

He used a vacuum pot, a contraption that looks like it came straight from a chemistry lab. Over a gas flame, a round glass pot of water comes to a boil. Snugly fit inside its rim is a tall, cylindrical container with the ground coffee. A pipe connects the two and allows steam to reach the coffee grounds. When the grounds are wet and the lower pot is almost empty, the flame is cut and the finished coffee flows back down into the lower chamber which turns into a serving vessel.

Coffee made this way is really wonderful and Zou no Ko did it well. Yet another handy neighborhood amenity. Posted by kuri at October 28, 2000 10:21 AM