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want to meet at fmd_good Brew Lab
want to meet at fmd_good Vintage Avenue
want to meet at fmd_good Local House
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Any store recs? Looking for art/cookbooks & kitchen supply stores, knives & ceramics
tbh you can skip the tourist traps and hit up loft or tokyu hands for the art book + kitchen combo, they've got decent sections on different floors. for knives specifically, i'd go to kappabashi but hit kama-asa instead of the big shops, they're way more chill and have a good range under 10k yen. ceramics-wise, the togo shrine flea market is solid like someone said but also check out the pottery street near yoyogi park on weekends, some local potters set up stalls there with stuff you wont find in stores
if you're into knives, tower knives in tokyo is worth the trip. it's a bit out of the way near shitaya station but they let you handle everything and have good prices. for ceramics, i'd skip the tourist spots and check out yanaka or koenji for smaller shops with more character
For cookbooks and art books, head to the Jimbocho area, it's got tons of used bookstores stacked floor to floor. Kappabashi is your spot for kitchen knives and ceramics, just walk up and down the main street and pop into any shop that looks good.
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.