TONTTU

Tonttu’s Heartmelting Delicious Bread Awaits You  

The bakery café Tonttu opened in May 2017, nearby the Industrial and Commerce Hall, about a 5-minute-walk from the south exit of JR Asagaya Station. The café was named after the little gnome with a red hat that appears in the Nordic folk tale. You can enjoy take-out bread as well as set menus during lunch and café hours in the cafe.

There is a wide range of bakes, many adorable ones with cute faces or critter shapes guaranteed to make you smile and melt your heart. In the hot Japanese summer they also have some delicious kaki-gori, Japanese shaved ice!

The proprietor Mr. Daiki Hizatate who lives in north Asagaya had worked in various eateries such as a bakery, an Italian restaurant, and a French restaurant and café in the past. Hizatate-san explains that these experiences were useful for him to create the café’s elaborate menus according to the time of day.

“Our motto is to stay close to our customers’ everyday lives. I aim to make this café a place where people can find different enjoyable elements to suit each occasion.” He not only carefully selects the ingredients for the bread from domestically grown flours and homemade leaven to fermented butter, but also puts a lot of heart into the fillings for the savory bread. Plenty of vegetable fillings prepared with his signature French cooking techniques bring out the deliciousness of the bread.

Hizatate-san feels that he has been well supported by the close ties among the neighborhood association members since he opened the cafe. “I was touched by their kindness, for instance, at the times of typhoons they looked out for us and during the Asagaya Shinmeigu Shrine’s major annual festival, they prayed for our prosperous business in front of our café as the portable shrine was leaving the Industrial and Commerce Hall.”

Recommended bakes:
Curry Bread (230 yen + tax) is a fried bread with delicious beef curry inside. “Kao Pan” (Face Bun, 120 yen + tax) is fun to look at and delicious to eat. Its buttery brioche dough goes well with the subtle sweetness of cane sugar. This palm-size bun makes an ideal snack when you are feeling peckish. Hizatate-san’s recommendation is “Otona no Choco Cornet” (Chocolate Cornet for Grown-ups, 200 yen + tax). Homemade chocolate cream using French bitter chocolate with 64% cacao content creates fascinating flavors with moderate sweetness.

ACCESS

Translation: Ian & Minako