Close to Shiozawa-Ishiuchi IC off the Kanetsu Expressway was a large hall that used to house a collection of weirdly shaped tree roots and other bits of wood. It was on the list of things to go and see, but there always seemed to be something more pressing to do. Last winter it shut so I thought I'd missed my chance for odd wood until a pile of weirdly shaped tree roots appeared in a heap behind the love hotel over the road.
Plenty of work was put into the old building and it reopened in April as a cake shop and cafe/pizzeria. Seeing the car park full each time we drove past, we decided it was long overdue a visit.
The newly renovated building is attractive both inside and out. Colors are bright, and the design is very modern and airy. As you walk in there are big picture windows into the cake section of the kitchen, and you can see long rolls of baum kuchen slowly browning on a spit. There are tables of the obligatory omiyage boxes of snacks to browse, with tasters available, as well as freshly made individual cakes (which you can also enjoy in the cafe). The home-made gelato also looks very tempting.
At the other end of the building is the cafe and pizzeria. Bright pink flowery wallpaper decorates one end of the dining area, and a chalk board of specials takes up the other. The menu is not very extensive but with several pizzas, some pastas and a couple of other dishes, there is plenty from which to choose.
We went for the lunch set which consists of a main dish, serve-yourself salad bar and drink. The salad bar is almost worth a trip in itself. Rather than the usual tiny bowl of cabbage and carrot that seems to accompany most lunches, this was a vast selection of seasonal vegetables, pickles, dressings and toppings. The salad dish that you are given is a decent size too, so in your enthusiasm for all the fresh fare it is easy to go overboard. Our mains were pizzas which were big, crispy and generously topped. A fresh fruit juice finished off a great lunch.
The lunch was a little bit more than the usual 1000 yen set that seems to be the standard around here but really good value. With a generous helping of salad and a big pizza, I ended up eating far too much (so unfortunately no room to sample the cakes on offer). The dessert pizza on the next door table looked like a reason to go back too.
