Morning
I like “mornings.”
I am happy to be offered a drink and toast at a reasonable price, but I also feel comfortable spending the morning hours in a coffee shop.
In Nagoya, known as the “holy land of mornings,” I envy those who can choose a coffee shop according to their mood of the day, from long-established establishments offering hearty portions to Komeda Coffee serving “Shiro noir”.
In my area, Hoshino Coffee Shop, Ueshima Coffee Shop, and Ginza Lenoir are among the candidates.
When I was younger, I could enjoy a McDonald’s Breakfast Menu or a morning set at Doutor Coffee, but these days, I prioritize places where I can relax and enjoy the atmosphere and clientele.
Good-bye Hoshino Coffee Shop
“I’d love to try the buttered toast with sweet bean paste, but I also want to eat some vegetables, so I think I’ll have a salad and pancakes.”
In the down-lit, relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant, I sit on a comfortable sofa and enjoy freshly ground coffee and a delicious breakfast.
The Hoshino, Hikoboshi, and Orihime blends with “coffee bean markings” can be refilled for half the price of a second cup of coffee.
After finishing the first cup with their famous pancakes and toast, I am more than happy to refill the second cup and read a book.
I have long enjoyed this relaxing space, which is only a 10-minute walk from my home, but what has been troubling me recently is the increase in the number of customers who are excited about mornings.
In addition to the introduction of mornings in magazines, the number of items on the menu has been expanded, and it is now very popular. Lines sometimes form in the morning.
I am happy that this coffee shop has been enriched and the service has been enhanced, but when I hear the buzzing of people talking, even if I order the same morning meal as before, for some reason I feel uncomfortable and am not in the mood for reading.
I guess I “liked the coziness of the mornings, not the mornings.” This place is no longer my oasis.
“Goodbye Hoshino Coffee Shop. Please let me know when you return from cafe to coffee shop.”
Where is the Oasis?
“I like the classic bacon, eggs, and butter sandwich, or the three-cheese croque-monsieur.” Ueshima Coffee Shop, which offers a full morning menu, is another coffee shop that is frequented by a growing number of young customers.
The regular drink prices are higher than those at nearby Starbucks and Tully’s, so the place used to be less crowded, except for customers looking for a good photo of their “melon cream soda“.
Somehow, like Hoshino Coffee Shop, the number of customers who come here for mornings has increased, and it is no longer a comfortable environment.
Spencer Johnson is probably best known for his book about two mice and two dwarfs and how they cope with the various changes they encounter in their lives.
What we have here is not a cute little mouse and a dwarf. I’m just an old man who can’t keep up with the changes in the world.
I wonder who in the world can relate to this story of a man looking for a coffee shop while mumbling, “Who Moved My Morning?“. I’m walking to the station and arrived at Ginza Renoir.
“I had expected the place to be noisy with the recent morning boom,” but it was as calm as before.
The hospitality of warm rolled oshibori (hand towels) instead of paper hand towels is as wonderful as ever.
The thickly sliced toast and special sandwiches, for example, are all served with one drink and up to two hearty meals, and I wonder why they should be as popular as Hoshino Coffee Shop and Ueshima Coffee Shop.
After a relaxing morning for the first time in a long time, I looked up from outside at the store’s sign on the second floor, “Café Renoir,” and it does not look like a fashionable café in the least.
It could have been mistaken for a mahjong parlor.
Although Renoir has revamped its interior image from Taisho-roman to Showa-roman, it is still a retro cafe preferred by my generation.
I would be grateful if you could keep the coffee shop close to the Showa era for another 10 years or so, instead of the fashion-conscious Generation Z in the future.
