あてるい
On this day, I headed to Azabu East. After having lunch at the Japanese restaurant Sen Shin on Azabu East Street, I planned to visit the Milanese pudding specialty store Milano Dolce Tre Spade, but before that, I made a little detour. I found a bakery called Bakery Lab LUPOSTO that caught my attention right across from Sen Shin, so I decided to take a look. When I entered the store around 12:30, there were no other customers. There were two staff members behind the counter in front, and one staff member at the register counter on the right. On the shelf in front of the counter, there were about 10 types of bread, pastries, and savory buns. However, I couldn't find the brioche with red bean paste and butter that I had noticed in the reviews on Tabelog. I thought maybe they had stopped selling it due to a change in products, but just to be sure, I asked one of the female staff members, and she said, "We have it." The two brioche with red bean paste and butter were placed in a glass-fronted refrigerated case immediately to the left after entering the store for refrigeration. I was also interested in the plum and shiso chicken at the right end of the shelf, but I decided to buy the popular No. 1 item at this store, the brioche with red bean paste and butter for 320 yen (tax included). Although it was a spring-like day with no need for a coat, I was a little worried because they didn't provide ice packs, but I managed to take it home in about an hour. When I opened the bag, the butter had not melted, and the shape of the bread was still intact, which was a relief. I immediately tried it. A round brioche with a horizontal cut filled generously with red bean paste, and thickly sliced butter sandwiched in between. In fact, this was my first experience with red bean paste and butter, but the sweetness of the red bean paste, the saltiness and flavor of the brioche made with goat milk from Kochi Prefecture, and the butter all blended together very deliciously. When I later looked at the store's Instagram, I learned that the store opened on May 10, 2022, with the desire to become a bakery loved by people of all ages in Azabu East, where various age groups live. The store name is written in Roman letters, giving the impression of a high-class bakery, but indeed, the bread displayed seemed more like something you would want to buy for your everyday meals or snacks rather than fancy bread. The staff at the store were bright and friendly, and they were very kind to a first-time customer like me. I plan to visit Sen Shin again next time to try their lunch course, and when I do, I will visit LUPOSTO again and this time, I would like to try some of their savory buns. The trademark of this store seems to be a wolf, as there is a wolf design on the signboard. From other reviews, I learned that "LUPO" in the store name means "wolf" in Italian, but I missed asking about the origin of the store name itself, why it's a wolf even though the store's specialty is goat milk from Kochi. This is also something I would like to find out next time.