Unrelenting Curiosity and Ingredient Dedication Create Exquisite Breads

Exit the North Exit of Odakyu Line's Yoyogi-Uehara Station, proceed down the narrow street along the tracks to the right. Shortly after turning the corner at the photo shop, you'll suddenly find "Main Mano," a bakery that evokes a Parisian street corner. The green parasol on the terrace seating is your landmark.

The young chef here, Mr. Mori, is an astonishing 33 years old with over 20 years of baking experience. Though born in Tokyo, he happened to move to Sapporo when he was in the sixth grade, and a popular bakery on the first floor of his apartment building became his introduction to the craft. He learned breadmaking from the owner of that shop, whom he still reveres as his mentor.

Completely captivated by the joy of baking, he began making bread not just as a hobby but for sale from the age of 12. At 21, he moved to France. After joining the prestigious five-star Hôtel de Crillon in Paris, he was appointed the first Japanese pastry chef there in just six months. He then honed his skills in Italy and Belgium before returning to Japan, where he served as chef at the Hotel de Ryogoku Tokyo for three years.

It's truly admirable that his dream of becoming a baker never wavered throughout his life until adulthood, leading him to finally open his own long-awaited shop.



Mr. Mori's primary focus is on carefully selecting ingredients. Flour varies in texture and flavor depending on its origin and milling method, so he uses over 10 types of flour—including Canadian wheat, stone-ground whole wheat, Hokkaido rice malt flour, udon flour, and ramen flour—depending on the bread he wants to create.

He uses original cultured whey starters, sourdough starters, and grape starters for yeast. For salt, he uses sea salt from Camargue, France; for water, Evian natural mineral water; and for butter, specially sourced fermented butter. After repeated trials with these meticulously selected ingredients, only breads with flavors he is truly satisfied with are offered in the shop. His dedication to research is truly remarkable.

The shop's signature item is the "Croissant," with its beautiful 27 layers. It has a rich fermented butter aroma and an incredibly light, fluffy texture. It takes a full three days to prepare, including dough aging, before it can be baked. The "Baguette," with its distinct irregular holes, is also popular among the local international residents and often sells out the moment it's fresh from the oven.

When discussing bread, Mr. Mori's eyes sparkle with an infectious joy. It's no wonder that the breads from "Main Mano," baked with such care and a lifelong connection to dough, possess a gentle flavor. This is a shop to watch, full of promise for the future.