Sadaharu Aoki

Sadaharu Aoki Review

The moss wall murals are the first clue that this is not your everyday pastry shop. Sadaharu Aoki earned his reputation in the rarified world of top pâtissiers by combining a pared-down aesthetic with rigorous French technique and using traditional Japanese ingredients like yuzu (a tart citrus fruit), red bean, black sesame, and matcha (powdered green tea), which work exceptionally well with rich French-style ganaches and chocolate. For the duomo mâcha azuki, grass-green matcha's pleasant bitterness pairs beautifully with mellow white chocolate cream and a just-sweet red-bean center. Take home a sachet of tart, bite-size yuzu-flavor pound cakes, some green tea-enhanced chocolate tablettes, or any of a dozen small pastries individually wrapped for snacking on the go.