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Frau Krumm

26 Comments

Japanese professional tennis player Kimiko Date-Krumm poses Tuesday during a press preview of her bakery "Frau Krumm" in Tokyo's Ebisu area. The store, set for a grand opening on Thursday, will sell traditional German bread, including pretzels, stangen, croissants and the bakery's original "Krummbrot" made of 100% organic German rye. Date-Krumm said that the opening of the store is a "dream come true" for her, after being fond of her German husband's culture of having freshly baked bread and coffee for breakfast for many years. Following the opening of the Ebisu store, the 45-year-old -- who says she hasn't retired from tennis yet -- plans to expand the bakery to other areas in Tokyo as well, hoping to promote the European culture "of buying bread early in the morning on the way to work." For more information, visit http://www.fraukrumm.com/

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26 Comments
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I hope they sweep up all the krumms carefully every day!

Good luck to her.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

The croissants and chocolate croissants look very appetizing.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Meat pies and sausage rolls please!

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Six months in and she'll have corn and azuki beans in her pastries just like everyone else.

10 ( +16 / -6 )

I fear you may be right. The problem I've found with Japanese bakeries is they seem to be very pastry and sandwich focussed. Good meat pies are something sorely lacking.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Hmmmm... like there aren't already plenty of places around Tokyo that serve morning pastries and coffee and so on. I guess she is entitled to trade on her celebrity and the locals will love the exotic fact of her being married to a German. Germans aren't big on meat pies and sausage rolls, so no luck there. what is needed is a good Aussie or Kiwi coffee shop for those.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Six months in and she'll have corn and azuki beans in her pastries just like everyone else

Joël Robuchon, who boasts a total of 33 Michelin stars in his empire, has kare pan in his Marunouchi bakery.

Frau Krumm will undoubtedly have fluffy white igirisu pan too, like so many "authentic" German bakeries here. Even Costco have stopped baking wholemeal bread in-store. I was gutted.

For unadulterated wholegrain, try Le Pain Quotidien: excellent, but pricey.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Could do with a branch of Greggs in Tokyo. A Steak Bake or a Scotch Pie at lunchtime with a bottle of Irn Bru, followed by a packet of cheese and onion crisps... :)

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Kimiko, any chance of a Frau Krumm shop in Kochi? Rent is cheaper than in Ebisu!

No? Well, there is always hope!

Six months in and she'll have corn and azuki beans in her pastries just like everyone else I hope not! Yet, a few places in Kochi have a few different pastry-breads with gobo (burdock root). One shop like that near me though does make a nice non-oily more-ish bread with good cream cheese, but when I look at the rest of the weird oily selections I sometimes sadly wonder if it had just been made by mistake.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Who is doing the baking?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

In Germany/France it takes years of training and apprenticeship to become a fully fledged baker. It's interesting that in Japan all of the hard graft can be avoided just by having a German spouse. Maybe I should consider becoming a sushi chef.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

I wish her luck, and more than anything would LOVE to see some real bread on the shelves and in bakeries, but if the picture is anything to go on it looks like more of the same perverted white bread baked products loaded with weird creams, cheap cheeses, wieners that make hotdogs look good, and of course, tonnes of corn. I hope that's just the pic and she really does bring out the pumpernickel, brot, whole wheat, REAL rye bread, etc.

7 ( +11 / -4 )

A little heavy on the cynicism here. Give her a chance, her concept is sound. Good hearty rye bread was almost impossible to find in Tokyo 20 years ago, but times have changed. Linde, for example, sells good stuff. There's a market for it, especially in a cosmopolitan area like Ebisu.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Most "bakeries" I've seen in Japan are really only shops that sell breads baked in a factory somewhere else, much like the food in most chain restaurants like Denney's, Royal Host, etc. I'm fortunate to walk past a real bakery on my way to work. OMG the smells coming out of that place are all the advertisement they could need.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Could do with a branch of Greggs in Tokyo. A Steak Bake or a Scotch Pie at lunchtime with a bottle of Irn Bru, followed by a packet of cheese and onion crisps... :)

Now you're talking

1 ( +1 / -0 )

sensei258: Almost all, if not all, bakeries I've seen in Japan have a small oven or two in the back and bake everything themselves. Now, some of the products they sell are frozen and maybe precooked beforehand, like baguettes in many cases, for example, but they do make a lot of things themselves in most cases.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

From the photo that looks more like another "French" bakery, of which there are so many in Tokyo. Where are dark breads? I dont see any, and alas probably there is market here for them.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Need some tennis racket shaped- and tennis ball shaped-pastries.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I actually think that Japan bakers do a very decent job, imo better than most places outside traditional 'baking' countries. Only thing is that they often mislabel their breads.

Imo J bakers/artisans have been inspired and influenced by continental Europe but not so much by newer countries. And yes like a few on here i do miss a good pie or even sausage roll when am there ( what do J tradies eat, onigiri?!)

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Most Japanese consumers and bakers don't understand bread.

For them it seems that bread should just be something that is very soft and very white.

Most Japanese bread seems almost to be bread for babies or very young children.

I think because the history of bread-making in Japan is so short, the Japanese do not understand our European and American bread-making food culture.

They may understand pasta a little better because they have a long history of noodle-making.

For example, they may think that pasta tastes good "al dente".

But the Japanese approach to bread is, in most cases, very simplistic and limited.

Many times I have heard Japanese say things such as: "I didn't like the bread in Europe... it was too hard".

When I hear that I chuckle inside and think, ooookkkkk, go back to the soft white fluffy baby bread and be happy with that.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

@ Smith - You're lucky then. The only "bakeries" in my area are the ones in/around the station, and those all get most of their stock delivered in plastic crates early in the morning, but there may be a few items they actually cook.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Most Japanese bread seems almost to be bread for babies or very young children.

Except for rusks. Sophisticated delicacy, Goûter de Roi, anyone?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I had a little look at the website and the breads look quite good. My main concern would be the prices, which are not mentioned. I used to go to them when I was single, but I cringe at the prices at most Japanese bakeries now I'm paying for five.

Some pastries are very complex and/or use huge amounts of expensive butter, but simpler ones can be made quite easily if you have the time and energy. There are some very detailed cooking blogs out there whose recipes produce very professional results.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Who is doing the baking?

Bakers?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

made of 100% organic German rye

Oh that looks fantastic! Anytime actual rye is available is a great day. Also those look tasty. I wish her good luck!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japanese bread is the best in the world, I was reliably informed by all my students (most of whom had never been abroad) when I lived there a while back. Oiishiiii !!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

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