As I exit Kagurazaka Station on the Tokyo Metro subway, I head up the hill on Kagurazaka Street. After walking for a short while, I turn off from the main street and head down a side alley, where I eventually come across the cobblestone streets and black-fenced Japanese-style houses that make up Kakurenbo Yokocho. I continue my way down the narrow alley, and upon reaching Kakurenbo Yokocho Hall, I can see my destination: a small tea shop named VERT that specializes in Japanese tea and fermented fruits.

After initially opening in a different area of Kagurazaka in 2022, VERT moved to its current location inside Kakurenbo Yokocho Hall in November 2024. The two-story building offers a striking contrast with its white exterior walls and stylish black fencing, with the wood’s warmth exuding a traditional Japanese aesthetic. There’s even a garden with stepping stones next to the building, which only further adds to the atmosphere.

VERT is located on the second floor of the building. Opening the door, I am greeted by a bright space overflowing with natural light. This room serves as the reception area, and once it’s time for your course to begin, you are taken to your seat in the back of the shop.

I head back to the right, where a small door requires me to duck down to pass through. In stark contrast to the reception area’s brightness, this room is dimly lit, while its gray tones provide a calm and soothing atmosphere. I notice a brazier located behind the bench and the quiet crackles of the charcoal echo quietly throughout the room. It all makes for a distinctly impressive experience, making you wonder what is going to happen next.

“Chasō Ryūsui” – Exploring the possibilities of Japanese tea, as envisioned by a pastry chef

Toshihiro Tanaka served as a pastry chef for many years before opening VERT to share the wonderful flavors of Japanese tea with as many people as possible. The reservation-only course starts with the pouring of the tea and includes six to seven tea and dessert pairings, followed by a rice dish and more tea, and then concludes with a serving of matcha and some tea-based sweets.

One thing that sets this course apart is the way it treats Japanese tea as more of an ingredient while constantly utilizing different methods to highlight its myriad flavors in ways that are not just limited to desserts. The desserts and tea are served together as part of a set combination, with the tea appearing in a variety of forms, sometimes even as a solid in addition to its usual liquid state.

“The shop is often referred to as an assiette à dessert shop (Editor’s Note: a style in which dessert is prepared and served at the counter in front of you) or a shop that simply pairs desserts with Japanese tea, but I personally don’t feel like either of those truly capture what the shop is about. That’s why I named the course ‘Chasō Ryūsui.’ It plays on the four-kanji character idiom ‘kōun ryūsui,’ which means metaphorically floating with the tide. So I changed the first two characters to convey the idea of freely enjoying tea in a place where people and culture converge,” explains Tanaka.

Mr. Tanaka, with his long hair tied back and dressed in his black work uniform, explains the concept behind the shop to me and immediately starts pouring my first cup. The tea is called Yabukita and is grown without fertilizer or pesticides at Tozaka Tea Garden in Higashisonogi, Nagasaki Prefecture.

He adds hot water to the teapot to steam the tea leaves and then pours the freshly brewed tea into a chakai tea pitcher. Next, he returns the tea to the teapot and gently swings it like a pendulum before pouring it back into the chakai for serving.

“I like to start with this ‘special cup’ first. When I think of sencha, I tend to picture Japanese tea, so I start with a sencha for the first cup, one that has a rich flavor. If the first cup is too hot, it’s hard to drink, so I pour it twice to lower the temperature. I prefer this method of brewing because it really brings out the flavor of the tea leaves. The reason I swirl the teapot like that is because I feel it’s the best way to brew tea that is grown without the use of fertilizer or pesticides. I learned how to brew tea by asking various tea shop owners and watching them while also researching the topic on my own,” says Tanaka.

With my cup of tea, I’m served a strawberry mochi using rogue royal roses and Tochiaika strawberries from Heart & Berry in Tochigi. Naturally, this is no ordinary strawberry mochi, with Mr. Tanaka giving it his own signature touch. He uses fermented strawberries to eliminate the imbalance that arises between the fruit’s freshness and the texture of the mochi that is often found in the dish. The roses are also fermented for a week and then wrapped inside the mochi along with a white bean paste. As I take my first bite, I detect the gentle fragrance of the rose, and the strawberry—which has just the right amount of dehydration—blends perfectly with the mochi.

“Although the main focus here is Japanese tea, many people come for the desserts due to my long history as a pastry chef. However, I want them to realize that they can drink delicious Japanese tea here too, even if they originally came for the desserts. The intention is to serve tea that is delicious from the very first sip, and combine it with the shop’s original sweets.”

“Japanese tea is amazing”
Conveying emotion through dessert

Next, I am given a cold-brewed blend using Gyokuro Shiraori from Yame, Fukuoka. It is accompanied by Mr. Tanaka’s signature mizuyokan, which is made with seasonal fruits. The kiwi-based mizuyokan is both refreshing and beautiful to look at, while accented by the tart, aromatic fragrance of fermented feijoa.

“This kiwi fruit was grown by the gyokuro tea grower, Mr. Masafumi Jō. I feel like there is a natural affinity between ingredients grown by the same person, so it’s a concept that I utilize often. For the tea, I’ve blended Yame Dentou Hongyokuro Shiraori tea with perilla leaves and Magnolia kobus, which smells like sansho peppers. I try to layer the ingredients to highlight their colors and refreshing flavors. Usually, cold brew teas are refrigerated for twelve hours, but I brew this particular blend for only two hours to help bring out the finer details of the aroma,” explains Tanaka.

I find myself immediately recognizing the taste and layered aromas, and you can tell by the way that Mr. Tanaka talks that he possesses a true passion for tea and is dedicated to learning more about it. In fact, his knowledge of Japanese tea seems to far exceed that of most pastry chefs, leading me to ask how he originally obtained such expertise.

“Everything I know about tea I learned by asking tea farmers. In the beginning, I didn’t know anything about the different tea varieties or even how to brew tea. This is a bit embarrassing to admit, but I always thought that hojicha tea leaves were brown. That was the level of my knowledge at the time, so I essentially started from scratch.”

The third dish I’m given is reminiscent of Japanese cuisine. It combines crushed wheat bran and tea grounds and uses the mixture to coat Japanese yams, which are deep-fried until crispy. It is then garnished with truffle oil, bamboo shoot skin, and the peel from a fermented kumquat.

Tanaka remarks, “It would be delicious if I added chocolate too, but I think that would make it too ‘complete’ as a dessert, so I refrained from adding it so the dish would fit in with the overall course. Not only with this dish, but all my dishes are lightly sweetened. That’s because I don’t want it interfering with the delicate flavors of the Japanese tea, which is meant to be the star of the show. Whether the dishes I make are desserts or more like a proper meal, I leave that up to the person eating them.”

The ebiimo (shrimp-shaped taro) is grown by Yamashita Shinjuen in Kyotanabe. And as Mr. Tanaka previously mentioned, the tea that is paired with it has connections to the same region. It is a cold brew tea named “Tengyoku,” made by blending Asahi tencha tea from Tsujiki Tea Garden in Shirakawa, Uji in Kyoto, with Yamashita Shinjuen’s gyokuro tea in a 3:1 ratio. Gyokuten was a tea originally created by Hiroshi Kobayashi, a tea master at Shogyokuen Seicha in Kyotanabe. This exquisite tea was made by blending the tea farm’s own gyokuro and tencha, and was even served at the G7 Ise-Shima Summit in 2016. Mr. Tanaka learned of the tea from a tea shop in Kyoto and decided to incorporate it into his offerings. The first thing I notice is the fruity scent of the tencha, as well as the way the flavor of the gyokuro lingers on the tongue. The tea is full of umami, making it seem more like a broth or cooking sauce than a drink, while its fruity yet ocean-like flavor pairs perfectly with the ebiimo, which is often served with seafood.

I enjoy an additional three pairings and then am served a rice dish and some miso soup, thereby bringing the course to a swift, yet flavorful end. Afterwards, we move to the adjacent tearoom, where I am served a cup of matcha.

“Today, I’m serving SONOGI Matcha from Ōyama Seichaen in Higashisonogi, Nagasaki Prefecture. It has an interesting, almost milk chocolate-like flavor. After drinking this matcha, many people really take a liking to it and can end up staying for hours. Some are worried about the proper etiquette in such situations, but I tell them not to worry. I want people to casually enjoy themselves here, and the most important thing is that they leave my shop thinking about how delicious Japanese tea is,” explains Tanaka.

I watch in amazement as Mr. Tanaka prepares the matcha. He has done an exemplary job of expressing himself artistically, both in terms of his menu and the space he has created, which are refreshingly free from the usual conventions. I find myself so immersed in the atmosphere that I am somewhat nervous as the teacup is placed before me, so I am relieved by his words.

“My hope is that the people who come here can experience the wonders of Japanese tea. It was that feeling of ‘Japanese tea is amazing’ that led me to open this shop, and it’s remained with me ever since. As such, I’ve tried to use my skills and experience in making sweets to help convey that sentiment to as many people as possible. I feel like that’s my own special way of contributing to the tea scene.”

“I wish to spread the joys of Japanese tea through desserts.” Mr. Tanaka’s bold proclamation converged with the passion he imbued within the dishes he shared with me. It was that first encounter with Japanese tea that inspired him to face new challenges and brought him on his journey so far. I couldn’t help but wonder where that journey would take him next, and what propels him forward. I hope you will join me for part two of this feature as I continue my search for the answers.

Toshihiro Tanaka
Born in Fukuoka Prefecture. He honed his skills at establishments such as the dessert bar Janice Wong and the glass dessert specialty shop L’atelier à ma façon, before later going independent. In 2022, he opened VERT, a dessert course specialty shop utilizing Japanese tea, in Kagurazaka (Tsukudocho, Shinjuku). The main shop moved to its current location in Kagurazaka 3-chome in November 2024, and the sister shop, VERT Hanare, was relocated from Asakusa to Tsukudocho.

VERT
Kakurenbo Yokocho Hall 201, 3-1 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Reservation only
Two courses per day from January 2025: 2 p.m. & 7 p.m. | Cost: 23,000 yen (incl. tax)
(Reservations accepted through TableCheck)
instagram.com/vert_jpn

Photo by Mishio Wada
Text (originally in Japanese) by Nanako Aoki
Edit by Yoshiki Tatezaki