Issou Coffee was one of those for me. It sits in a tiny little harbor town Issou where we could drive through the whole town within three minutes on the main road. When we first drove through the town, I totally missed it. The coffee shop is a renovated small old house and it is absolutely understated from outside. Luckily, there was a beautiful waterfall park right next to it and as we drove back to see the waterfall, I noticed a stenciled coffee cup sign on the side of the house.
I jumped around because I just knew that we were in for a treat!
As we walked in the shop, I felt like I was transformed into a totally different world... somewhere between LA, Europe and good old Japan. I think that the owner simply has a good taste. Every single corner was curated but with ease... every pocket of the space was inspiring without overpowering. I would have moved in there if I could.
We sat outside on the patio looking at a waterfall against lush green forest, elderly group playing cricket on the field... It was a chilly day but the owner had a stack of knee blankets we could use to keep ourselves warm and it was perfect. We tried his espresso, latte and a chocolate raisin cake. It felt just like baum-kuchen but in a coffee shop form and it was truly inspiring to witness what a true vision can do to people's experience. I have a long way to take the baum-kuchen to this level of an experinece.
On our way home we stopped by Gajyumaru park. I swear that some kind of spiritual fairy is living inside of this thick forest nearby harbor... then it was FB's turn to take photos:)
The tiny little island keeps giving!
Happy Sunday.
-w
