Yes, I realise that for someone who calls herself ‘Haikugirl’ I don’t actually seem to write a lot of haiku… But I do, I’ve just had a little dry spell lately. Anyway, a while ago I was alerted to this haiku competition. The closing date was today, so I thought I might as well have … わたし　は　すこし　かぜぎみ　です。 😦 Tonight there wasn’t really anything new, we just built on last week’s lesson, where we learnt how to make an order for delivery. So, here’s an example dialogue: A: もしもし、よすしさん　ですか。 (Hello, hello, is that Yo Sushi?) BYes, it is) A: すし　を　とどけてください。 (Please can you deliver some sushi) B: すし　を　いくつ　とどけましょうか。 … Just 27 days to go.  Can you believe it?  It seems like only yesterday I was going for the interview… I have 2 weeks left at work, and my replacement starts on Monday, so it’s going to be a busy couple of weeks of training and wrapping everything up.  T

o be honest, I can’t wait … C This evening, my good friend Kim-san introduced me to a wonderful Japanese restaurant in London, called Cocoro (http://www.cocororestaurant.co.uk/). We were lucky enough to be seated right at the counter, and to have the lovely Head Chef, Fujii Nobuyuki-san prepare our sushi for us, piece by fresh piece, as we chatted and drank sake. The sushi … C こんばんわ！ Lesson 7 already – and only 3 more to go! This is scary – mostly because the last lesson of the term is going to be my last ever lesson with Chika-san, and I will be flying off to Japan the following week! In fact, one month tomorrow, I’ll be on my way!! ( I got my visa!!! I’m so excited! I’m really going! And I’m allowed to stay for 3 years!! ･ Valentine’s Day in Japan is a whole different kettle of fish. Or, should I say, ‘box of chocolates’… Valentine’s Day is celebrated as an ‘imported’ tradition, on February 14th, just as we do in the UK, but instead of it being a mutual showing of affection, it’s a little one sided. G

irls give chocolates and … C こんばんわ！ こにゃ　の　じゅぎょう　は　ちょっと　むずかし　でした。　Tonight’s class was a little difficult… Basically, we did colours and counters. But for any of you who know anything about Japanese, you will know that it’s not quite as simple as that! Let’s begin with colours… Here are the colours we learnt today: GROUP ONE くろ – black しろ -white あか – red … C It was a bright but cold Monday morning, when I surfaced from Green Park underground station. Lwhere to buy sushi grade tuna in torontoooking around me, I felt lost in the sea of commuters. Fsushi grade fish aurora coar from my usual route, everything seemed more serious here. Bsushi grade fish perth

ut then I saw it – a beacon in the winter sky. The Japanese flag, moving gently in … C Last night, I went to see Polysics at the Islington Academy! Polysics are one of the coolest bands to come out of Japan! (Although I’m not sure how big they actually are there?!) They play sort of surf-rock-punk-electro…er… I’m not sure if that really describes them so well, so you’d better check them out here: … CStory of the Day: Flour Pot Bakery to more than double size of production facility to support retail expansion planssushi go round apk download Brighton and Hove-based artisan bakehouse Flour Pot Bakery is to more than double the size of its production facility to support its ambitious retail expansion plans. jogar sushi magico on lineThe company, founded by Oli Hyde, has just opened its fifth site in the city, in Seven Dials. encomendar sushi online lisboa

Hyde told Propel the company, which makes and delivers its products daily, had outgrown its current 2,000 square foot production hub in Hove and would move next month to a 5,500 square foot venue in Fishersgate. He added there was probably room for “one or two more” stores in the city but was looking at expanding to other parts of Sussex, particularly to the west of Brighton and Hove. Eventually he would like the company, which started out selling its products at Small Batch Coffee before opening its first shop about 18 months ago, to open stores in other regional cities. encomendar sushi online lisboaHe said: “It’s been going extremely well. We know there’s a demand for the products we make and there’s a real opportunity for us down here. Our new facility will allow us to upscale production as we continue to develop the retail side of the business, particularly in Sussex. It can certainly grow anywhere.

Places such as Bournemouth, Eastbourne, Southampton and Winchester could be serviced from the new facility. Eventually we could head north to somewhere such as Manchester but that would depend on building a hub bakery in that area. It’s been easier for us to grow rapidly because we are not looking for big sites – something of about 500 or 600 square feet. We like them to be south facing, which allows the sunlight to flood through the windows. We’re going to concentrate on the new production facility for the next few months and then in April or May we’ll start focusing again on further retail expansion.” The new Seven Dials store is 520 square feet and is on the corner of Melville Road and Dyke Road, at the site of a former independent sandwich shop. Hyde said: “We’ve been open a week and its exceeded expectations – we’re getting terrific support from the locals.” Hyde said the retail and wholesale side of the business would continue to develop side by side. He added: “Our stores are the shop window for our wholesale business.

We can open a shop for relatively low cost but that leads to the development of the wholesale business. I think it’s important for the two to work together. Until recently, we were delivering to London seven nights a week, which lasted about 18 months. It was a terrific learning curve for us and our customers in London included the entire Breakfast Club group, for which we still supply Brighton, and Foxlow, which is part of the Hawksmoor Group. Unfortunately, the economies of scale make it very hard to be competitive because we had to travel up and deliver every night. We do look at the market leaders in globally respected artisan bakeries – we can learn a lot from them – but I’m thrilled with how it’s going. We are a positive company and have a great team.” Bitters n’ Twisted founder – ‘our focus is on Bodega Cantina for the next 18 months’: Bitters n’ Twisted founder Matt Scriven has told Propel its South American-themed bar and restaurant brand Bodega Cantina will be the company’s focus for the next 12 to 18 months.

Scriven said it would grow the brand organically and was looking to add one or two sites a year during the next decade. The company will open its fourth Bodega Cantina in March, in Derby, which will be Bitters n’ Twisted’s 11th site in total. The 2,100 square foot venue in Sadler Gate will have about 62 covers and adds to Bodega Cantina’s sites in Birmingham, Leicester and Worcester. Scriven added that the focus for expansion would remain in the Midlands in cities with a “university-sized population” and within about an hour of the company’s Birmingham roots. He said: “Bodega will be our focus for the next 12 to 18 months. It fills a nice gap between the Las Iguanas’ of this world and the small Mexican restaurants you get dotted around. We are looking around for sites. We are flexible in terms of numbers but we’re looking to do one or two a year over the next ten years so we will try to add another one this year. There’s no need to expand for the sake of it – it’s about finding the right sites and locations.