Taste a historical Japanese treat, wagashi, during Touryanse (meaning “Please pass by” or “go through” in classic Japanese) at Tokara, a Japanese confectionery shop on Phinney Ridge.
Chef Chika Tokara is celebrating the one year anniversary of her store this Sunday. The shop at 6208 Phinney Avenue North, sells Japanese sweets and is open to the public only on the 10th of every month from 1-8 p.m. (earlier if the inventory sells out).
The bulk of her business is wholesale and custom orders.
“If I make only quantities people order, I can make sweets thinking of the customers and their needs,” Tokara says. “I usually adjust my sweets to their favor, sweetness, textures depending on the time they are going to consume, and occasions they are going to use, such as for a wedding ceremony, small gifts or party events.”
All of her products are made by hand. “I don’t use any machine, even when I whip egg whites, I use a whisk. It has heart in it.”
