Sweet Revival: Kobe Confectionery Shop Rises from the Ashes After Near-Fatal Crash

He became interested in the world of jazz after being taken to a jazz cafe in Kobe, where he lived as a child. And while I was planning to tour a jazz saxophone workshop in Italy, I was hooked on local sweets.

“Pasticceria BAR Pinocchio di Calimero” (Chuo-ku, Kobe City) is a cafe and bar that sells local Italian sweets. Since opening on September 4th, it has been attracting attention due to its unique lineup and local atmosphere.

The shop owner, Akira Iwamoto, expresses the bar he encountered in Italy, and the interior is filled with baked goods that you don’t usually see, such as zareti, pasta di mandorle, and red wine ceambelline. Moreover, most of them are cheap at 200 yen each.

Normally, each item’s price is different, but “I don’t want people to choose based on price.I want them to use the change from buying sweets and say, “Well, let’s have a cup of espresso.” ” and the espresso is also priced at 200 yen.

Born in Chiba, he opened his shop after living in Kobe as a child. Also, although he once gave up on his found calling due to a traffic accident, he was able to resume it due to the connections he made with people in Kobe. We spoke in detail about how this happened.

■It all started when I started going to jazz cafes when I was in elementary school.

Mr. Iwamoto lived in Kobe from the second grade of elementary school to university, and started going to jazz cafes with his father in the upper grades of elementary school. Due to this influence, he studied jazz saxophone in high school, and after graduating from university, he became interested in working in a saxophone workshop and moved to Italy.

“However, the timing of my visit was a bit bad, and the workshop was off-season.I decided to study Italian at the hotel cafe and wait for the day I could show it to you.” Mr. Massimo, a bar owner who had seen Mr. Iwamoto in such a situation, called out to him and explained the situation, and he offered him a live-in job, using his experience working part-time as a barista when he was a student. To.

Iwamoto’s life changes completely when he meets Francesca, who he was introduced to while working at Massimo’s bar.

“We’re making sweets in a space that looks like the world of Ghibli. About eight of us, aunties and grandmas, are sitting around a wooden table, rolling the dough for sweets. I was baking sweets in the wood-fired oven in the kitchen…I became more and more obsessed with sweets.”

Wanting to try as many sweets as possible, I visited sweets shops in the Marche region and realized how closely Italian sweets are part of our daily lives, as well as the role that bar-style shops play in the city. It seems that he was moved by it. “In addition to coffee and alcohol, the bar also sells newspapers and potato chips, and there are customers who come in four or five times a day, including old men who play cards while drinking drinks… It was a noisy place, and it felt like a meeting place.I wanted to open a store like that in Japan!”

Mr. Iwamoto returned to Italy after a three-month stay in Italy, and then took a correspondence course from Francesca to learn about Italian sweets. They make sweets using the recipes they learned, send the finished products by international mail, and have them try them and make corrections. I continued playing catch like that for five or six years, and even traveled to Italy.

In 2018, he opened Pasticceria Bar Pinocchio in Tokyo, a shop that brings together what he has cultivated through interaction with the local community. Even before the store opened, it was a hot topic at events and other events, and just when the store was going smoothly, Mr. Iwamoto was involved in a traffic accident.

■Due to a traffic accident, I couldn’t move as I wanted…The person who reached out to me was

While he was busy preparing for Christmas, his taxi on his way home was involved in an accident. He suffered compound fractures in his right arm and left leg, and a brain contusion… Doctors said it was a miracle that he was alive. Mr. Iwamoto was forced to be hospitalized for a long time. Although the store will be missed, it has no choice but to close in 2020.

After being discharged from the hospital, during rehabilitation, it was discovered that the affected areas such as muscles and nerves after surgery had turned into ossification. I had to undergo medication treatment, had another surgery, and continued to undergo anesthesia treatment at a pain clinic. Reflecting on his thoughts at the time, he said, “Will I recover? Will I be able to move my right hand? What about my legs? Maybe I won’t be able to stand up? I couldn’t recover smoothly, and I was worried about what was going to happen.” I’ll be back.

Then, while I was working hard on my rehabilitation again, I received a request from the department store “Isetan Shinjuku Store” to open a store at an exhibition in Italy. Despite feeling uneasy about his health, Mr. Iwamoto decided to participate since the event was to be held one month after he was discharged from the hospital.

“At the event, I met senior colleagues at a local Italian restaurant and previous customers, and my passion for sweets grew anew.From that experience, I asked, “Would you be interested in making sweets using Akira-kun’s recipe?” ” and “Make sweets using our ingredients. I was really happy that there were companies that made confectionery ingredients that said, “I want this.” Even after receiving treatment to suppress the pain, I felt like I was giving up because my legs started hurting again after a few hours, but I was supported by the support of those around me. , I wanted to do what I can now.”

■Rapid development in about half a year… only possible in Kobe

While participating in events and special events held by Italian friends around the country, a big turning point was an event I held with Junya Nakamura of Kobe’s Italian restaurant “Osteria Calimero” in April of this year.

“I wanted to open a shop in Kobe, the city of Western sweets.” Then, Mr. Nakamura said, “I also want to create a space where more customers can enjoy local Italian food culture.” “I’m thinking about it. Would you like to liven up Kobe with me?” He suggested Calimero’s second store to me, as I was suffering from constant pain and numbness in my body.

We readily accepted the offer, found the property in July, and opened in September, making it happen with amazing speed. Now, I continue to make the sweets I learned from Francesca in the shop, which is decorated with objects and Pinocchio dolls that were gifts from my friends in Italy that I loved when I was in Tokyo. The illustrations of Pinocchio on the menu and on the paper bag (50 yen) are all hand drawn. This is also the spirit of hospitality that Francesca has passed down directly.

“Kobe is a city that has been accepting Western sweets for a long time, so I think it’s tolerant of foreign flavors.What makes me happy is that people from the neighborhood of the shop feel free to visit.The other day, a girl in the third or fourth grade of elementary school They came with two people. They probably came once with their mother,” she says, and seems to have already blended into the town.

Local Italian sweets in the showcase. In the foreground is a recipe book created by Mr. Iwamoto, “A Journey through Italian Sweets with Pinocchio.”

Mr. Iwamoto has about 400 recipes. We are planning to continue offering sweets with a local flavor, items using seasonal fruits, and items tailored to special occasions such as Halloween and Christmas.

“I thought it would be difficult to open my own shop again while I didn’t know what the condition of my feet would be in the future.Despite my condition, I would like to thank Mr. Nakamura for giving me the opportunity and for supporting me.” I’m grateful to my friends. I would rather spend time making my favorite sweets than having to spend a few hours getting pain relief from my feet. What is it?”

The store is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and will close when items are sold out. Reservations are not accepted and only cash is accepted. When there is a line waiting to enter the store, we will limit the number of people waiting to five to be considerate of the surrounding area. The location is Kobe Motomachi/Otonaka Dori, about 10 minutes walk from JR/Hanshin Motomachi Station. For seasonal sweets etc., please check Instagram (@pastry_bar_pinocchio) to confirm.

Interview/text/photos/Miho Inada