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Escape the Chilly Weather with Warm Tea at the Umami Café at Portland Japanese Garden

PORTLAND, Ore. — January 3, 2022 — It has been a frosty winter to begin 2022, so what better way to escape the chill than drinking a warm tea at Portland Japanese Garden’s Umami Café? The inviting Umami Café is an idyllic setting to set aside the busy patter of the day-to-day and take a moment to reflect and relax.

The Umami Cafe in winter after snow fall. Photo by Tyler Quinn.
The Umami Café in winter after snow fall. Photo by Tyler Quinn.

New to the café menu in January is hanabira mochi, a confection that sees tender sheets of mochi rice dough folded over candied burdock root and filled with sweetened, miso-infused white bean paste. Handcrafted by Portland resident and wagashi master Gena Renaud, these Japanese sweets are traditionally served at Hatsugama, or the first kettle, the initial tea ceremony of the new year. The hanabira mochi are available through February 28th. All of our edible delights accompany a menu of world-class green teas from the Tokyo-based Jugetsudo tea company.

Hanabira mochi, the traditional wagashi served during the Japanese New Year with “the first kettle” of the year, one of the most important in tea ceremony tradition. Hanabira means “flower petal,” representing perserverance, purity, and renewal–attributes to pursue in 2022.

Reminiscent of Kyoto’s legendary Kiyomizu-dera temple, the Umami Café floats over a scenic hillside that provides enchanting views of the Garden’s surroundings here in Washington Park. One can either begin or conclude their visit to our serene Portland Japanese Garden with a stop by the Umami Café. Here they will be attended by gracious and attentive staff and experience some of the most delightful offerings of Japanese cuisine.

Inside the Umami Cafe. Photo by Bruce Forster.
Inside the Umami Cafe. Photo by Bruce Forster.
Visual Assets: 

Photos of the Umami Café at Portland Japanese Garden (photo credit in file name) 

Media Contacts:    

Will Lerner | 503-542-9351 | wlerner@japanesegarden.org

Han Oh | 503-542-9310 | hanoh@japanesegarden.org     

About Portland Japanese Garden:  

Portland Japanese Garden is a nonprofit organization originally founded in 1963 as a place for cross-cultural understanding following World War II. A hallmark in the City of Portland, the Garden was founded on the ideals of peace and mutual understanding between peoples and cultures. Portland Japanese Garden is considered the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan and the foremost Japanese cultural organization in North America.