Living & Working in Ishikawa, Japan
If you’re on the hunt for a new local ice cream, check out Noto “Mottainai” Gelato (能登のもったいないジェラート). The Japanese phrase もったいない means a variety of things depending on context, but in this case, it means “What a waste!” Why name an ice cream this? Anamizu’s Noto Wine, which prides itself on creating little waste and using most parts of the grape to make wine, has teamed up with Malga Gelato to create a gelato that uses the skin of wine grapes so as not to waste them.
Image from Malga Gelato
According to the Kanazawa Keitai Shimbun, the gelato was created during a campaign to reduce material waste during the wine-making process. The result is a rich, creamy vanilla gelato with hint of red wine and a jam-like paste of Yama Sauvignon grape peels mixed in. I love trying unusual ice cream flavors, and I really enjoyed this. It’d be great served as a classy dessert after a homemade Italian meal. According to the article linked above, 6000 units have been sold as of 15 April.
Anamizu is famous for its oysters, and what better way to enjoy the winter oysters than at Anamizu’s annual winter oyster festival?
Photo by Leah Zoller
This year’s 穴水町雪中ジャンボかきまつり (Anamizu Jumbo Oyster Festival in the Snow) is going to be even bigger than last year’s! Grill your oysters (or other seafood) on the extended 300-meter open charcoal grill. If you don’t like seafood, there’s plenty of other delicious food: zenzai, handmade soba and udon, Noto Wine, and more!
Entrance is free; bag of raw oysters for grilling is 1000 yen.
Vio Bell
An amazing little café with a great atmosphere, Vio Bell is tucked into the hills of Anamizu by Noto Wine. The shop offers a variety of cookies and two kinds of soft-serve ice cream (紅芋, beni-imo, purple sweet potato; and milk) for dine-in or carry-out. The front of the shop sells jams, herbal teas (with bilingual packages), postcards, and jewelry.
The dining room of Vio Bell
The real draw of the place is the dining room. The wall-to-wall windows provide a beautiful view of the flower garden and the rolling hills of Anamizu.
The entrees of Vio Bell are Italian and Italian-style dishes. The pizza have mainly Japanese-style toppings—bacon, salami, onion-and-potato, and the mysterious “honey.” Pasta dishes include Genovese and meat-sauce. The a la cart dishes include Camembert cheese, marinated smoked salmon, and there are also a few uncategorized dishes like gnocchi and “tortilla” (a quesadilla-like entrée with cheese and basil). Teas include Darjeeling, rose, chai, and chocolate; there are a few blends of coffee and cappuccino; juices (including yuzu); and some alcoholic beverages.
Gnocchi in Mint Cream Sauce
Anamizu’s website recommends the cookies, the curry, and the Genghis Khan, a family-style dish of mutton and vegetables. I had the gnocchi in mint cream sauce, which I highly recommend. The mint works well with the cream sauce, the gnocchi are delicious, and, best of all, the sauce merely coats the gnocchi instead of drowning them. The beni-imo ice cream has a more complex flavor than most soft-serves; the yuzu juice packs a punch, and the Italian coffee was good and strong.
Beni-imo soft serve
Entrees run from 700-1000 yen (with the exception of the family-size Genghis Khan dish, which is 2600 yen and serves 2). Drinks are 300-500 yen. Cookies are 130 yen for two.
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Do you love donburi? Come to the northern Noto and experience the unique flavors of Noto-don!
Original Seafood Tendon at Anamizu-machi's Riki; image from okunoto-ishikawa.net
Donburi 丼 is basically a large bowl of rice with something on top of it. You may have had katsudon カツどん, which is rice and broth with a fried pork cutlet and cooked egg on top; tendon 天丼, which has tempura on top; or oyakodon 親子丼, “parent-child donburi,” which has chicken and egg on top.
However, Noto-don is not just any donburi. To qualify as Noto-don, the dish must adhere strictly to the following guidelines.
All about Noto-don.
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