Sadly, Sankyo has closed.
Today as I was biking down Gokomachi Street, just a bit north of Sanjo Street, a new and cute little shop caught my attention. The simply but beautiful traditional Japanese architecture of the facade had caught my eye. I made a u-turn and went back. Ah, yes! This place!! I had heard there was a new sesame tofu specialty shop in town, but I hadn’t located it yet. Soft and fragrant sesame tofu, called goma (sesame) dofu (tofu), is a Japanese delicacy that isn’t really tofu. But, that is another story.
When I stopped in, the owner, Chef Tanihashi was in and gave me a tour of his cute little shop and told me all about his goma dofu, which he makes fresh every morning by hand, with Kyoto’s famous well water, that you can taste at the store. (One reason that Kyoto culinary culture is very developed is because of the quality and taste of the ground water. But, that is another story too.)
The most prominent feature of the tiny little shop is the wooden vessel full of water that is used to cool the tofu. It is made with Koya Maki wood, the same wood that is used for the best bath tubs in Japan.
I went away with two kinds of goma dofu and Chef Tanihashi’s Shojin Cuisine cookbook. Shojin cuisine is vegetarian Buddhist temple food. This book features some of the dishes that Chef Tanihashi used at his restaurant in Tokyo. The goma dofu is really good stuff. Definitely check this place out!
Hopefully I will be able to do an interview with Chef Tanihashi in the near future for KyotoFoodie.
Goma Dofu Sankyo 粲居
website: Sankyo
tel: 075-255-6667
address: Kyoto-shi, Nakagyo-ku, Gokomachi Anekoji-sagaru, Maruya-machi 334 (京都市中京区御幸町姉小路下ル丸屋町334)
