Chapelure Japanese Bakery and Cafe in East Lansing, MI

I heard about this place from Julie and Matt in my program and did not believe them when they said there was an Asian bakery in East Lansing. They said it was owned by the same folks that own the Japanese restaurant though so I was sort of convinced.

I headed down this afternoon with Jenn, a new student from Hawai'i in our program. I was so excited and yet kind of skeptical. This place did not disappoint. I was amazed by the choices: a counter of breads to take home by the door. I think I saw chestnut bread and at least five other choices. Next, I saw the little trays and tongs characteristic of St. Germain's and Panya in Honolulu. Those were for the pastries: there were a couple of savory ones, for example with ham, and then three kinds of an pan and I can't remember what else. I tried Jenn's apple tart which was pretty good. Like she said, there wasn't syrup on the apple so it wasn't overly sweet.

After the pastries, there were whole cakes and slices behind glass: tiramisu, three kinds of chiffon cake (including green tea), raspberry mousse, chocolate mousse, and more I can't remember. I chose the sweet potato cake. It didn't look that appetizing (I wished it were purple or at least orange sweet potatoes) but I thought it sounded good. It was awesome--light and not too sweet.

We both also had the iced green tea and I loved that too. I think it was genmaicha or some other Japanese tea. At one point, the waitresses brought out what looked like two deluxe shave ices--sort of like Hong Kong style. They were huge bowls of ice with fruit on top. I definitely want to try that next time!

This is also a coffee shop for studying; I'm totally luring Kea to East Lansing with this cafe.