Part 02 of my series of apple pencil + ipad + procreate drawings <3
There is an art to the coffee shops in Japan.
You have your trendy Tokyo cafes with sleek white walls and fancy ceramic mugs, you have your cozy neighborhood roasters owned by a husband and wife, you have your global chains but on a wayyyyyy nicer level (**Ahem, Starbucks), you have your “Kissatens” or “tea shops” that offer a step back in time to old Japan, and last but certainly not least…you have your reliable, comfortable and cheap Japanese coffee chains.
In steps, DOUTOR.
“morning set”. Apple pencil. Ipad. Procreate.
ドトールコーヒー pronounced, “Dough - tour” is as quintessential to Japan as McDonalds is to America, Basically. It’s the bread and butter of the country and you can find one located at almost every train station, shopping mall and plaza around. It’s cheap, reliable, and always open early in the mornings. There are a few nice ones in Ginza, a rich area of Tokyo, where some business men seem to go almost every morning on their way to work. And what is their order of choice? Usually a “morning set” which is often some type of bread or pastry with a nice hot cup of coffee. These morning sets are usually around 400yen, or $3.50 and are served quickly on little trays. Something about them is childish, reminiscent of those days in a cafeteria being handed a plate of hot food along with the rest of the class- and I can’t help but think the appeal to a place like Doutor is that nostalgia that adults still love to feel.
My go to morning set order is cheese toast with hot coffee. Which is exactly that. A piece of toast with cheese melted on top, and a steaming hot cup of strong black coffee. perfection.
Thank you, Doutor.
Thank you for being so simple and so reliable. Thank you for serving your morning sets on little plastic trays to make us adults all feel like kids for a moment. Thank you for not trying to be trendy or cool or modern. Thank you for being you. Never change. Ok?