During the coronavirus pandemic, Japan didn’t adopt a hard lockdown but instead asked people to avoid the “Three Cs”: closed spaces, crowds and close-contact situations. I found myself spending my spare time simply strolling my local area, where I fervently pursued a different kind of C: coffee.

At the end of the main shopping street of Shimotakaido in the suburbs of west Tokyo, just as the hustle-bustle and stores seem to fade, a white building juts out toward the sky with four black stars and a yellow smiley face boldly painted on the wall. This is Five Stars Coffee & Bakery, and it fully deserves its self-confident name.

There are few scents more alluring than freshly made coffee and freshly baked bread, so when I happened across the café in early March, it became an immediate source of comfort. It was a place to visit just to get out of the house or to grab a hot cup to accompany me on yet another neighborhood walk. Five Stars roast their own beans, making a well-balanced original blend that is wonderfully smooth to drink and only disappointing in that I usually finish it too fast. As well as espresso-based drinks, they also serve pour-over coffee with a choice of three kinds of beans. With each purchase, customers receive a silver coin emblazoned with the store’s signature smiley-face logo, five of which can later be traded in for a free drink.

When the first wave passed, I started to occasionally take up residence on the airy second floor, adopting the café space as an office, or sometimes simply sitting a while, gazing out the windows and spying on passersby below. I also worked my way through their selection of baked goods. There are Japanese-style breads, such as lightly sweet and fluffy shokupan (literally, “meal bread”), as well as French-style baguettes and fruit danishes. Yet, perhaps most intriguing are their original creations that fuse baking traditions with unexpected ingredients – one tartine is topped with tantalizingly soft steamed chicken, crunchy lotus root and a yuzu-mayonnaise sauce while the pain au chocolat with caramelized banana is particularly decadent.

I have recently gathered another palmful of silver smiling coins. Next week, I’ll probably trade them in for my favorite: a latte, to be accompanied by a baked treat or two. The staff know me well by now, and it feels good to have become a regular at a café that is full of smiles – literally.

Editor’s note: Normally when December rolls around, we ask our correspondents to share their “Best Bites,” as a way to reflect on the year in eating. But 2020 was not a normal year. So at a time when the act of eating has changed for so many, our correspondents will write about their “Essential Bites,” the places, dishes, ingredients and other food-related items that were grounding and sustaining in this year of upheaval.

Related stories

December 24, 2020

Essential Bites: Ludivine in Marseille

Marseille | By Alexis Steinman

By Alexis Steinman

MarseilleHomemade bread was a byproduct of the Covid-19 lockdown worldwide, as witnessed by the lack of flour on supermarket shelves and proudly displayed loaves on Instagram feeds. I understood the trend – bread gave people a sense of purpose, warmed homes with comforting scents and filled the void left by closed-down everything. Plus, the act…

December 22, 2020

Essential Bites: From a Chive Pocket to the Greenmarket in Queens

Queens | By Dave Cook

By Dave Cook

QueensThe Chive Pocket from Delicious Jin I can use more green in my “feed,” in more senses of that word than one. The colors of the street foods, grilled foods, fried foods and other snack foods that I taste around the city tend toward the golden browns of just-baked pastry, the ruddy hues of slow-roasted…

November 23, 2020

Essential Services: Pain Salvator, Organically Rising

Marseille | By Alexis Steinman

By Alexis Steinman

MarseilleGiant sacks of organic Moulin Pichard flour are stacked high at the entrance of Pain Salvator. In the back of the boulangerie, the open kitchen hums – a baker rolls out dough as another one pulls out beautifully browned loaves from the oven with a giant wooden paddle. A third clad in a flour-dusted apron…