Interviewer: We wanted to talk about the Tokyo Cheesecake, let’s talk about a little bit of why it is called the Tokyo Cheesecake.

 

Chef Misuzu: I remember when we named it, I think we made that name in five seconds. We just wanted to make it different. You know you want to show this is a different shortcake because if we just say this cheesecake, people will assume that it is New York cheesecake. So we had to make it sound like this is a Japanese cake. And I think my staff or me talking about how we can make it sound very deep and easy, came up with the name “Tokyo Cheesecake”.

 

Interviewer: What is it about the Tokyo Cheesecake that makes it a Tokyo Cheesecake versus a regular cheesecake?

 

Chef Misuzu: The biggest difference is the fluffiness. It’s lighter because it has more air in the cake. In contrast, New York cheesecake has no air trying to get the cream cheese. It’s really new, which I like that too, but our style is to have a lighter flavor and texture. But I had some really nice cheese flavor.

 

Interviewer: Very nice, and how was it developed? What was the story behind developing the Tokyo cheesecake?

 

Chef Mike: Yes, I remember we started out when we first opened, we had a Tokyo Cheesecake. We had that for a while, but I think it was a kind of weird thing we’re always talking about the recipes because we couldn’t get the ingredients for some products. So we wanted to do a cheesecake but then I think we just kind of played around with different recipes and this one. About after the first year, I took it out.

 

Chef Misuzu: I feel they’re also one of my favorite cakes from Fujiya. We used to have cheesecake or tofu cheesecake, you had tofu in it. It’s healthy and the people loved it. I always wanted to make this kind of cheesecake because that’s my favorite cake of all time. We had the tofu cheesecake and rare cheesecake, then we had to get rid of the tofu one. We couldn’t have three cheesecakes, so the recipe was very difficult to work with. Sometimes it doesn’t come outright. So we wanted to make more stable recipes. We got rid of tofu cheesecake. I always want to have baked cheesecakes that have fluffiness and apricot glaze, because they taste similar to the one I like from Fujiya, which is the biggest cake shop in Japan. I tried making it, then I carried out a recipe from my mom like a housewife recipe. I just figured out how to improve tastes from it. After practicing a lot of times, eventually, we’ve got what I used to like in Japan.

 

Interviewer: It’s amazing, I love that. Why do you think it is so popular?

 

Chef Misuzu: I think the naming was great. I think we get the attention of “Tokyo” Cheesecake. The other cheesecakes that were offered got very popular on social media. Then people started asking us if we had that cake or the other cheesecake. Our cake is fluffy when it comes out of the oven. The ones that everybody sees on social media have even more air. One time we thought about increasing the melon. I tried making it, but I didn’t like the flavor. Increasing that will reduce the flavor of the cheese. I still like the full cheese flavor, so I like this ratio we have now. We haven’t changed the ratio from there. I think the trend that happened a few years ago kind of got the attention of cheesecake.

 

Interviewer: awesome. That’s great. And why would you recommend the Tokyo Cheesecake?

 

Chef Misuzu: Because I simply love it. I just love it so much, that’s my favorite cake. I always wanted to know about cheesecake for some reason because I like cheesecake the most in general. I like New York cheesecake. I like any type of cheesecake, this is why I always wanted to have a good cheesecake of my own.