When I was in Tokyo a few weeks ago I did some research on locations for the second book in the Josie Clark in Japan Mystery Series, The Haiku Murder, which is coming out in October.  One scene is set at the Aoyama Flower Market Tea Room, a wonderful cafe in Omotesando which is, as its name suggests, part of a flower shop. It was a lovely place and I wished I could have stayed there longer.

You enter through the Flower Shop with its wonderful aromas of flowers and damp earth.

The cafe is a green oasis, especially when the temperature is in the nineties, as it was the day I visited.

Just like Josie, I had tartine and salad at a glass table where plants grew in troughs underneath and a peony stalk grew through a hole in the glass to bloom over my meal.

And then, the rose parfait – yoghurt, ice cream and berries dusted with dried rose petals, tasting as good as it looked.

If only all research could be this delicious!