Event Report: Aozora Craft Market

I go to a lot of different events around Ibaraki. Food markets, matsuris, art and crafts events. I enjoy going to them and reporting to you on how great they were. I've been doing it for quite a while and I have created a top 5 favorite events list (I don't count matsuris in this list. That is a separate list). People close to me probably know what my number one is. Today, I am excited to report on one of my favorite top 5 events in Ibaraki. Mito's Aozora Craft Market.

Aozora Craft Market (Crafts Side)

The Aozora Craft Market goes on twice a year at Mito City's Art Tower grounds. Usually, the market happens in spring and fall. This spring, the festival kicked off on April 20th and 21st.
The Ibaraki Eats Duo attended the festival on Sunday, April 21st. The weather was nice and cool, live music was playing, different craft goods were sold, and the smell of delicious food truck delights wafted through the air. My wife and I found parking close to the event (lucky) and walked over to the artisans and craft tents first.
We saw a lot of different craft masters and artists. Metal workers, leather craftsman, clothes makers, painters, and Japanese knife craftsman. The Japanese knife craftsman's company is called Isamitsu Knives. They are based in Sakuragawa City and make incredible Japanese knives. I tired one of their knives once and I am not sure if I will ever be able to go back to just regular old knives again. If you are interested in checking them out, here is their Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/isamitsu.knives/

My wife and I enjoyed walking around the crafts section checking out all the different things for sale. Mrs. Ibaraki Eats was very interested in finding nemophilia earrings at a certain jewelry booth. Unfortunately, when we got there, the earrings were sold out. As for me, I was hoping to find a certain leather works company that made leather wallets that looked like slices of pizza. Alas, they were not in attendance this year.
We both loved walking around this area while Bossa Nova music was playing from the live stage. After a while, we started getting hungry and headed towards the food trucks and stalls section.

The Food and Drink Side

The food and drinks side had so many different food trucks, food stalls, craft breweries, and coffee vans, it felt like a paradise for this guy. There were a lot of food trucks and stalls that I knew and a few that I was checking out for the first time.
My wife and I had arrived in the morning and we still had yet to have our morning coffee. After walking around for a while, I spotted a familiar coffee van that I know and love and have talked about before on Ibaraki Eats. We headed there first to grab our cup of latte and cappuccino.

Coffee Bar Stove

We were so happy to see Stove. The man who makes some of the best espresso I have ever tasted in Ibaraki was busy taking down orders and whipping up lattes and espressos for all his customers. My wife ordered the cappuccino (pictured above) and I ordered the cafe latte.
Both drinks erased whatever morning fatigue we had and brought us to a land of coffee bliss. If you would like to read my past post on Coffee Bar Stove, here is the link:
https://regaladom24.wixsite.com/website/post/espresso-anyone

We sat in the bar area of Stove which is behind the van and sipped our amazing drinks while planning on what to get next. I then remembered that a food truck that is based around the Kashima area was in attendance and told me wife that we needed to grab a Cuban sandwich.

Kitchen Car KOB and their Pulled Pork Cuban Sandwich

Right after we finished our coffees, we headed to Kitchen Car KOB. I have written about this food truck before and their tasty Cuban sandwiches. If you would like to check it out, here is the link:
https://regaladom24.wixsite.com/website/post/cuban-sandwiches-in-ibaraki

KOB had a long line when we got there. Luckily, not too long. We ordered the Pulled Pork Cuban Sandwich and were given a pager to let us know when our sandwich would be ready. I appreciate it when food trucks give us a number or pager. This way we can still walk around and enjoy the event instead of waiting by the food truck for our order to be ready.
A few minutes later, our pager vibrated and we went to get our Cuban sandwich. The pulled pork Cuban sandwich is like KOB's regular Cuban sandwich but way more meaty. The pulled pork gives it an added flavor that is very welcomed on this guy's taste buds. Getting all that meat with the salty pickle and that pressed buttered bread is so satisfying. It is hard not to buy two or maybe even three more Cuban sandwiches from KOB. My wife was also happy with the sandwich and wondered when we would see KOB again.

Beer Break with Motoyamacho Brewery

After that amazing pulled pork Cuban sandwich, I felt like I needed something refreshing and alcohol-based to drink. Mrs. Ibaraki Eats was driving that day because she is an angel and an awesome wife. She gave me the go-ahead to have as many beers as I wanted.
There were a lot of different beers and craft beers to choose from. I decided to grab a beer from Mito's craft beer place, Motoyamacho Brewery.
Motoyamacho Brewery's main brewery is in Mito's, wait for it, Motoyamacho area. I have yet to go to the brewery but have tried their beer at different events and was never disappointed. At this event, I tried their lager and was very happy with my choice. This beer felt like the perfect beer to be holding and sipping while walking around at a festival. Full of flavor and easy to sip. This beer went well with the next food item I bought.

Mosh Under the Diners Stand's Burrito

I am always happy to see Mosh at any event I go to. Whether it is at Burger Baka, Aozora Craft, or Jarvi Marchetti. Mosh's restaurant is in Mito so they don't attend events in Southern Ibaraki. I wish they did though. Mosh makes excellent burgers, especially their pulled pork cheeseburger. They also do Tex-Mex. Their Tex-Mex menu consists of tacos, nachos, and burritos.
During the Aozora Craft Market, I was tempted to get a pulled pork cheeseburger but my wife really wanted a burrito, so we went with the burrito and I am glad we did. The shredded chicken with fresh melty avocado was fantastic and went well with my beer. The salsa inside the burrito was not spicy but it was a nice addition to the burrito. We do wish the burrito was a bit warmer when we got it but we enjoyed our burrito and would definitely get another.
I have written about Mosh on the old blog. If you would like to check it out, here is the link:
https://regaladom24.wixsite.com/website/post/burger-month-pulled-pork-and-a-beef-patty

Beer Break 2 with Twin Peaks Mountain Brewery

After finishing my burrito, I needed another beer. I went straight for the beer stall next to Mosh. This brewer is from Tsukuba and I love this place so much that I have written about them twice. If you want to check out the first post, here is the link:
https://regaladom24.wixsite.com/website/post/german-brewing-done-right

They make amazing German beer and have amazing sausage platters at the brewery in Tsukuba. I am talking about Twin Peaks Mountain Brewery.
The Ibaraki Eats Duo was very happy to see Twin Peaks at Aozora Craft. I went to the owner of Twin Peaks (seen in the picture above even though it is quite dark) and asked for one of my favorite beers, the Alt. This dark-looking beer goes down smoothly and it is full of flavor. It isn't too hoppy which I like. This Alt gives me such a warm and fuzzy feeling that I can relax anywhere with this beer. I walked around with my Alt checking out the rest of the event when I smelled BBQ sausage and had to check that out.

Metzgerei Tamon and the Hotdog

This! This beautiful and delicious hotdog. Look, I enjoyed everything at the Aozora Craft event. The beers I had were fantastic, the Cuban sandwich was great, and the coffee excellent, but this hotdog, this hotdog was another level of tastiness that the place that made it, Metzgerei Tamon, had a humungous line throughout the day. Is waiting for this hotdog worth it, you might be asking. Yes. Yes, it is. This hotdog was the highlight of my time at the Aozora Craft event.
Metzgerei Tamon is a butcher's shop in Mito. They do all kinds of meat but for this event, they only worked with sausages. First, let me talk about the sausage. It was grilled to perfection and full of that meaty pork flavor that made this sausage delicious. That would have been enough but Metzgerei Tamon took it a step further by making the hotdog buns out of pretzel bread. Sausage and pretzels are the perfect combination. Biting into this hotdog lit fireworks of joy in my mind. It was exceptional. My wife loved it and made sure we would visit Metzgerei Tamo whenever we could.

After we finished our out of this world hotdog, it was time to go. We did everything at the Aozora Craft Market that we wanted to do and had to get going back to Tsuchiura. We said our goodbyes to the hard-working food truck and food stall people we knew and headed home.

The spring Aozora Craft Market was a fun event full of interesting art and carft designs, live music, tasty beer, and amazing food. I am glad my wife got to experience it this time and hope we can both go to the autumn Aozora Craft Market later this year. Until next time Aozora Craft Market!

For more information on the Aozora Craft Market, check out their Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/aozora_craft/