If you’re a mom or a dad (if you have kids?) you may be familiar with the idea of getting creative with breakfast. Most mornings, if there’s school or daycare, you probably rush to get out the door, just grabbing something. But some mornings extra time let you bond over creativity and food. Let’s just face it: having more time is a gamechanger.
This must have been clear also for Manami Sasaki, a Japanese artist. The 27-years-old usually works with conceptual art and performs with live painting in Tokyo. But her before-lockdown busy routine has completely changed staying at home. It’s in these difficult days that Manami decided to blend her creative attitude to the choice of a healthier and better looking eating habit. So, reproducing them for your kids may be not so easy, but the inspiration you can get is enough. Here are the best 16 toast artworks made by @ sasamana1204 during this quarantine period:
1. Sakura
Made with blueberry jam and white chocolate, what better toast artwork to start with than this one in order to describe the whole Japanese traditions influence in Manami creations? Sakura is the Japanese term for cherry blossom tree and it’s considered an icon of Japan. For the nation these beautiful pink and white cherry flowers symbolize love and good-luck but they’re also a reminder of human mortality since they bloom for only two weeks per year. Well, we can say the same for this incredible toast: as pleasing as meant to be gone in short time! One last thing… were you able to see the hidden panda? Love it!
2. Zen Garden
Here’s another incredibly direct reference to Japanese traditions: a Japanese Rock Garden. The sand is made with sour cream, the rocks with nuts and matcha is used for the grass beneath the rocks: this toast artwork is relaxing just to look at. Didn’t they say breakfast should be a ritual performed in a peaceful manner? We just wonder if biting it and knowing you’ve ruined such a perfect bread artwork would let you “zen”!
3. Tsubaki
Even if it may recall a Margherita pizza, the idea behind can’t be further. By using tomato sauce, margarine (replaceable with any other cream cheese), mint leaves and mustard, Manami created a beautiful pattern of white Tsubaki. The ingredients used can be in effect a curious cocktail, but we can’t argue with the aesthetic result. Tsubaki, the Camelia Japonica, is prized for its beauty and we certainly agree with that. Well, what else to say? We would have difficulties to eat this yummy piece of art too!
4. Miffy
This as simple as adorable art-toast is a tribute to Dick Bruna, known as “the father of Miffiy”. The famous Dutch illustrator created Miffy, a little and brave bunny, in the 1955, as the main character for the bedtime stories for his son. Fun fact? According to Japanese and Chinese astrology, Dick Bruna was born in the year of the rabbit! In this amazing portrayal of Miffy, Manami used tarako mayo, sour cream, seaweed, and cheddar cheese. It’s for sure appealing for children, but would you have the guts to bite Miffy down?
5. Moon
Fifth place for the Moon, but definitely our favorite one. Why? Because it’s made with (pres)SQUID! They say less is more and this delicious association of bread and squid is the proof (even if, tbh, there’s a third ingredient that you can’t easily find in any Japanese kitchen: the edible gold leaf). Manami said that she decides the theme for the next morning toast in the night before: who knows if she took inspiration looking out the window! Anyway, her refined technical mastery can literally make you say “I’m over the moon”!
6. Hanafuda
‘Hanafuda’ is a card game of Japanese origin and its name means “flower cards”. And you can definitively win the breakfast game with this card: in fact, the one featured on the toast is among the five more powerful of the game: the Crane! The red-crowned crane and the surrounding pine trees are a Japanese traditional symbol of longevity. This toast artwork contains also a long list of ingredients: sour cream, whitebait, blue seaweed, grilled seaweed, pollock roe, cherry tomato.
7. Sei Shōnagon
“Indeed, all small things are most adorable”. This quote, written by Sei Shōnagon in ‘The Pillow Book’, has been positively received by Manami. This accurate tribute to the famous Japanese author, poet, and court lady is made with an extreme care to details and some particular ingredients: sour cream, dried bonito flakes, squid, sprinkle with salmon, cheese, purple cabbage, shrimp, whitebait and blue seaweed. Manami said that it takes on average three hours to make a toast art, but we truly believe that this one took way longer!
8. The Roun “Today’s Italian Publicity And Graphic Design”d Face
It’s such a pity to eat this tribute to Franco Grignani, an Italian artist whose works show dynamism and closeness to the Futurist avant-garde movement. This union of sour cream, black pepper, and ketchup looks simple but it certainly was not. Sprinkling pepper that way? Not easy at all. Furthermore, it’s incredible how Manami manage to make the background an extension of the art on the toast. In this case, the black&white tablecloth (another famous painting of Grignani) really does half the work!
9. Kintsugi
Nowadays known all over the world, the Kitsugi (especially when it’s a toast) is still something incredibly wonderful to look at. Ok, it’s bread, you usually eat it, not repair it! But how stunning is the result? Made with sour cream, edible gold leaf, and ketchup, this Manami’s art toast is a glorious reference to the traditional Japanese technique for repairing broken ceramics with lacquer and gold. Beside this creative toast, Japanese culture is so spiritual and philosophical when stands out and loves the passage of time, treating a breakage as something to value, rather than something to disguise!
10. Nihon Buyō
Made in 1981 this famous graphic artwork by Ikko Tanaka combines Japanese traditions (Nihon Buyō is a quiet type of dance performed to the accompaniment of a lute) with western modernism. We can barely imagine how difficult it was to Manami using ketchup for the cheek gradation! Here are the ingredients of this amazing tribute: sour cream, seaweed, tomato, basil, paprika, purple cabbage, ketchup. But what after grilling it? Reportedly the grid collapsed and came out a bad face!
11. Gegege No Kitarō
Wheater you read and love manga or not, you would definitely eat this art toast! Made with rice bread, margarine, and grilled seaweed, it’s a nice tribute to the Japanese manga series created by Shigeru Mizuki. There have been several adaptations of this manga, but no one as genuine as this one! Manami declared “I love to see the toasted art being baked while smelling the goodness of the bread. And it makes me want to eat it fast”, so what are you waiting for? Your children will love it!
12. Pantone
Green passion or avocado passion? Either way you’ll love this art toast! An idea as simple as a paint chip led Manami to create the perfect hipster toast! Obviously it’s made with avocado dip, sour cream, and grilled seaweed. Pantone is and always will be the best friend of any graphic artist, but how many shades of colors and tastes will you able to make? It’s also funny to imagine a classic breakfast conversation: “Honey, could you hand me the Royal Lilac Toast” “yes, dear, don’t you want also a Lemon Curry one?”
13. Paul Rand
Another Toast, Another Tribute! This time is the American art director and graphic designer, Paul Rand, to take the breakfast table stage. Best known for his corporate logo designs, Rand understood deeply the cleverness in simplicity. In this Manami’s art toast, made with seaweed, petit tomatoes, cheese, basil, purple cabbage, rice, sour cream, there’s all. Isn’t it amazing how the white space acts as the body of the chicken? This artwork not only looks delicious, but it’s also eye-catching! And what a steady hand to duplicate his signature!!
14. Bruno Munari
This one looks undeniably healthy! As a tribute to Bruno Munari, an Italian artist and designer, the “Tutto Quadro” toast is made with cherry tomato, basil, seaweed, and sour cream. Let’s be honest: it’s made for 90% with sour cream, but this is exactly why it’s so perfect for a balanced breakfast! Furthermore, it’s another proof that Manami’s creativity has no boundaries! Would you dare to make a mess over that perfect order of red tiles with your bites? We wouldn’t!
15. Kamon
Kamon is a unique Japanese culture: they’re family crests, logos used to mark a family lineage with the motif of an object related to the family. Due to the westernization of Japan, the Kamon has fallen into disuse, but Manami would have for sure made a living as a family crest designer! With only two ingredients, sour cream and zucchini, this detailed art toast is a delight to see and to eat. Even if it was incredibly hard to carve, Manami ate it: there’s something so beautiful about art that’s ephemeral!
16. Mexican Olympics Logo
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games have been postponed to 2021. Maybe in this nostalgic mood or maybe not, Manami’s last art toast is in honor of Olympics emblems. Particularly, his favorite one: the Mexican Olympics emblem of 1968. What a psychedelic toast, right? And it’s entirely made with squid meat! It’s very tasty and it’s the perfect ending to our journey between food and art!