Checking out the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Tokyo – Part 2 – Rocco Princi

Originally featured in DennisAmith.com:

Once you get inside the door of the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Tokyo’s Meguro ward, you have several choices, go to the right for the merchandise store, go to the middle section for coffee, go straight left in order to get in line to order at Rocco Princi – Spirito di Milano or go upstairs to look around. You can also look around the first floor.

But most people going inside, you will notice that for your first time, you feel inclined to follow everyone and everyone is pretty much getting in line to get food at Rocco Princi.

Lines are in the left, path for people to go up the stairs are on your right. The line can get quite long but fortunately, Rocco Princi is prepared for the rush.

While lining up, you can see coffee cups on the wall and also be enamored by the origami wooden ceiling.

As you get closer down to the end of the stairs, you can see the many people waiting in line and the food that has been prepared. The workers on the bottom are taking orders and making sure people are getting served, while in the back in the room surrounded by glass are the people preparing the food. You can watch the employees carve the meat for the sandwiches.

And as you reach the first floor, you have a better look at the coffee area on the first floor.

As this section goes into the line, which takes about 20-30 minutes of waiting (or more depending on how many people are in line), I will go into the actual Rocco Prince in part 3!

After one waits through the line for the Rocco Princi – Spirito di Milar food section on the first floor of the new Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward, it’s time to order.

According to Starbucks about Rocco Princi: An authentic Italian bakery created by Rocco Princi, who embodies Italian tradition. This experience results from a collaboration between Starbucks’ passion for coffee and Princi’s passion for bread. Baking artisans use ingredients sourced without compromise to prepare focaccia pizza, cornetti and bread throughout the day. Enjoy Princi’s commitment to authenticity with all the senses.

It’s important to note that because I went three weeks after grand opening, the place was still packed. While the lines were not as long outside, I had to wait about a half hour to get my food. This includes waiting in line (as you can see from the stairs going towards the Teavana second floor) to ordering and actually receiving the food.

But times may have shortened since then. It’s also important to know that each floor offers different types of food, so Rocco Princi on the first floor is not the only one there.

Unlike other Japanese bakeries in which you have to get a tray and put the delicacy on it and take it to the cashier, for Rocco Princi, you tell the cashier what you want and then someone in the back will get what you requested.

You will then move to the side (towards the glass area where the food preparers are located) and will call out your number.

But while you wait, it would be a good time to watch how the food is prepared. Windows give you the opportunity to watch the employees prepare the food.

So, somewhere around 5-10 minutes, I received my food in a very nice Starbucks Reserve Roastery bag and the next part is looking for a place to eat. While it would be great to sit in the first floor, at the time I went, every seat each floor and also outdoors were occupied. So, I decided to eat my food at the nearby park across the street.

With that being said, now was the time to explore the coffee area, the roaster and the merchandise area before checking out each floor.

And I’ll continue that in part 4 of my coverage of the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Meguro!