One month has passed since the sweets specialty store "On Vacation" (Aoyama 2, Hirosaki City, TEL 0172-40-0337 ) opened.

Popular items from "Le Castle Factory," a sweets and bread specialty store located in Hotel Newcastle that closed in April 2023, such as "Napoleon Pie" (550 yen) and "Chocolafine" (490 yen), are now available. Masahiro Kon, who was a pastry chef at the same store, recreated and served it. The ``Knitted Apple Pie'' (380 yen) will be offered with an improved recipe.

Manager Tota Sato, who has been running a kitchen car selling crumble cakes since 2022, said, ``When I had the cake batter and cream improved, it was well received, so Ima-san decided to make a variety of sweets that Ima-san makes. "I decided to open a store," he says.

Mr. Ima, who has worked at the hotel for a total of 17 years and has about 30 years of experience in Western confectionery, said, ``Since I am usually in the kitchen, I don't get to hear the voices of the customers, but it's nice to know the reaction in the form of sold out items.'' I hope I can continue to leave that behind," he says with a smile.

On January 18th, when it opened, there was a line even though it was the first day, and the cakes were sold out. After that, it continued to be sold out every day. Sato says, ``Thankfully, we have a lot of visitors, and we often have to refuse entry.The lack of staff is a major cause, and this is an immediate issue.''

To commemorate the hotel's first month of opening, the hotel began issuing discount coupons and selling reprints of the ``Pear Tart'' served at the hotel from February 22nd. Regarding the future, Mr. Sato is enthusiastic, saying, ``In addition to selling reissues, I would like to increase the number of new menu items and make the store even more enjoyable for the local community.''

Business hours are 11:00 to 18:30. Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.