Artist Creates Daily Toast Designs Inspired by Japanese Traditions

Toast Art by Manami Sasaki

Ingredients: sour cream, nuts, matcha

What do you put on your toast in the morning? From butter or cream cheese to an assortment of jams and jellies, smothering bread with your favorite condiment is a simple task for most, but for Japanese designer Manami Sasaki, making toast is a time to slow down and get creative. Every morning since she’s been in lockdown, she’s been using slices of bread as her canvas to create incredible breakfasts that look too pretty to eat.

Taking inspiration from Japanese traditions, Sasaki created a zen garden-inspired piece of toast art, featuring sour cream for the base that was “raked” with a fork to mimic patterned sand. Matcha powder was used to represent moss, while macadamia nuts and walnuts were artfully placed to look like rocks. Sasaki also created toast inspired by Kintsugi—the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer. The thoughtful food artist filled the “cracks” of the bread with edible gold leaf.

Sasaki often posts before and after photos, revealing how the toast art changes after it's been grilled. For one flower-inspired design, the artist used margarine for the petals, which subtly melted away after being toasted. No matter the theme or ingredients, Sasaki’s culinary creativity knows no bounds.

Scroll down to see some of Sasaki’s toast art and follow her on Instagram for more. When she's not making toast, Sasaki creates watercolor illustrations. You can buy her paintings printed on t-shirts and tote bags here.

Japanese designer Manami Sasaki uses toast as her canvas to create artistic breakfasts every day.

Toast Art by Manami Sasaki

Ingredients: tomato sauce, margarine, mint leaves, mustard

Toast Art by Manami Sasaki

Ingredients: sour cream, seaweed, tomatoes, basil, paprika, purple cabbage, ketchup

This one is inspired by the centuries-old Japanese art of Kintsugi.

Toast Art by Manami Sasaki

Ingredients: sour cream, edible gold leaf and ketchup

Every piece of toast is a beautiful (or adorable) work of art.

Toast Art by Manami Sasaki

Ingredients: mixed blueberry jam and chocolate

Toast Art by Manami Sasaki

Ingredients: margarine, kelp

Toast Art by Manami Sasaki

Ingredients: avocado dip, sour cream, baked seaweed

Toast Art by Manami Sasaki

Ingredients: cherry tomato, basil, seaweed, sour cream

Toast Art by Manami Sasaki

Ingredients: cod roe mayo, sour cream, seaweed, cheddar cheese

Manami Sasaki: Website | Instagram | Twitter
h/t: [Spoon & Tamago]

All images via Manami Sasaki.

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Emma Taggart

Emma Taggart is a Contributing Writer at My Modern Met. Originally from Northern Ireland, she is an artist now based in Berlin. After graduating with a BA in Fashion and Textile Design in 2013, Emma decided to combine her love of art with her passion for writing. Emma has contributed to various art and culture publications, with an aim to promote and share the work of inspiring modern creatives. While she writes every day, she’s also devoted to her own creative outlet—Emma hand-draws illustrations and is currently learning 2D animation.
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