
Clever visual design keeps your parfait looking Instagram-worthy even as you eat it.
Foodies in Japan are very much believers in the idea that food should look beautiful. That goes double for discretionary dining options like desserts, and triple for parfaits, one of the most photogenic types of sweet indulgence. As a matter of fact, it probably wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the majority of people who order a restaurant parfait in Japan snap at least one photo of it, and sometimes many more, before they take their first bite.
However, parfaits come with a frustrating photography challenge, in that while they look great as-served, everything sort of crumbles and mixes as you eat them, making them much less Instagram-worthy. In particular, it’s almost impossible to fully capture all of their delicious ingredients in cross-section…unless, that is, you’re eating Denny’s Japan’s new desert, which has a clever construction that’s designed specifically for those wanting to take pictures to share with friends or post online.
Denny’s calls it the Split-in-Half Parfait (or Mapputatsu Parfait, if you’re ordering in Japanese), and if you’re wondering how they achieved this visually split stasis, it’s thanks to a special parfait glass produced for the chain by Nakamura Glass, a glassworks company in Tokyo’s Kamitakada neighborhood.
With its half-circle rim and tall, narrow body, the glass not only lets you see what would be both the external and interior-angle views of a parfait, it also helps keep all of the ingredients more neatly arranged as you eat, thus solving the dilemma of having to resist taking the first bite of your dessert until after you’ve taken every snapshot you want to.
It should also be pointed out that Denny’s Japan is fully committed to both parts of the “Desserts should taste and look good” philosophy, and for the Split-in-Half Parfait it uses premium amaou strawberries, renowned by fans as among the best-tasting strawberries in the world. And if you’re worried that Denny’s is trying to sell you half a parfait for the price of a full one, you can put your mind at ease, since at 990 yen (US$6.40) the Split-in-Half Parfait is also just about half the price of the chain’s full-size strawberry parfaits.
Probably because of the unique glassware involved, the Split-in-Half Parfait is only being offered at two Denny’s Japan’s branches, both in trendy parts of Tokyo: the Denny’s Shibuya Koen-dori and Ikebukuro Meiji-dori branches. It’s also a limited-time dessert, on offer from now through March 3, so maybe after that the special glasses and the special parfaits will move to other Denny’s Japan’s locations.
Source: Denny’s Japan via Walker Plus via Yahoo! Japan News via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Denny’s Japan
Insert images: Denny’s Japan (1, 2)
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