Located in Milpitas’ McCarthy Ranch area, Crepe Shibuya is a new Japanese-style dessert shop, featuring a variety of crepes, drinks, and ice creams. Crepe Shibuya was launched by Ricky Ma earlier this summer.
The spark for the idea came from Ma’s deep appreciation of Japanese culture. Over the past few decades, Ma has made over 100 trips to Japan for work.
“I’ve always loved Japanese culture,” said Ma.
After graduating from college, Ma, who is originally from Hong Kong, started working for a Japanese tech company as an electrical engineer. He worked for the company for eight years, then started his own engineering firm, which he still runs today in San Jose.
Crepe Shibuya is Ma’s first foray into the retail business. He spent two years working on planning the business, researching and testing recipes. Japanese crepes are different from traditional French crepes; they’re crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and carefully rolled into a paper cone. At Crepe Shibuya, one can order sweet dessert crepes, sushi crepes, or crepes filled with purple yam or chestnut paste.
Shibuya is considered a trendy district in Tokyo, Japan. It’s known as a huge transit hub and is the location of the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing. The name itself translates to “bitter valley” or “quiet valley.”
It isn’t just the food that makes Crepe Shibuya unique; the shop is also home to more than 100 Gashapon machines.
A Gashapon machine is a kind of Japanese vending machine that holds a bunch of mystery toys and items inside plastic spheres. You put a couple coins into it, turn the crank, and out comes a random mystery collectible. Ma makes sure to keep switching out the toys to keep things fresh.
“I always tell my customer if you like a certain kind of toy here, you better get it today,” he said. “Maybe tomorrow, I won’t have any more, and I might not get it again.”
Jim Shedd of Lucram Builders worked closely with Ma to build out the cafe.
“I’ve built over 200 restaurants. Working with Ricky has been a great experience. This project has been a labor love. He chooses the best materials and the highest quality of everything. And the finished product reflects that as well,” said Shedd.
While running his tech business, Ma worked tirelessly on the side for months to make sure that every aspect of Crepe Shibuya was ready to debut to the public. He’s excited to welcome new customers into his unique and vibrant cafe.
“We don’t have anything like this in the area,” said Ma. “I really think that Japanese desserts are unique and hope it will be popular here in America.”
See Crepe Shibuya’s menu here.
