--- title: Food Trends: 'Kawaii' Cooking Is the Art of Making Tiny but Real Meals description: The incredibly cute culinary trend features real-life ingredients so the mini meals are actually edible canonical: https://time.com/3719905/food-trends-kawaii-cooking-miniature-meals/ author: Helen Regan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-24T06:58:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:34.470Z og:title: Kawaii Cooking Is the Cutest Culinary Trend Ever og:description: Mini edible meals are all over the Internet. og:url: https://time.com/3719905/food-trends-kawaii-cooking-miniature-meals/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kawaii Cooking Is the Cutest Culinary Trend Ever twitter:description: Mini edible meals are all over the Internet. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # See Why 'Kawaii Cooking' Has Become the Hottest Food Trend > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: The End Days of WD~50 [Watch (HLS stream): The End Days of WD~50](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yp56vTAs.m3u8) (2:11)  _Published 2014-12-08. One of the world’s most famous chefs prepares to close the doors on his landmark restaurant_ by [Helen Regan](https://time.com/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Feb 24, 2015 6:58 AM UTC by [Helen Regan](https://time.com/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Feb 24, 2015 6:58 AM UTC It’s the cutest culinary [trend](http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/tiny-food-cooking-videos/?fbdd&utm%5Fsource=huffingtonpost.com&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=pubexchange) ever: videos of tiny meals are exploding online. Old collectible miniature stoves, pots, pans and other cooking utensils, that wouldn’t be out of place in a Victorian dollhouse, are used to create mini edible cuisine, in an art form known as _kawaii_ cooking. (_Kawaii_ is the Japanese word for _cute_.) The recipes use real-life ingredients and are cooked over a small candle or flame so you can actually eat them. The craze started in Japan but has caught on worldwide, with thousands of followers posting videos of their creations and a host of YouTube channels dedicated to the pastime. It won’t fill you up, but it sure is satisfying to watch. \[[_Daily Dot_](http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/tiny-food-cooking-videos/?fbdd&utm%5Fsource=huffingtonpost.com&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=pubexchange)\] _Read next:_ [_This Machine Is Surprisingly Great at Playing the Violin_](http://time.com/3718929/kinetic-sculpture-machine-robow-plays-violin/?xid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ## Transcript Go, go, go go go. I would call wd 50 a restaurant where anything goes. WD 50 is an adventure. And when you eat it, you're like- My first reaction to my first meal at WD 50 was not like awe and pleasure, it was like what the [ EXPLETIVE ] is this guy doing. [ MUSIC ] So this. Oh. We wanted to do something different. And it also didn't exist. [ LAUGH ] Some considered him kinda be the bad boy of the food scene. [ LAUGH ] When WD- 50 opened, it really. Sent shock waves. I don't know. What's going on guys? Good job. [ MUSIC ] That restaurant could only have been created kind of at that time. Going to 350 a decade ago was a scary experience. Not because of the food but because of what you had to go through to sort of get there. When he was there on Clinton Street we still use to have like dudes running up. Pulling their pants down and shoving their **** cheeks against the window. Thank you, thank you. [ APPLAUSE ] Good job. [ APPLAUSE ] That's it. Pick up guys. Last time. [ MUSIC ] I think it's extraordinary that they're going, you know, they're going to tear this down to build an apartment building. [ UNKNOWN ] put his heart and soul on Clinton Street and really brought it to life, and then that very thing is the reason it's closing. Cheers. It's the experience. It's just the people. It's the place. It's what we've accomplished in almost 12 years. I'm sorry, Mom, I'm eating. I know. So we stuck it out, rain or shine and it's rained a lot. [ LAUGH ] But right now the sun is shining. So. [ MUSIC ] Let's just yuck it up, one last time. 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