If you're attempting to shed some pounds in the New Year but still feel a pull toward snacks, this suite of sweets will satisfy the sugar cravings without smashing your goals.
The chef-owners of Kappo at East End Market, justifiably celebrated for their sushi omakase and lunchtime chirashi bowls, also have a sideline in quick-to-pick-up Japanese treats. Some are bought in (like sugary Ramune soda) but the cooler case also holds bottles of tea, onigiri (rice balls) and other small eats made in-house.
Three we love: Matcha milk tea, packaged in a handsome little square glass bottle, is a silky-smooth way to get your caffeine and sugar for the day; the organic soy milk keeps it light. Yuzu marshmallows are tiny and there are just three to the package, but these pillowy confectionery buttons punch way above their weight – just one of them floods your mouth with sweet-tart citrus flavor. And yuzu sorbet (they also sometimes offer starfruit), while it's not a low-sugar indulgence, is at least a light one, lacking the fat and dairy of ice cream or gelato. The pale-yellow ice has a rounded sour-sweetness with a pleasant, faintly bitter edge, which carries an additional diet benefit: That citrus bite ruins the flavor of anything you eat or drink for about an hour afterward.
Yuzu marshmallows, $1.50; matcha milk tea, $3.50; yuzu sorbet, $7; Kappo at East End Market, 3201 Corrine Drive; kappoeastend.com
