I am ecstatic, beyond words, to announce that Yoko and I will be joining the Bay Area-based art and food collective, OPENrestaurant, on a special trip to Japan in October. We will be there for three weeks, visiting farms and fisheries, interviewing people, blogging and producing live video coverage throughout Japan–all which will culminate in […]
Author Archives: Kayoko Akabori
The Ume Project: The Aka-Shiso Edition
This post is rather late, for which I apologize. Er, about a month late. SORRY! Where has all the time gone? How is it already mid-September? I look outside and the leaves are turning color. The light gives off a deeper glow. It is dark at 7:30pm. Sigh. San Francisco’s (non-existent) summer is officially over. […]
September 8, 2011
Umamimart Shop Fall Sale
Fall is officially here, I would say–the sunlight a bit more orange, and the air a bit crisper. We love autumn here at Umamimart, so we’re celebrating with a SALE in the Umamimart Shop. We’ve slashed prices up to 40%! Yes the gold cocktail shaker, the famous Umamimart mug by writer Anders, and the stylish […]
September 5, 2011
Postcard from LA: Yoshinoya Takeover
I’m in LA for my best friend’s wedding. I love LA, you know that? There’s an energy here that doesn’t quite exist in sleepy SF. Plus, this is the city where my family first landed in AMERICA. We lived in the cuttycuts of Koreatown with cockroaches. Nostalgique. Driving around with my brother, I noticed something: […]
August 12, 2011
Orenchi Ramen (Santa Clara)
The Bay Area is a big sprawling wasteland of awesome food, that rivals Los Angeles in its expansiveness. Sadly however, up in the hyped-up food scene of San Francisco (“the city”), no one really talks about the South Bay. San Jose is a bad bad word. It’s a shame, cause just a 45 minute drive […]
August 2, 2011
The Ume Project: Umeshu (Plum Liqueur)
You may recall that both Yoko and Yamahomo have shown us how to make umeshu (plum liqueur) on Umamimart (here and here). The season for ume is super short, and people in Japan scramble for them at the supermarkets to make their yearly batch of umeshu. After picking our own ume from a magical backyard […]
July 21, 2011
Umamimart Shop Spotlight: Tote + Apron by Wormfun
Earlier this year, Yoko and I approached Wormfun (aka Kaoru Kumano) to be our Featured Artist in the Umamimart Shop‘s second season line. After working with Anders to create the Umamimart mug, Yoko and I thought to commission an artist to design a tote and apron. We were elated when Wormfun accepted the project, and […]
July 20, 2011
Happy Hour Photography Show (NOLA)
Paystyle and Vanessa are in New Orleans this week for the annual cocktail fête of the year, Tales of the Cocktail–hands down the most important event in the world for cocktail heads, bar chefs, liquor companies, alcoholics, et al. I’m sure P + V have been trashed since they landed at Louis Armstrong airport yesterday […]
July 19, 2011
The Ume Project: Pickling for Umeboshi
After our Berkeley backyard ume foraging adventure, Yoko, Sylvan (of Peko Peko) and I met up six days later to start pickling our umeboshi (pickled plum). Hooray! Umeboshi is the rice accompaniment of choice in Japan–the image of the sour little scarlet ball, sitting on a bed of steaming rice for breakfast, is as ubiquitous […]
July 6, 2011
SF Cocktail Crawl with Paystyle
The one and only Paystyle rolled into town a couple of weeks ago. Although he would be fully booked with personal engagements, I knew exactly how to get him to pencil me in. A few days before he was scheduled to land at SFO, I texted him, “Should we go on a SF cocktail crawl […]