Author Archives: Kayoko Akabori


January 11, 2016

Postcard from Tokyo: Tis the Season for Shirako

by Kayoko Akabori

It’s become Yoko and my tradition to stop into Tsukiji Sushiko, a popular chain that is littered all around Tokyo, serving superb sushi at a nominal pricepoint. We usually visit Japan in the winter so we are lucky to always get shirako, or better known here on the blog as fish jizz. That’s right, these are sperm […]

January 7, 2016

Upcoming Event: The Third Annual JAPAN BEER FEST

by Kayoko Akabori

Happy New Year! We hope that everyone had a cozy, relaxing holiday season with your loved ones and are ready to rock 2016. It’s going to be a good one — it’s the year of the Monkey! Strap in. We are kicking the year off right with JAPAN BEER FEST, our beloved yearly soiree presented with […]

December 21, 2015

Happy Hour: Tokyo 75

by Kayoko Akabori

Photos by Mariko Yamasaki Happy holidays everyone! What a year! I hope you are all able to relax during these last days of 2015 and reflect on joyful memories. It’s been a hectic holiday season here at Umami Mart, and I’m thankful for everything we’ve done in the past year. Namely, we opened our Bottle System, […]

December 7, 2015

Upcoming Event: Our Annual Hanukkah Party with The Forest Feast

by Kayoko Akabori

Happy Hanukkah everyone! We are so excited to announce our FOURTH ANNUAL Hanukkah celebration at Umami Mart. What?!? A Hanukkah party at Umami Mart??? That makes no sense! Despite the skepticism, we host this party each year with our good friends Erin Gleeson of The Forest Feast and her husband, Rabbi Jack. It is a […]

November 30, 2015

Event Recap: Stirred Not Shaken at Forgery SF

by Kayoko Akabori

Photos by Yoko Kumano Together with Plumpjack Wine & Spirits, we hosted a cocktail crafting event at Forgery a couple months ago. I remember it as though it was yesterday — it was a warm, late summer day (ehem, late September) in San Francisco, and our guests saddled up to Forgery’s gorgeous bar to take in the […]

November 16, 2015

Event Recap: Mad About Genshu, Our First Sake Gumi Social!

by Kayoko Akabori

Photos by Daniel Metcalf We had our very first Sake Gumi Social last weekend — it was a BLAST! This event was exclusive to Sake Gumi members, held at Ramen Shop’s new bar annex. Yoko and I wanted the event to be informative and lively, letting all the local Sake Gumi members meet and get to know […]

November 2, 2015

Upcoming Event: Runoff Book Release Party with Tom Manning

by Kayoko Akabori

Here’s an event that you don’t see very often at Umami Mart — a comic book party! We are so excited to celebrate the release of Runoff by Oakland-based artist and our good friend Tom Manning. Published by Japanese comic book house One Peace Books, Runoff is an intricate, dizzying work by Tom which made its debut in 1999. After years […]

October 26, 2015

Umami Map: Izakaya Gaku in Honolulu and Other Island Gems

by Kayoko Akabori

Yoko, our friend Seri and I visited Honolulu last month and we had such a memorable trip! Our friend Mei was getting married in Kailua, so we decided to make a little getaway out of it. A bachelorette weekend for us, if you will. We had visited Oahu earlier in the year, but it was […]

September 28, 2015

Umami Map: Where to Get a Cocktail in Seattle

by Kayoko Akabori

Seattle is for grown-ups. I really enjoyed the city when we were there over the summer — it has a sense of sophistication and plentifulness that I can enjoy in my thirties. I must have just glazed over it all when I visited over a decade ago — perhaps I have less angst now and I […]

September 3, 2015

Upcoming Event: Stirred Not Shaken: Learn to Mix Cocktails and Take the Tools Home! (SF)

by Kayoko Akabori

We are so excited to announce our first cocktail class collaboration with PlumpJack Wine & Spirits! PlumpJack is a liquor and wine shop in Noe Valley and the Marina neighborhood in San Francisco, as well as a winery in Napa (founded by Gavin Newsom, hello!). We’ve teamed up with the good folks over at Forgery […]