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August 4, 2008

What’s Your Favorite TAMPOPO Scene?

by Kayoko Akabori

Went over to Aya and Tmonkey’s place last night for cocktails on their astroturf rooftop and delicous grapefruit fennel steak salad. We were lying like comatose whales on the living room floor flipping through the iTV when we unanimously decided that we were all craving TAMPOPO. YAH! Do you all remember the first time you […]

August 2, 2008

Pan-Roasted Venison With Tangerine-Jalapeno Sauce

by Payman Bahmani

A while back I made this venison recipe that I thought would be useful to share now that fall’s fast approaching. It’s originally a Bobby Flay (stop hatin’ on the boy) recipe from the Mesa Grill cookbook, that I made with a few adjustments. We served it with Horseradish Twice-Baked Potatoes, also from the Flay […]

The Umami Reader, vol. 026

by Kayoko Akabori

Sorry, only 3 this week: Umami in the News: Check out this dried bonito slicer (via kanshefle, Zagat) Travel to Yamagata, Japan for near perfect ramen (Ayagwa Around the World) Serious Uni Porn (via Daniel, kasennum.jugem.jp) *What am I missing? Email what you’re skimming these days to umamimart@gmail.com

July 28, 2008

UM Redux: Sushi Kuni Experience (Cupertino)

by Moto Yamamoto

I made it to Cupertino to meet the Kakaboris. I was with my mother, and on our way to Half Moon Bay, we stopped by there. It was about an hour drive from San Francisco. We rented a huge ass Chevrolet minivan, which was like, “who the hell drives this kind of monstrous gas guzzler […]

July 26, 2008

The Umami Reader, vol. 025

by Kayoko Akabori

I’m still taking a break from the frenzied food media, but here are some MUST reads: A HILARIOUS parody on the wide-spread trend of yogurt advertising targeted at women (via Dan & Kiwa, Current) Zach invited me to partake in his Street-Meat-Palooza a week ago- the ultimate chicken/lamb cart showdown. 13 carts, oh my! (Midtown […]

July 23, 2008

Tsukiji: Wall Street + Fish Guts

by Irwin Chen

We took supreme advantage of our jetlag and got up at 4:30am to go to the Tsukiji fish market. Here you can see the fish buyers taking core samples of the frozen tuna and inspecting them (sometimes eating the pieces straight) for fat content. We tried to sneak into the section where they supposedly auction […]

July 20, 2008

UM Redux: DanRan II (Tokyo)

by Irwin Chen

(For some Umamimart Rashoman, please see ayagwa’s perspective on this very same day.) So the day I flew into Tokyo, I met Aya, dropped off my stuff in the Shinjuku Washington Hotel, took a shower and a nap, and we headed over to the Shinjuku station to meet up with Yoko, fellow Umamimarter (or is […]

July 12, 2008

The Umami Reader, vol. 024

by Kayoko Akabori

Recommended food reading: SUPERFOODS! 11 things you should be eating: beets, sardines, cabbage and more! (via Radhika and Kanitra, NYT Blog) Luscious-looking macarons from LA’s Paulette (Oishii Eats) Pete Meehan on the superfluous BACON Renaissance. “Bacon is Bacon” afterall. (via Matt, Salon.com) Blue-light special on milk! (via Dan, Consumerist.com) MediaEmpire Alert! NY Mag buys Menupages.com […]

July 9, 2008

Ode to Cupertino: Ridge Winery

by Kayoko Akabori

Hard to believe that in my little hometown of Cupertino, CA, there is a world renowned winery tucked deep into the hillside. Cupertino is a part of the Silicon Valley- it’s where you can find 1 Infinite Loop aka Apple HQ; and all sorts of other hi-tech companies within a 15 mile radius (turn right […]

July 2, 2008

Johnny Iuzzini: Dessert at Jean Georges

by Erin Gleeson

Johnny Iuzzini makes the most beautiful desserts I think I’ve ever photographed. Seriously, they were so stunning that as I left our shoot on the patio of Jean Georges, I couldn’t wait to get home and look at them. It’s dishes like these that really make me love what I do. (And they were DELICIOUS […]