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January 10, 2008

Must Do in Beijing

by Moto Yamamoto

Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, The Great Wall. Got ripped off at an antique store, almost got killed by a car when crossing the streets… Yes, I did all the things I was supposed to do in Beijing. Last and the most important thing to do was to go eat Peking Duck. Remember my post on […]

January 9, 2008

Mysterious Chinese Wine

by Moto Yamamoto

Chinese wine? The thought is kind of odd, don’t you think? I never knew it existed. One day after walking around the new Chinese contemporary art district called 798, I went to a convenience store near my hotel, and found booze section. Refrigerator was not refrigerated, and all the cold stuff was not cold. So […]

January 8, 2008

What $10 Can Buy in China

by Moto Yamamoto

China was interesting. As you might know, the air is unbelievably dirty, and everyday when I woke up I appreciated and longed for clean air more and more. It’s hard to explain but my friend in China said, it’s basically smoking 10 packs of cigarettes without smoking it. It was so true. No cigarette smell, […]

Sakaya: First Sake Shop in NYC

by Kayoko Akabori

Irwin tipped us onto a new sake shop in the East Village called Sakaya— the very first sake shop in NYC! Husband-and-wife team Rick and Hiroko opened it in early December, and it is quite a jem of a spot. Sakaya is located in a small intimate space on East 9th Street- track lighting, wood […]

December 24, 2007

Top 5 Food Moments of 2007

by Kayoko Akabori

Manolha Dargis says (in her own top 10 list of films of the year), “Top 10 lists are artificial exercizes, assertions of critical ego, capricious and necssarily imperfect.” Well, how about a Top 5? Can that be any more meaningful? Sure, why not– I think that Top lists are a fun way to exercize your […]

December 14, 2007

Mitsuwa Field Trip

by Kayoko Akabori

For some god foresaken reason, Roach and I were inspired to take a bus to Mitsuwa, all the way out in buttfuck Jersey the day after Thanksgiving. I don’t know what it was– fantasies of all the food shopping possibilities, or simply the food court extravaganza– that lured us to make the trek. Whatever it […]

November 29, 2007

Beef Tongue Stew

by Moto Yamamoto

Beef tongue looks gross. However, that long slow moving tongue of a cow becomes such a delicate dish (if you don’t mind looking at the fetus-like part below). Since I live in Chelsea, I do most of meat shopping at Western Beef, where there are quite a few different parts of every kind of meat. […]

November 20, 2007

Thanksgiving – Let’s Give Thanks

by Moto Yamamoto

Yeah right. I am just excited about executing all the practices into my 22lb bird (the biggest I could find). It’s fresh bird this year, and I will marinate the whole thing in a household ziploc bag over night. Some people, such as Kayoko has been telling how much she HATES turkey, but I will […]

November 12, 2007

Thanksgiving – An Alternative to a Big Bird

by Moto Yamamoto

I was watching Food Network Sunday, and saw this recipe for turkey and cranberry raviolis on Everyday Italian. The theme was “Thanksgiving for two” and it looked pretty yummy and easy, so I made it for myself. It surely was a success. If you don’t want to be bothered with making a big turkey, this […]

November 1, 2007

Thanksgiving 2007 – Stage 1

by Moto Yamamoto

I am planning to host a thanksgiving dinner (as usual). Every year for the past 8 years or so, I have hosted it. I made my turkey in every way you can think of. Herbed, brined, buttered, you name it, I’ve done it. (Though I haven’t tried frying..) I usually make everything, but this year, […]