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December 22, 2014

San Francisco Closing… For Now

by Kayoko Akabori

We are very sad to announce that we will be closing our San Francisco outlet inside The Perish Trust. It’s been an amazing year here and we are so grateful to Rod and Kelly of The Perish Trust for letting us park our little shop here for as long as we have. All year! Ultimately, […]

December 11, 2014

Upcoming Event: 3rd Annual Latkes + Lager Hanukkah Party

by Kayoko Akabori

It’s Hanukkah next week! You know what that means… our festive and cozy annual soiree with Erin Gleeson of The Forest Feast and Rabbi Jack! As always, we’ll have plenty of He’Brew beer and latkes; and just like last year, we’ll be having this party in our San Francisco shop inside The Perish Trust. WHAT: […]

December 8, 2014

Meet Louis Anderman of Miracle Mile Bitters Co.

by Kayoko Akabori

Louis Anderman is a scientist. Born from a true passion for bitters, Miracle Mile Bitters Co. started out as a hobby (just like us!), as Louis concocted potions from days of yore, right in his kitchen. Miracle Mile now leads the west coast bitters revolution with his small batch recreations of classic formulas and top […]

November 10, 2014

Meet Masako Ikegami of Bar Shake (Ginza)

by Kayoko Akabori

We met the gracious Masako Ikegami in 2010, before we opened our shop in Oakland, at the Tokyo-SF Bartender Salon we helped host at Prizefighter. A few bartenders from Japan who had won the coveted Suntory Cocktail Award, presented cocktails and exchanged tricks of the trade with the Bay Area’s elite bartending community. It was […]

October 6, 2014

Visiting Asahi Copper Factory

by Kayoko Akabori

When we voiced our wish to visit a few factories in Japan earlier this year, we didn’t realize that so many of them would be in the same town. Not just that, but only a short drive from one another. Tsubame City in Niigata is well known throughout Japan for its high quality steel, having […]

September 15, 2014

Celebrating Atelier Dion

by Kayoko Akabori

Atelier Dion has been an important part of the Umami Mart family since we first opened our doors in Oakland in 2012. This husband and wife team, Rie and Jay Dion, are talented ceramicists who run a dynamic studio in West Oakland. They collaborate with restaurants, bars, cafes, coffee roasters, tea shops, art collectives and […]

September 1, 2014

Event Recap: The Fragrance of Whisky

by MC Abbott

I have allowed an unsuitable amount of time to pass before writing about our Fragrance of Whisky evening at Wingtip nearly three months ago. So I’ve dumped all of the evening’s artifacts around me. It’s a mound, quite literally. One Women & Whiskies branded tote, two W&W t-shirts (sorry Lucia), two W&W gift guides, a […]

August 18, 2014

BARTENDER (バーテンダー)

by Kayoko Akabori

Meet Ryu Sasakura, a dashingly handsome, deeply empathetic, incredibly talented bartender, back in Tokyo after a short stint in Paris. So starts off the captivating J-drama, BARTENDER, which aired in Japan in 2011 for a short eight episodes. I watched them all in a week, I could not stop! After being dismissed from his glamorous […]

July 21, 2014

A Visit to Heuga Bar in Gifu City

by Kayoko Akabori

Yoko and I first met bartender Tomokazu Kai in 2010, when we helped present an event with Suntory Whisky called the Tokyo-SF Bartender Salon. The event was held at Prizefighter bar in Emeryville and was meant to bring bartenders from Japan and the Bay Area together to present and talk about cocktails and bartending techniques. […]

July 7, 2014

Ukai: Cormorant Fishing in Gifu

by Kayoko Akabori

Yoko and I were lucky enough to be invited to Gifu prefecture in central Japan to visit specific cities that are known for producing knives, ceramics and wood products, and tour their factories. We had a wonderful three days in different parts of Gifu, looking for new products for Umami Mart, while enjoying the regional […]