February 9, 2015
Let me start off by saying that I think Abura-ya is the most exciting dining experience in the Bay Area in the last few years. By “exciting” I mean: doing something spectacularly new and genre-bending — all deliciously, and not one bit bank-breaking. Abura-ya specializes in Japanese fried chicken, but it is so much more […]
October 20, 2014
Here at Umami Mart, we are always geeking out on very specific subjects. Whether it’s shochu, shio-koji or baking the perfect macaron, we usually trek farther and deeper into the realms of food/drink subject matter and then, we blog about it. These days, we’re thinking about ice. Pfffff, ice, you may be thinking. Ice is […]
March 12, 2014
As you may know, we recently bought a country house in the deep woods of Connecticut. We now own 9 acres of land, and my imagination goes wild with what to do — from building a chicken coop to a greenhouse, to planting yuzu and plum trees — an all Japanese vegetable garden. Unfortunately these […]
February 24, 2014
Whenever I visit Tokyo, I look forward to meeting newborns… especially when I’ve followed the progression of their parents. No, I’m not talking about newborn babies. I’m talking about new places to eat. On our first full night in Tokyo, Kayoko and I visited Jicca, our friend Tori-chan’s place. She opened Jicca last August in […]