November 14, 2016
Autumn is my favorite season. I love the foliage, the chill in the air, the shift in sunlight. In Japan, it is a great time of year to EAT! Mushrooms, grilled sanma (saury), shinmai (new rice), persimmon, and satoimo (Japanese taro) abound, and certain dishes begin to pop up on menus that signal the change in season. Japan is a place […]
November 1, 2013
The markets are exploding with pumpkins and other squash — which means, autumn is here! I always look forward to this time of year because I like bundling up, wearing my hair down and cozying up on the couch with all kinds of tea. My favorite squash to work with is kabocha. Its sweet flesh […]
October 11, 2013
Affinity: a liking for or an attraction to something. I discovered this long-lost cocktail one cold October day, thanks to my friend and barman Maxwell Britten during his tenure manning Freeman’s backroom bar in New York City. The leaves were swirling on this windy, chilly afternoon, and I was downtown. I sauntered down the namesake […]
November 1, 2012
When the persimmons and matsutake start populating the markets in Japan, so do the sanma (Pacific Saury). They are so abundant, they are practically giving them out for free. For less than 100yen per fish, it’s the most economical choice to celebrate autumn. It’s another story out here in California. I was perusing my local […]
October 27, 2010
I love mushrooms. They’re strange, beautiful, alien creatures and usually a common motif in my own work. They are such a contrast– cute, but deadly; delicate, but powerful. I also love eating them although that happens not so commonly. In contrast to the Tokyo supermarkets being full of many different freshly wrapped shrooms ready for […]