Umami Mart

I spent my summer of 2012 in California, my favourite place in the world — after my couch (ok, maybe Japan comes in as a close second). It was a pure blast, from the moment I landed, designed and help build out the Umami Mart shop, just to get on the plane again a month […]

If you have been to Japan, you’ve been to MOS burger, the best burger chain. Apparently it is coming to the U.S., which will be great.  Their burgers — from the regular MOS burger with bolognese sauce, to tonkatsu burger with cabbage, to real-deal teriyaki chicken to rice burgers — are made to order, so they […]

The world is full of burger places. There is one in almost every strip mall in America, and then there are the chains which are often the culprits or the scapegoats of many a country’s poor eating habits. Burgers stretch the gut, go well with less healthy things like milkshakes, chili fries, extra cheese, and […]

While it’s no Musso & Frank or Mateo’s, Umami Burger is quickly becoming a fixture in the LA culinary world. Seriously. Six locations have popped up since the original La Brea location opened in 2009 and the popularity doesn’t appear to be losing steam. Though it embraces the similar rapid expansion model that made the […]

This post goes out to all you haters out there on the internet (specifically, those living in the suburbs of Chowhound and Yelp), please stand corrected. Of the many, many times I’ve dined at Howard’s Famous Bacon & Avocado Burger, I’ve never been served anything that slightly resembled a “greasy guacamole burger” and never consumed […]

In my hood, the chic São Paulo bairro of Jardins, I share sidewalks with a rather large group of Hasidic Jews. All of the beards make me feel like I’m safe and at home. They are the unspoken guardians of Jardins, as I have heard rumors of their n0-nonsense approach to local crime and robberies. […]

Around the corner from the dimly-lit, time machine-esque Smoke House is Bob’s Big Boy. This is where tourists and locals go to eat high-calorie meals under bright fluorescent lights, without caring who’s watching them–and no one is. The polite waitstaff is there to do the job they are paid to do: routinely and repeatedly check […]

Billy Goat Tavern was my absolute favorite place we went to in Chicago. You know a place has really made an impression on you when you keep wanting to go back. Matt and I were only there for three days, but I made sure I went twice. I even bought a tshirt. Ha. Oddly enough, […]

My bestie Sara and I were literally driving up to The Golden State last week at around 4pm, when I got a phone call from Little Brother (LB), who lives in LA. LB: Where you at? Me: Just pulling up to The Golden State. LB: Nooooo! It’s Thursday! Me: What does that mean? LB: They […]

Had the best burger I’ve had in my entire life in NOLA. I am being very serious right now. THE BEST. My friends swore they had taken me to Port of Call the last time I was in town, but I definitely had never been here before. I would have remembered this burger. And this […]