Umami Mart

We get a lot of inquiries about the Fisherman Poster. The poster hangs on our shop’s walls at 815 Broadway, amongst a collage of other eye-catching display items, prints, and ephemera, but this arresting image stands out and begs many questions: Who is that man? What’s he wearing? Is he facing forward or are we seeing his back? […]

Sori Yanagi became a household name in post-WWII Japan, for his everyday objects like furniture, toys, cars, and kitchen utensils. His products married traditional Japanese craft with Western industrial design, creating objects that were succinct and practical in design. Sori Yanagi was prolific for most of his life, working well into advanced age. He died at age 96 in 2011, […]

August sakes ship today for Sake Gumi, our monthly sake subscription club. If you like what’s on deck here, you should join! “Celebrating Design, Drinks, + Japan” is at the core of everything we do at Umami Mart. It is our tag line, afterall. Four years ago today, full of giddiness and hope, Kayoko and I took […]

  People love the wall installation of hamaya (arrow) in our Oakland shop. Drawn in by the striking stark white (and single red) wood arrows arranged in neat rows, many take photos of the wall and some ask, “What are these for?” If you’ve ever wondered that question yourself, hamaya are symbols of good luck in Japan. Much […]

Studio Arhoj just released the Umami Mart Paper Pack, a set of 10 cards featuring designs and illustrations made by Anders Arhoj exclusively for our shop. The cards are made from thick, quality paper stock and can be used for various purposes. We like using them as oversized greeting cards (they’re about 6″ x 8″), writing messages on the backs and sending them off in […]

Sorry for my long absence. I’ve been quite busy, as we were preparing to move into a new apartment, so cooking time for me was pretty limited for a while. Now I am finally settled (well, after a day), and I am ready to start cooking. Our kitchen in Chelsea was nice, but it was […]

Remember when I designed the Umamimart travel mug back in 2010? Well, this spring Scandinavian Airlines (SAS as we call it in Denmark) called for submissions from designers to redesign their cardboard cups for tea and coffee, during air travel across the globe. They serve 70,000 customers in the air every day (!). You see, when I’m […]

We all know how even the saddest piece of stale-ass bread can taste so good when we’re out in nature, hungry after a walk and enjoying the snack with friends and the singing birds. When you talk about umami, it’s not just about the flavours in your mouth. It’s just as well about all the […]

A cupcake is like generic sex. Looks like an ok fun party from the outside, but when you dig in, it’s dull, sticky and in the end it just makes you wanna throw up. Right now, you’re probably thinking “Oh no, not another cupcake post. Weren’t cupcakes something that belonged to the 2000’s?” And yes, […]

Look what I found while I was walking through a shop the other day in Man Jose- little cakes and pastries made out of DUNDUNDUN… TOWELS!!! Designed by a Japanese company, Prarie Dog, this line of Le Patissier towel pastries are so ridiculously darling. They make little individual cakes and slices, and whole cakes too! […]