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 […]

Two weeks ago, I picked up Anders aka Mr. Skankynavia from LAX. It was a bit of a drive from the Bay Area, but a little vacay for both of us before we began the crazy build-out of our Oakland shop. We both love LA — the sunshine, the celebrity, the botox. L. Ron Hubbard […]

Uni, burrata, button mushroom, yuzu Son of a Gun Los Angeles

Remember when I said I started making my own pizza because I hadn’t found any in Los Angeles that really fit the bill? Well I am happy to report that this is no longer the case. Not only does it seem like the urban food movement is making its way through a wood-fired revival, but […]

Yes, Japanese food in this country is still equated to sushi. Growing up, people would always ask me, “Do you eat sushi every day?” I guess that’s mostly due to the fact that my father is a sushi chef, but even so, it always bewildered me. I mean, sushi is such a luxury! And it […]

On a particularly temperate Los Angeles evening, three Umamimart writers (one a founding member), and an Umamimart photographer, joined three Umamimart supporters and friends for a lovely dinner at Robata Jinya in West Hollywood, CA. Of the diners, two were strict vegetarians, one a somewhat new carnivore and the rest more of the “don’t knock […]

“To live and eat in LA, it’s the place to be; You’ve got to be there to know it, what everybody wanna eat” – Tupac Alright, alright, Tupac didn’t say “eat”. But instead of talking about hoes and tricks, he should have rapped more importantly about the bounty of food to be found in LA. […]

I’m in LA for my best friend’s wedding. I love LA, you know that? There’s an energy here that doesn’t quite exist in sleepy SF. Plus, this is the city where my family first landed in AMERICA. We lived in the cuttycuts of Koreatown with cockroaches. Nostalgique. Driving around with my brother, I noticed something: […]

Photos by Thomas L. Young One dollar street tacos at a busy intersection in downtown Los Angeles is about as old school as you can get. On the corner of Mateo and 7th street, in front of the Mexican restaurant La Reyna (Est. 1974), is a taco stand run by one guy on the grill […]

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 […]