Umami Mart

Living in Japan, I’m not used to spending a lot of money for ramen. But recently, while visiting New York – Brooklyn, to be exact – I shelled out $20 for a bowl of ramen and I would do it all over again. I would hand over, without a second thought, a sum of money enough for 2.5 mammoth […]

I realized yesterday that Umami Mart will turn seven years old this month. WOOOOO! That’s seven years of banter, restaurant reviews, recipes and… more banter! The fun never stops on Umami Mart, and although we’re all seven years older (and a bit more, ehem, wiser), I’d like to think that we’ve retained our sometimes grotesque, […]

My first-ever visit to New York was with my sister and it flew by. It’s been four years since we travelled together and she’s always so much fun — we do a lot of laughing, shopping and, of course, eating. This time was no exception as we raced through the city to meet our friends […]

*Nahoko Morimoto is a Tokyo-based photographer. Her work has been featured in Brutus and Vogue Japan.

Though I created such a scene when I wrote about a certain four-star restaurant some time ago, I must write about my experience at Eleven Madison Park. Why?  Because it was above and beyond my expectations, and made me fully understand Daniel Humm‘s genius-ness. Plus it was lunch, over a glass of wine, hence I […]

I recently became a permanent resident of this country, and to celebrate my newly acquired freedom, we went to Le Bernardin. Though I know a lot about food, I haven’t been to many top-notch restaurants because I end up bitching about its flaws. If you are paying $250 a person for a dining experience, don’t […]

Spaghetti alla Chitarra prepared by chef Dan Kluger at The Core Club. He is now the chef at ABC Kitchen in NYC. Photo by Erin Gleeson.

Drunken noodles at SriPraPhai in Woodside, Queens. From Umamiventure #4 in 2007. The savory hot sweetness of the dish still hovers in my memory. Photo by Irwin Chen.

Last week, NYC pastry chef extraordinaire Pichet Ong was a guest judge on Top Chef Just Desserts (aired September 22).  As he was introduced, some of my photos of his desserts were shown on the episode: Foie Gras Taco and Warm Date Cake (see below). I shot the desserts in his restaurants P*ong and The […]

The afternoon I took this picture in Hell’s Kitchen was one of the steamiest days this summer, but that didn’t stop New Yorkers from loving HOT 99¢ slices. I have a feeling I might look back at this picture in 20 years and be shocked at how cheap a slice was (I’m even a little […]