Umami Mart

Pizzeria Bruno was the one place I wanted to go during my visit to San Diego earlier this month. Mike Senese, television personality and hardcore pizzahead, had mentioned that it was, “easily the best pizza I’ve found in Southern California,” so of course I had to try it. I walked in and the first thing […]

I’m feeling a bit deflated today. Recently I discovered that my column shares the same name with a right-wing, conspiracy theory, political blog (I’ll leave out the hyper link here, because you don’t need to waste your time with all that. Ok never mind, freedom of speech yaddi yadda, here you go). So just to […]

When I first moved to Studio City earlier this year, my friend Trevor greeted me with “Welcome to the city of sushi joints and bong shops.” And I thought to myself, “Heaven?”  I kid, kind of.  According to Yelp.com there’s about 63 places to eat sushi in the 7.11 square miles that is Studio City.  […]

Back in April, we had a very special Umamiventure— Marcel (we call him that here), a dude who has been making ramen out of his home for the last year and a half, invited Umamimart over to try it. Fifteen of us showed up and gathered in his living room as he toiled away in […]

*Please enjoy this track (in another window) while reading this post. Admittedly, I’m not the biggest Los Angeles fan, but I’m trying my hardest to appreciate the great things the city has to offer, and at the top of most Angelenophiles (did I make that word up?) “things to love about LA lists” is Dodger’s […]

Paystyle is out this week– after his series of recaps on Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, he’s burnt out and taking a personal day. It is Sloth Season after all, and we all deserve a break from Umamimart reporting. He suggested I fill in this week for Happy Hour as a guest writer. […]

“Yoko, they have rattlesnake and alligator sausages,” my friend told me of this place called Wurstküche in Downtown LA. For some reason I imagined Lisbeth Salander goth types sitting around a table eating rattlesnake sausages with forks and knives. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t at all interested in the rattlesnake or the alligator– […]

August is the month of sloth so we rolled into Wembley, north London for a laaazy Sunday brunch at Sakonis. Surrounded by shops selling everything South Asian from sarees and cricket bats to sweet Pakistani mangoes, this cheap and cheerful eatery is the perfect place for a South Indian vegetarian breakfast. Food is served all […]

Lamill Coffee in Silverlake, LA impressed me because it looked good. They package their coffee beans in tins (made in the USA) that are retro looking and all the staff wear matching t-shirts. Yes, call me superficial – but ever since leaving Tokyo, I have to admit I miss the art of presentation. The menu […]

No one loves oysters more than Umamimart. Ok, maybe that’s a presumptuous statement to make on the I N T E R N E T, but I really really really love the bivalve, and most of my colleagues here do too. It’s my favorite food, and it will most definitely be at my L’ultima Cena. […]