Umami Mart

  This past Sunday I had rare the opportunity–via my cocktail consulting and event company, Life’s a Cocktail–to use the power of mixology to help the forces of good, serving up cocktails in the name of marriage equality as a vendor in the first ever Illegal Wedding Fair.  The event was held in an amazing West Village townhouse called […]

I’ve been dying to visit the San Pedro Fish Market since Sara wrote about it a few years back. It’s the perfect summertime Umamiventure! Although it’s always summer in LA, isn’t it? Sigh. Since I’ll be in LA this week, let’s all get together and gorge on fresh oysters and crab and shrimp and drink […]

The New York City cocktail landscape is an everchanging one.  The proliferation of watering holes devoted to the craft of the cocktail doesn’t seem to be slowing down one bit, something I’m quite thankful for.  Just in the last month bars like Painkiller (tiki meets 70s NY punk), Cienfuegos (specializing in rum based punches), Casa Mezcal […]

Last night NYC said goodbye to the Manhattan Cocktail Classic, a five day festival of all things related to the craft of the cocktail, and the first of its kind to bless our city.  The  cocktail world had been buzzing in anticipation about this for quite some time, and now that it’s over a few of […]

One of the most highly anticipated events at Japan Society is happening next Wednesday. This year’s Japan Society Sake Tasting features 12 brewers from Japan and 34 different types of sake. Think about it, for a mere $35, you can drink 17 ounces of sake (34 x 0.5oz.), which is just about a bottle of […]

For those who are itching to go to Japan but can’t afford the trip or don’t have the patience for that 14-hour flight,  Japan Society is offering the next best thing: j-CATION!  It’s a 12 hour mini experience of Japan and Japanese culture without leaving NYC.  From  game show-style contests, music, film, and a variety […]

Dear SFers, Yoko (Tokyo JUNKtion), CJ (Tap This) and I (UM Event Planner) will be at Magnolia Pub on Monday at 7pm to celebrate the relaunch over beers. But not just any beers. We’re talking STRONG BEERS. That’s right, it’s that time of year again in San Francisco: STRONG BEER MONTH. We went last year […]

I’ve been putting together quite a few programs on food this season, and another GREAT one is coming up. Gramercy Tavern executive chef Mike Anthony, as well as Park Avenue Winter Craig Koketsu will be speaking about Japanese ingredients on Tuesday February 2. They are some of the hottest chefs (dot dot dot) in New […]

I am happy to announce that my exhibit at the James Beard House featuring 20 of my photos, is now up through the end of February. The James Beard Foundation is a non-profit culinary organization based in NYC, which resides inside the late James Beard’s Greenwich Village brownstone. I have had the honor to photograph […]

I plan on going to this event on Dec. 15. It’s only $10! Plus the proceeds go to Just Food, an organization I love. Hungry Filmmakers EventTuesday, Dec 15 7:00pat Jimmy’s No. 4343 E. 7th Street, NYC Hungry Filmmakers is a film screening event featuring the efforts of food-conscious filmmakers. On December 15, excerpts of […]