Umami Mart

My mama came home with this box of hot, just-made takoyaki (octopus balls) the other day. I guess they were having an “Osaka Fair” at our neighborhood Mitsuwa, where there was a booth from this famous takoyaki joint in Osaka called Kukuru. When I looked at the box closer, I recognized the picture of the […]

My mama bought this special gift box of dorayaki at Mitsuwa the other day. I guess they were on sale for half-off ($9 instead of $18- Japanese gourmet snacks tend to be pricey); she’s so friggin’ shrewd! Dorayaki is a Japanese dessert of azuki (sweet red beans) sandwiched between two little pancakes. This special brand […]

The Swedish city of Malmö is just a stone´s throw away from Copenhagen. The theme of my three-week trip is “Countries I Have Never Been To.” So I was delighted by Anders´ suggestion to take a day-trip to Malmö where Copenhagenites take advantage of the cheaper prices offered in Sweden. The train ride across the […]

I had qualms about blogging the Homo Sausage. Was I really a near 30 year-old woman with the humor of a 7 year-old boy? Yes. Was Umami Mart too sophisticated for a juvenile post such as this? Yes. But then again, maybe not. I met Homo Sausage last week at my friend’s party. Someone had […]

Went up to Vermont last week for two nights to see my really dear friend Maria. She’s my oldest friend- I’ve known her for over 20 years. She’s an artist and musician who just moved to Brattleboro from California- and she’ll be touring Europe for the next month with a few other bands. She’s such […]

Ok, this might technically not belong on a food blog because it is a drink and it is not for human consumption. But I just had to make an exception for a product I saw at the local grocery store: Pet Sweat. The Japanese seem to condone the use of the word “sweat” for a […]

The Queen Vic Market is one of Melbourne’s main attractions and is the largest open air market in the Southern hemisphere. It was started in the 1850s when the British ruled this part of Australia and it’s the only surviving 19th century Market in downtown Melbourne. Also, I learned on Wikipedia that the roof of […]

Here’s something my mama sent me recently- three different kinds of salad dressing that come in these really cute, stout, hexagon-shaped glass bottles. No doubt they were on sale at Mitsuwa or something (Hideko is the craziest bargain shopper ever, and she also lives at Mitsuwa). The dressings are from Japan, from a brand called […]

There’s been much talk about butter in the press in the last few months: the NY Mag butter taste-testing, and the article that Emily (of Serious Eats) pointed out about Japan’s endangered butter supply. Also, there was my babbling manifesto on butter last year- the stuff means a lot to me. But, butter is also […]

I moved into a new office on 39th and 8th Ave — beautiful view right across the street from the new Renzo Piano New York Times building (which btw will house another Muji store on the ground level), crummy area, many new and old denizens loitering around in front of Port Authority, and after a […]