Umami Mart

– Fast food chains will release one-off products in other countries that we’ll never see on menus in the States. The Shrimp Fireo at McDonald’s in Japan, the Bulgogi Whopper at Burger King in Korea, the Dry Pork and Seaweed Donut at Dunkin’ Donuts in China, the Shoarma Pizza at Pizza Hut in the Netherlands – we will never taste these bizarro […]

We are excited to announce a special morning event with our great friends Maya Shiroyama of Kitazawa Seed Co., and Kristyn Leach of Namu Farm. Two years ago, we hosted an event on planting + garden caretaking with Kristyn; remember that? It was a mind-blowing, super-educational event with a great turnout — and we’ve received […]

It’s been forever since we’ve organized an Umamiventure in its purely old-school, meet-up spirit. Remember, when I would randomly announce an event, a little bit out of the neighborhood, and we would meet up at said location no matter how long it took to get there? Well, this is the event! Kristyn Leach, managing farmer […]

If any of you are lucky enough to have a friend who is a farmer in Northern California, you know what I mean when I say that they are the rockstars around these parts — the Beyoncé’s of the food game. Meet my friend Kristyn as she holds a Mexican gherkin, a tiny cucumber berry […]

For each quarterly issue of Edible San Francisco magazine this year, I am doing a “farm to table, in one afternoon” story to show the origins of a dish served at a San Francisco restaurant. For the last issue I visited Annabelle’s farm in Bolinas, and in the current issue I traced an ingredient for Namu Gaji, a […]

On a lovely spring day, we hosted an event focused on seed season and gardening. One of our most popular items at Umami Mart are the Asian vegetable and fruit seeds by the Kitazawa Seed Company — so we knew that many people in our community would be interested in a gardening event. The talk […]

Kitazawa Seed Company will be unable to join our event this Saturday. But Kristyn Leach of Namu Farm will be here to talk about planting, and garden upkeep. Please join us! Spring is rapidly approaching, and that means seed season! What would you like to plant this year? How will you best maintain your plants? […]