San Francisco Bay Area


August 26, 2011

Edible Schoolyard Lunch

by Yoko Kumano

Maiden Lane in San Francisco on Wednesday at 12:30 was swarming with people chowing down on really affordable organic lunch boxes. The event was sponsored by the Edible Schoolyard and Levi’s and went something like this: get in line, grab a lunch for a suggested donation of $5, eat at long farm tables, maybe buy […]

August 12, 2011

Orenchi Ramen (Santa Clara)

by Kayoko Akabori

The Bay Area is a big sprawling wasteland of awesome food, that rivals Los Angeles in its expansiveness. Sadly however, up in the hyped-up food scene of San Francisco (“the city”), no one really talks about the South Bay. San Jose is a bad bad word. It’s a shame, cause just a 45 minute drive […]

July 6, 2011

SF Cocktail Crawl with Paystyle

by Kayoko Akabori

The one and only Paystyle rolled into town a couple of weeks ago. Although he would be fully booked with personal engagements, I knew exactly how to get him to pencil me in. A few days before he was scheduled to land at SFO, I texted him, “Should we go on a SF cocktail crawl […]

June 21, 2011

Bun Thit Nuong at Pho Ao Sen (OAK)

by Kayoko Akabori

People often ask me, “Why did you leave NYC?” It’s true, I just sorta packed my bags and ditched my glamorous job, my wonderful friends, my comfortable routine, and the GREATEST! CITY! IN! THE! WORLD! (at least the greatest metro system in the world). All for what? I’ll tell you what. The Three Major Food […]

June 7, 2011

JapaCurry: Katsu Curry from a Truck (SF)

by Kayoko Akabori

I’ve been pretty sickly lately. Two weeks ago I caught some awful stomach flu (or food poisoning? whatever) and as I laid in my bed for 72 hours in a sweat pool of misery, starving but unable to keep anything down (nay liquids, tmi), all I truly desired was a bite of… katsu curry. This […]

May 18, 2011

Skankynavia: In the US (Part 1)

by Anders Arhoj

I want to talk about the US, particularly about its food. USA–my god, such a vast, vast country–so much space, so many people it’s almost hard to fathom. Especially for someone who lives in a tiny country of five million where everyone who’s anything knows each other and where you can never go Sunday grocery […]

May 13, 2011

Custom-Made Noodles at Ken Ken Ramen (SF)

by Kayoko Akabori

Recently, I had a ramen epiphany in San Francisco. It was at Ken Ken Ramen, a tiny operation that pops up in the Mission every Thursday and Sunday, at The Corner (a coffee shop/ restaurant space). Robert Patterson, who grew up in Japan, no longer wanted to travel all the way to San Mateo (or […]

April 27, 2011

Tap This: Stag Dining’s Brewmasters Dinner with Magnolia (SF)

by CJ Mattiola

If you are not convinced that beer pairings work with upscale dining, this post may change your mind. Recently I attended an amazing event put on by Stag Dining Group who partnered with Magnolia Brewery to create The Brewmasters Dinner. Stag Dining Group puts on communal dinners while partnering with vineyards, hunters, musicians–this time they […]

April 12, 2011

The Gift of Food Benefit (SF): THANK YOU!

by Kayoko Akabori

Photos by Travis LoDolce and Wataru Umeda. For an entire week after the Sendai earthquake and tsunami first hit, I was wrapped in an incurable, numbing daze. I would wake up with a pang in the pit of my stomach from the night before–I felt nauseous. Helpless. Hopeless. Thousands of people pronounced dead; even more […]

March 31, 2011

Last Night to Drink for Japan at Camino (OAK)

by Kayoko Akabori

Are ya’ll sick of hearing about fundraisers for Japan yet? Well, get over it–Japan needs us right now and we absolutely must do what we can to support it. You don’t hear me get all up on my soapbox very often, but for this, Umamimart must. And it doesn’t get easier than SIPPIN’ ON A […]