Umami Mart

Chilled ikura and uni chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) at Sushi Kuni restaurant. *Photo by Johnny Lopes 

Uzuzukuri is one of my favorite preprations of sashimi. Kuni (my dad) would make this for very special occasions growing up, usually New Year’s Day or Thanksgiving. It is so gorgeous that you almost feel bad eating it. But not that bad. The word usuzukuri derives from 薄い (usui, or thin), meaning fish that is sliced thinly. […]

In the spring of 2012 I suddenly felt the urge to not spend a depressing summer in Copenhagen. Previous years had been a mixed pleasure of monsoon rain, heavy floods, grey skies and Antarctica beach temperatures. I seriously needed a shot of California. Coincidentally the ever food-obsessed Umami Mart team decided to open a shop […]

Do you guys all know my pops? His name is Kunio, and he is a sushi chef. Classically trained as a tempura chef, he was offered to transfer to Los Angeles where Inagiku, the Tokyo restaurant he worked at, was opening a location in the iconic Bonaventure Hotel. So, the Akaboris all ended up in […]

For some reason, anago (saltwater eel) is not so popular in the States- its freshwater sister, Unagi (freshwater eel) just took the limelight and ran with it. Perhaps it’s because anago is not as buttery, I’m not sure… poor anago, it’s the underdog eel. But I’m telling you folks, anago is BETTER! It’s just delicious […]

I made it to Cupertino to meet the Kakaboris. I was with my mother, and on our way to Half Moon Bay, we stopped by there. It was about an hour drive from San Francisco. We rented a huge ass Chevrolet minivan, which was like, “who the hell drives this kind of monstrous gas guzzler […]

Whenever I visit my hometown, Cupertino, CA (home of the beloved Macintosh computer), the first thing that I do, before I even go home, is stop off at Sushi Kuni Restaurant. In my five years in NY, I haven’t found a place that compares to the comfort, the authenticity (I hate to say that word, […]