Author Archives: Kayoko Akabori


June 9, 2008

Cocktail Cooldown at Hotel del Mano (NYC)

by Kayoko Akabori

When work life gets really hectic, you often forget about the one thing that you really should be taking care of more: yourself. This weekend I shut down, and had some much-needed alone time- somehow, I managed not to even think about work. Instead, I took a nap or two and started reading Siddartha (I […]

June 7, 2008

The Umami Reader, vol. 021: Breakfast, Donuts and Lobster Nikes

by Kayoko Akabori

Mining the i n t e r n e t for stuff worth reading: Lobster Nikes- ridiculous awesomeness (Adam for Serious Eats) Make your own seasoned salts with garden herbs (Bitten) Fiddlehead ferns, and more, at Dan Barber’s Blue Hill in NYC (Zach for Serious Eats) Hokkaido’s black watermelon, Densuke, sold for $6000 (via Kottke, […]

June 5, 2008

Branching Out at Afghani House (SJ)

by Kayoko Akabori

On the subject of south asian/central asian/middle eastern cuisine, Tmonkey’s Nice & Spicey post reminded me that for the first time ever, I had Afghani food a few weeks ago in San Jose (Sunnyvale, if you want to be specific). I had never thought to check out this mysterious little place called Afghani House- which […]

June 2, 2008

UM Recession: Just Don’t Eat

by Kayoko Akabori

Here’s something I saw in my subway stop over the weekend- “Slim Shots”, liquid appetite controllers that look more like little containers of half & half. Let’s call them appetite control creamers. Fucking gross!!! Their tagline is “Eat up to 30% less everyday without feeling hungry”. Perfect during our declining economy- I mean, who can […]

May 31, 2008

The Umami Reader, vol.020: Bacon, Biofuels, and Beer in Space

by Kayoko Akabori

Mining the i n t e r n e t for stuff worth reading (lots this week!): “Laptop Lunches”: Bento boxes American style (via Tmonkey, Flickr) The Dunkin’ Donuts Rachel Ray Backlash: a pulled ad over a terrorist scarf. You KNOW that stylist was fired in a heartbeat. Insightful quote by my girl Jeni: “The […]

May 29, 2008

umamichatter: Disabled

by Kayoko Akabori

Kinda going through a hectic time at my day job at the moment, and have been avoiding IM like the plague. Forget about talking about last night’s dinner- it’s so sad. So I’m disabling umamichatter until things lighten up a bit. Check out what I’m working on instead of chatting– it’s gonna be awesome! Hope […]

Umamiventure #10: Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden

by Kayoko Akabori

Despite the rainy, chilly weather, quite a few people came out for our monthly food field trip, this time to the infamous Czech beer hall, Bohemian, in Astoria, Queens. Such troopers! On top of the miserable weather, I think all of us had been stuck on the N train, or waiting for the N train, […]

May 28, 2008

Chocolate Enlightenment

by Kayoko Akabori

I’ve never been much of a chocolate person- or really a sweets person in general. But lately, I’m exploring the vast world of chocolate. Did you ever read the New Yorker Buford article about cacao farming in the rainforests of Brazil? Pretty fascinating. Wandering through any gourmet market these days you’ll find rows and rows […]

May 26, 2008

Chino’s for a Burrito in the Outer Richmond (SF)

by Kayoko Akabori

They say that NY is the dining capital of the world- but what is the glory of that if you can’t even find decent burrito here? Mexican food in NY is so pathetic it makes me want to cry. So when in San Francisco, you must get your burrito on whenever you possibly can- yes, […]

May 25, 2008

Cafe Sabarsky: Old Vienna with an Old Friend

by Kayoko Akabori

One of my oldest friends in NY, Kanitra aka kanshefle aka W(h)ine-o, is leaving for Austin today. She got a full ride to study Latin American Art History at UT, and so after 10 years in the city, she’s saying goodbye. She’s leaving me! Kanitra and I met in the summer of 2003, in a […]