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September 7, 2016
No Reservations and No-Frills Dining at STAND in Kyoto
Kyoto is a bit stuffy for my taste. Literally, it gets SO HOT in the summer, I can’t deal. Plus, it’s a bit dainty compared to the gruff streets of Tokyo and Osaka, which is more my style. Kyoto is where to go if you want a slice of old world Japan – with all its temples […]
August 30, 2016
Mikkeller Tasting Room Now Open in Oakland!
Oakland just got a little bit hipper (if that was at all possible) – we now have our very own Mikkeller bar! Opened in the former Trappist Provisions space, the tasting room and bottle shop is a charming ode to all things Mikkeller. Mikkeller launched as a beer brewery in Copenhagen in 2006. They are an innovative company […]
August 11, 2016
Read This Before You Go to Uji Time
If you love Japanese sweets and desserts, and live anywhere close to Berkeley, you should have Uji Time on your radar. Uji Time is a new Japanese dessert shop that opened in June in South Berkeley on Telegraph Avenue. Earlier this week, I decided to check it out. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite understand what I was getting […]
August 2, 2016
A Tokyo Travel Guide for Rock’n’Roll Junkies
Lily Chou and Chris Anderson are Berkeley-based photographers, major food enthusiasts, world travelers, and music junkies. They’ve been fixtures in the Bay Area and Chicago punk and garage scene for years, which means they’ve got tons of musician friends, not only locally, but all over the world. Recently, the couple decided to combine all their passions into one project – […]
July 20, 2016
Umami Mart Is Hiring! Part Shopkeeper Wanted
We are growing our team and calling out to those interested in working with us at Umami Mart. We’re currently looking for a part-time shopkeeper. Read on for details.
June 16, 2016
The Umami Mart Bottle System Now Online!
It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for… drum roll please… our Japanese beers and sakes are officially online! This is a project we’ve been working on here at UMHQ for the last few months and we can’t wait to share this with you. Remember when we opened the Bottle System at Umami Mart in […]
June 15, 2016
Sake Gumi News: Sakqueso! (June 2016)
June sakes ship today for Sake Gumi, our monthly sake subscription club. If you like what’s on deck here, you should join! There’s a little known secret outside the sake world: Sake + Cheese = Harmony. Before formulating the theme for Sake Gumi this month, I was fortunate enough to talk to all four of the brewers […]
June 13, 2016
Exquisite Gems from the Sea at Ginpachi Sushi (Niigata)
One of the great joys of importing barware from Japan is that we not only make annual visits to the factories in Niigata but we also get to stop into Ginpachi, a local sushi-ya in Sanjo City. Yoko and I now know that Ginpachi is closed on Mondays – one year we visited Niigata on a Monday […]