Event Recap
November 13, 2013
Event Recap: Umami in Spice with Oaktown Spice Shop
U M A M I: What is it? What does it taste like? Is it Japanese cartoon character? We get a lot of inquiries about the definition and concepts of umami at our Oakland shop, so we decided to team up with John over at Oaktown Spice Shop to host an event called “Umami in Spice”, […]
September 9, 2013
Event Recap: First Annual Umami Matsuri
Umami Mart’s Oakland HQ turned one year old this last month. What a wonderful year it’s been! To celebrate (as we do), we threw a big matsuri (festival) in the street — Broadway hasn’t seen anything like this! We gathered many of our food-tastic friends from San Francisco and Oakland to help make our one-year […]
July 25, 2013
Event Recap: Shochu Tasting @ 18 Reasons (SF)
From the refreshing mugi (barley) varieties to musty imo (sweet potato) that demand your full attention, shochus are always the choice of drink for me. I fell in love with shochu while I lived in Tokyo. From oolong-hai‘s to oyuwari imo (sweet potato shochu with hot water), there are many ways to enjoy shochu. Kayoko and I […]
July 19, 2013
Event Recap: U-MART Unveiling + Opening Party
Umami Mart is a place where ideas and people come together, take charge and create magic. This is true for the blog, the online shop, and our brick-and-mortar space in Oakland, CA. When writers, friends, friends of friends, customers, food + drink enthusiasts, and industry folks come to us to collaborate, we put all of our […]
June 13, 2013
Umamiventure #34: Umeshu Class with Peko Peko
We learned, we drank and we ate all things ume during our Umeshu Class last Sunday. During the two-hour session, we learned about the history of ume and umeshu, how to make it and ate an array of dishes that highlighted ume. Along side sips of umeshu, of course. Ume, or Japanese plum, originated from China and […]
May 24, 2013
Event Recap: Seed Season: Planting + Garden Caretaking
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 […]
May 13, 2013
Event Recap: Lease-Signing Party
Photos by Josh Urich, The Joy of Drinking We did it! We signed a lease! After six months of free rent with Popuphood to see if we could “make it” in Old Oakland, we have proven to the world, and to ourselves, that the world is in need of a shop dedicated to Japanese bar […]
April 5, 2013
Event Recap: First Annual Hinamatsuri
How often do you see babies on the front page of Umami Mart??? Well, it was bound to happen at some point. Look at her, she’s adorbz! It is quite rare for either Yoko or myself to show our true girly colors, but we could not resist the urge to celebrate WOMEN at our first ever […]
March 7, 2013
Event Recap: Aya Brackett Photography Show Opening
We had a fun, bustling opening last month for our friend Aya Brackett‘s photography show opening. Titled Home is Oakland, Home is Japan, 12 of Aya’s photos are on exhibit on the back walls and nook of Umami Mart. Professionally, Aya’s food photography has been published in The New York Times, Monocle and Bon Appetit — for this show, Aya has […]
February 7, 2013
Event Recap: Quick-Pickles with Kelly Geary
With winter roots and wild mushrooms in abundance, January was a perfect time to invite Kelly Geary to Umami Mart for a Quick-Pickling and Canning event. Author of a the book Tart and Sweet: 101 Canning and Pickling Recipes for the Modern Kitchen, Kelly was visiting California from Brooklyn to showcase her Sweet Deliverance jams, […]