Umami Mart

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”, […]

San Francisco, we have arrived! Umami Mart opened inside The Perish Trust last Friday November 1 and we’ll be here through the holidays. This is truly a dream for us — to share our wares with the big City by the Bay! Our friends Kelly and Rod, owners of The Perish Trust, came to us with […]

We have some very exciting news: Umami Mart will be popping up in San Francisco for the holidays! Our friend Kelly Ishikawa and Rod Hipskind, owners of The Perish Trust, came to us a couple of months ago with a proposal to pop-up in the back of their shop. Yoko and I couldn’t believe the […]

An annual treat. HOUSE OF PRIME RIB 1906 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94109 T: 415.885.4605

I had so much fun illustrating this map of all the farmers markets in Silicon Valley for the current issue of Edible Silicon Valley magazine. My local market is the Mountain Goat/4 corners (see it? Click here for a bigger image of the map). There is also an article about Maggie, the woman who spearheaded that market, […]

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 […]

Whenever I go to Sushi Kuni alone for lunch, I always sit at the sushi counter in front of Kuni. It’s usually packed with Apple employees and the staff are usually all running around like a bunch of crazed chickens — so even if I really want to indulge in some nigiri sushi or makimono, […]

Shochu tends to be the drink of choice around here on Umami Mart, but we know that it’s still pretty unfamiliar terrain. Yoko and I firmly believe that there is a place for shochu in the States, but it may take a while to get there. But we’re here to help educate and slowly open […]

Went to Hard Water the other night, Charles Phan’s newest eatery located along the scenic Embarcadero in San Francisco. It’s such a rarity to go out and join the HOT SF scene. But it must be done, once in a blue moon! The space was impressive, with a gorgeous marble U-shaped bar against a majestic […]

We are SUPER EXCITED to host a pop-up by Ippo Ramen this First Friday 4/5. Proprietor Steve Yee will be here starting at 6pm, ready to cook up some noodles to serve you his ramen. His simple menu consists of three choices: shoyu, miso and shio (salt) broths. He makes everything except the noodles by hand, […]