February 22, 2011
Bali was our first destination on our honeymoon tour. It is where I was promised we could recover, read and sloth out! After the crazy stress of moving continents (from Japan to Brazil), learning a new language, surviving the first year in my wife’s home country, and four-wedding marathon to boot, well, I deserved this. […]
January 19, 2011
Last week I wrote about the Hot Buttered Rum, and how it’s a winter drink for when you’re feeling festive (and when you’ve planned far enough ahead of time and made the essential spiced rum batter). Now that we’re nearing the dead of winter, you may be interested in something more simple– a drink that doesn’t require much advanced […]
December 7, 2010
Umamiventure #30 was indeed a memorable affair, and much more than what any of us expected. It was a night of Serious Coffee Schooling– from the bean picking process, to roasting, to tasting– all courtesy of Four Barrel Coffee in San Francisco. Since opening in 2008, Four Barrel has become a front runner in the […]
November 10, 2010
Update (Thurs. 11/11, 12pm PST): EVENT SOLD OUT!!! +++ Wow THIRTY Umamiventures, can you believe? Pretty damn awesome, considering the very first one was in 2007, on a trek out to Flushing, Queens for quite possibly the best dim sum in New York City. I’m living in the Bay Area now, and still organizing these […]
August 6, 2010
Lamill Coffee in Silverlake, LA impressed me because it looked good. They package their coffee beans in tins (made in the USA) that are retro looking and all the staff wear matching t-shirts. Yes, call me superficial – but ever since leaving Tokyo, I have to admit I miss the art of presentation. The menu […]
May 21, 2010
Who knew that the one and only Ferran Adrià had created a coffee “drink” for Lavazza? I definitely had no idea, since I’m so clueless. But of course Matt, my #1 informant for all-things-awesome, knew about this. Hooray for informants!
May 12, 2010
New York has always been a great city, but this week its greatness gets bumped up a notch, as the first annual Manhattan Cocktail Classic rolls into town, along with some of the country’s best and brightest mixological minds. Accurately described as “part fête, part conference, part cocktail party,” it will be a balls-to-the-wall 5-day orgy […]
April 22, 2010
Every time I would go to someone’s house in Tokyo, they would likely offer me sencha before I even settled onto my zabuton or chair. Sencha is made by steaming green tea leaves, shaped into thin rolls, dried and then pan-fried or fired to lock-in the flavor. Pretty common in the U.S. as well, most […]
February 3, 2010
After a 4-year, 4-month hiatus, I am back in Berkeley. Robotland (a.k.a. Tokyo) was good to me, but finding myself shuffled in line at the Berkeley Bowl between one of these, and Zack de la Rocha‘s doppelganger on a weekly basis has got me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. Not only is it great […]
November 17, 2009
I saw the coffee cup and stopped dead in my tracks. Best. Logo. Ever. The colors! The font! The way the logo takes up the entire length of the cup! It’s all very 1970’s punk rock meets Communist Russia. LOVIT. Pannikin is an awesome cafe in Encinitas, housed in an old train station. Their motto […]