Every year, right before Matsuri, I freak out. For about a week, I worry that no one will show up. This year was no different, and posed the biggest question: what if no one knows we've moved??? What a tragedy it would be if we opened...
We had our very first Sake Gumi Social at Umami Mart last week and it was a blast. Over 40 of our members showed up to taste June's Sake Gumi bottles with us – plus an extra special bottle. This month's theme, sakes...
The Umami Mart Sake Dinner this year happened on April 1st. There were many firsts for this event – in past years, our annual sake dinners were held at Camino, which bade us farewell last year. We needed to find a...
A few weeks ago, author Anders Arhoj was here all the way from Copenhagen, signing copies of his new children's book, Catch Me!. We were so happy to see lots of people come out to meet him. At one point,...
Hinamatsuri is one of our favorite events of the year – and we are so happy that the turnout gets better every time we do it. We celebrated a little earlier than usual this year, but both Yoko's and my mom came out, which made this...
It's hard to believe we've been putting on Japan Beer Fest (JBF) with The Trappist for six years now – and even harder to imagine that this year was the...
The idea to pop up in Chicago stemmed from a shower thought Kayoko had in early 2018. I got a text message from Kayoko that said "Let's do something in Chicago!" This is how things come into fruition at Umami Mart...
As a follow-up to our Sakqueso! event over the summer, we partnered with Ramen Shop yet again for Shochu Happy Hour, a few weeks ago. We had a nice crowd of shochu novices and enthusiasts come out and had a great time talking to folks about shochu, Japan's distilled beverage!...
After six years of presenting Matsuri each year, I can confidently say that we know how to throw a good party. Every year, the party gets bigger and stronger. People show up earlier and stay longer. For all of us at Umami Mart, we...
Earlier this week, we held our 3rd Annual Sake Dinner with Camino. With two dinner under our belts, Camino's Allison and Russ, Kayoko, and I consider this dinner a tradition. The thing that stood out for me the most this year was...
Hinamatsuri at Umami Mart has become one of our favorite events of the year – it is a joyous opportunity to come together with our friends and community to celebrate Girl's Day! It's so meaningful to see young women come year after year – all a bit older,...
Our location in Old Oakland has given us the opportunity to have the best parties with our neighbors, The Trappist. For five years, we have collaborated with them to bring you Japan Beer Fest. It's an annual event during SF Beer Week that...
We were so honored to host our friend Shanna Farrell last weekend for a talk and signing, celebrating the release of her new book, Bay Area Cocktails: A History of Culture, Community and Craft. Writer and oral historian at U.C. Berkeley, Shanna moved to California from NYC a few years...
One of the best parts of being in Sake Gumi is attending our Sake Gumi Social events. We host tastings, dinners, and tours centering around sake education and drinking. To tie in with the past couple months of Sake Gumi (last month, the theme...
I always get nervous before an event because I want it to be the best that it can be. Last week's 2nd Annual Sake Dinner at Camino restaurant was no exception. I tossed and turned all night, imagining how the...
Yoko and Kayoko took part in Sunset magazine's event celebrating the release of "Succulents" by Robin Stockwell with sake selections from Sake Gumi.
Check out what happened at our annual Hinamatsuri, girl's day celebration, at Umami Mart. We served amazake, snacks, and brought out our hinasama dolls.
See photos of our party celebrating our Japanify All Day cookbook zine, including winners of our Japanify Golden Ticket contest!
Our zine release party happened at North Oakland restaurant, The Kebabery. We had kebabs, sake, beer, and fun times! Check out the photos from the event.
We took over the taps at The Trappist, filling them with Japanese beers. Also, Aburaya Japanese fried chicken + Team Print Shop screen printing shirts.
