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September 19, 2012

The Ramen Shaman: Yokohama Ramen Nakamura-ya (Hakusan)

by Will VanderWyden

I first learned about ramen – real deal Japanese ramen that is – two years ago. Like many niche interests I stumbled upon it via the internet. There was just something about the heartiness of a bowl of ramen… and the fact that people obsessed over it piqued my interest. It felt like I discovered […]

August 24, 2012

The PDT Project: Aviation

by Payman Bahmani

The Aviation is one of the last great cocktails created before Prohibition, having been invented just a few years before the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment. It made its first appearance in print in 1916 in Recipes for Mixed Drinks by Hugo Ensslin, who bartended at the Hotel Wallick gin Times Square near 43rd and […]

August 22, 2012

UMAMI MART OPEN

by Kayoko Akabori

Photos by Erin Gleeson We did it! With the loving support from our friends, family, and community, Yoko and I have opened Umami Mart, a retail shop in Oakland, CA, specializing in kitchen + barware from Japan. The idea for starting a brick-and-mortar shop really derived from necessity. We had been running our online shop for […]

August 6, 2012

The Forest Feast: Watermelon Salad

by Erin Gleeson

Nothing says summer like watermelon! Slice watermelon into approx 1 inch rings, then remove the rind from each slice with a small knife. Place one watermelon “round” onto each salad plate, then top with a layer of thinly sliced fresh mozzarella (about five pieces, or however many you fancy!), followed by a layer of finely […]

June 26, 2012

MOTO Restaurant Review: Le Bernardin: Disagreeing with 4 Stars

by Moto Yamamoto

I recently became a permanent resident of this country, and to celebrate my newly acquired freedom, we went to Le Bernardin. Though I know a lot about food, I haven’t been to many top-notch restaurants because I end up bitching about its flaws. If you are paying $250 a person for a dining experience, don’t […]

December 9, 2011

Super Faminto: 2011 Best Burger: Butcher’s Market (São Paulo)

by Bryan Sanders

The world is full of burger places. There is one in almost every strip mall in America, and then there are the chains which are often the culprits or the scapegoats of many a country’s poor eating habits. Burgers stretch the gut, go well with less healthy things like milkshakes, chili fries, extra cheese, and […]

September 14, 2011

Skankynavia: Torvehallerne: A New Farmer’s Market in Copenhagen

by Anders Arhoj

Yay, there’s finally a real farmer’s market in Copenhagen! After decades of supermarket deathbore, a new race of DIY vendors, small farmers, honey harvesters and local produce hippies will show up in their home-built vans with truckloads of cheap, fresh, delicious and organic fruits of the earth, and deliver the goods our generation has been […]

September 12, 2011

ReCPY: Pasta de Ramen

by Moto Yamamoto

Ramen, as some of my fellow writers have observed, is totally taking over North America. People are obsessively eating, finding new shops, and eating more. New chains from Japan are opening like once a month here in New York City. Funny thing about ramen is it used to be really difficult to find recipes, but […]

August 24, 2011

Shochu Stop: Shochu vs. Soju

by Washi Washino

When customers visit Ippuku (where I work) and see the shochu collection, they invariably say, “Oh wow, look at the beautiful sake collection!” I’m tired of correcting them, but I have to, and I tell them that those bottles are not sake, they are shochu! And then, they think for a minute and say, “Oh, […]

August 4, 2011

Japanify: Yaki Onigiri (Grilled Rice Balls)

by Yoko Kumano

Despite being in the U.S. for nearly 30+ years, Japanese cuisine instantaneously conjures up the word “raw.” Sushi has proved itself the winner despite criticism ranging from “this is unsanitary,” to, “I am ingesting unsafe levels of mercury,” to, “This is just plain gross, slimy and/or stinky.” Japanese food and sushi have virtually become synonymous […]