Mr. Shuzo Nagumo is a mad scientist behind the bar. With a twinkle in his eye and a firm stance when shaking, he has started a cocktail revolution in Tokyo that is a great departure from the cocktail bars we've become used to in Japan. That is:...
There is a renaissance of sorts happening in Seattle and cocktail culture will not be left behind! Here are four bars we visited and would highly recommend.
The Lexus of ramen noodle machines used at Ramen Shop in Rockridge, Oakland.
As you may know, Google does not work in China. Savvy travelers would know to install a VPN service on their phones before taking off into China. We were not savvy. So I guess we got the REAL Chinese experience: Page not...
Growing up, I would visit Japan about once every two years or so. It would always be to see our extended family, who all lived in the Tokyo area....
When we mentioned to Mr. Akio Watanabe, owner of Bar EST! in Tokyo that we were heading to Niigata, he recommended that we visit Bar Owl. It was one of those things that we told him we would do but Yoko and I didn't actually...
The name Caesarean derives from all things related to Caesar, the Roman general whose actions led to the rise of the Roman Empire. It does not derive from the caesarean section, which might have been more fitting, given that entering the bar felt like entering...
Looking back on our trip to Japan in February, the most memorable cocktail was at Bar EST!. A short distance from the Yushima train station in Tokyo, EST! is a dark, tavernous space filled with men drinking a scotch on the rocks and smoking cigarettes.
We met the gracious Masako Ikegami in 2010, before we opened our shop in Oakland, at the Tokyo-SF Bartender Salon we helped host at Prizefighter. A few bartenders from Japan who had won the coveted Suntory Cocktail Award, presented cocktails and exchanged tricks of...
Yoko and I first met bartender Tomokazu Kai in 2010, when we helped present an event with Suntory Whisky called the Tokyo-SF Bartender Salon. The event was held at Prizefighter bar in Emeryville and was meant to bring bartenders from Japan and the Bay...
Male bartenders in Japan are full of themselves. There, I said it. From the few "star" bars we visited during our trip to Tokyo, I felt miffed by the arrogance and general unfriendliness of the bartenders. What is up with that? Where...
A few months ago, I designed a ceramic mug shaped like a monkey's head, for rum-based cocktails... and no, it wasn't for selling in stores. I don't think it would be very consumer-friendly. Yet it had a purpose -- the only tiki bar in Copenhagen, Brass...
A bar is a playground for grown-ups. A place where you can meet new playmates, taste the sweet nectar of intoxicating juices, take time off to enjoy life with your closest of pals, and on occasion enjoy the chance of entangling your reproduction organs in...
