Umami Mart Gift Guide

Postcard from Luang Prabang: Breakfast Essentials

On an early morning off the main drag in Luang Prabang, Laos, Pasaneyom Coffee Shop is bustling with regulars. Pasaneyom offers the breakfast essentials: porridge, coffee and donuts. They keep a big vat of water going over the fire, and the coffee pots...

Postcard from Bangkok: Pad Thai Chef

By Johnny Lopes Khaosan Road, Bangkok; Backpacker Mecca. The street gets stupid busy at night between fellow travelers and merchant hustlers. You can buy everything from new suits to a ride to a local ping-pong show. As an amateur photo-journalist project, I went...

Ask Sushi Kuni

Ask Sushi Kuni: Usuzukuri

Uzuzukuri is one of my favorite preprations of sashimi. Kuni (my dad) would make this for very special occasions growing up, usually New Year's Day or Thanksgiving. It is so gorgeous that you almost feel bad eating it. But not that bad. The word...

Parisian Panini

By Johnny Lopes Being in Paris for the first time, I wanted to see the city life -- the real hustle and bustle. So what better place to witness this chaos than Les Halles? It was jammed with bars for your aperitifs and tabacs for your...

Parisian Weiner

By Johnny Lopes I recently stayed near Stade de France, a popular stadium located in Saint Denis, Paris, France. On arrival, there was a rugby match between Racing Métro 92 and the local favorite, Stade Français. Not really being into sports, I was more interested in the...