I recently had a dream assignment for Edible San Francisco Magazine in which I followed one ingredient literally from farm to table in a single afternoon! I took a gorgeous drive up the coast to Bolinas, CA, where I met Annabelle Lenderink,...
Based in Brooklyn, NY, Kelly Geary is the founder and chef for Sweet Deliverance, a thriving subscription program where she prepares healthy, delicious home-cooked meals out of her CSA shares. All with fresh and organic produce, she charts out each...
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...
Since May, our beloved Ippuku of Berkeley has been serving teuchi (handmade) soba. Owner-chef Christian Geidemann recruited Koichi Ishii from Yamagata, a prefecture well-known for soba, to come and cook at Ippuku and start a soba program right here in the East Bay. We...
Our great friend (and twice-Umami Mart writer) Lizzy Boelter is popping up at Umami Mart with her mobile kitchen Grease Box this Friday. Lizzy makes super rad soul food of her native Louisiana, all gluten-free! And lucky for us, Lizzy does not...
Did you know that a bee's lifespan is based on the distance it has flown? One bee lives to fly about a total of 500 miles. This is just one of the many things we learned from Betsy and Miguel of
In the spirit of getting back into writing and sharing my thoughts more often on Umami Mart, I want to tell you the story of how Johnny and I met. It was the summer of 2011. I had been going on dates throughout the year,...
I had a lot of fun shooting recently with Chef Brad Farmerie (of Public in NYC) for his new restaurant in Napa called The Thomas. There has been a lot of buzz over the building itself, which has a prime location...
Umamiventures are BACK! The last field trip was at the TCHO factory back in March 2011, remember? Wow, it has been WAY TOO LONG. For years I have been trying to organize an event with a honey producer, and the...
As you may have heard, there's a highly anticipated ramen shop coming to Oakland. Our good friends Sam, Rayneil and JJ are the masterminds behind Ramen Shop (that's right!), opening in Rockridge. The opening is still a few months away,...
That's right, we be grillin' balls this Friday! Our good friends Koichi, Ryoji and Steven of YATAIYA will be making yaki-onigiri (grilled rice balls), and serving them alongside some house-made tsukemono (pickles). They are irresistible, smoky flavor-bombs! If we're lucky, they'll have other...
I spent my summer of 2012 in California, my favourite place in the world -- after my couch (ok, maybe Japan comes in as a close second). It was a pure blast, from the moment I landed, designed and help build out the Umami...
That's right, we're hosting a FREE sake tasting at the shop this Thursday. If you've ever wanted to learn the differences between a nama, junmai, and ginjo, now is your chance! WHAT: We'll be serving various types of sake at different...
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...
Photos by Erin Gleeson After weeks of painting, building, going to Home Depot five times a day (ugh), sleepless nights, banh mis for breakfast/lunch/dinner, pestering our friends and families (are you done with that project yet? Can you cut wood for...
Photos by Erin Gleeson Please excuse my great delay in writing this post -- I have not had a chance to write much but I have been thinking about you all and have lots to talk about. Back in June, Umami Mart helped host...
ARE YOU READY FOR THIS??? Umami Mart's big grand opening is tomorrow night! The doors will officially open at 6pm sharp, and we'll be having a special kagamiwari ceremony at 6:30pm, which is a tradition of breaking open a cask of sake. It symbolizes the...
Hello! Sorry I haven't been blogging much, but I wanted to update you on how the shop is coming along. Our big opening day will be next Friday 8/3! Waaaaa! We're slaving away here every day and have put everyone we know to work. Ha!...
I love this time of the year when farmers markets set up during the evenings downtown. There’s nothing better at the end of the day than a stroll through the market, basket in hand, the smell of fresh...
After all this talk of fancy dining, 4-star service, Le Bernardin and the lack thereof, I'm bringing it all back to what we're all about: SOUL. Umami Mart is all about love and sharing and laughter and how food plays a great role in...
