Affinity: a liking for or an attraction to something. I discovered this long-lost cocktail one cold October day, thanks to my friend and barman Maxwell Britten during his tenure manning Freeman’s backroom bar in New York City. The leaves were swirling...
Yuzu citrus is one of the most important ingredients in Japanese cooking. The juice of the yuzu is prized both for its citrusy flavor and elegant. The skin is often used as a garnish for chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) or osuimono (clear dashi soup). Lately, upscale...
The early 90s... I was distancing myself from my Sandylion stickers while making multiple trips to the Wherehouse to make sure that I got tickets to see Radiohead at the Edge in Palo Alto. It was a confusing time, but it shaped me. Foodwise,...
After my visit to Sri Lanka earlier this year to see my parents, we stopped off in Kuala Lumpur to meet up with my sister's family for a few days of shopping and serious eating. The last time I was in KL, I was...
I may have missed the recent LA Ramen Yokocho Fest due to an unavoidable trip to Ohio, but I lucked out into finding out about Mitsuwa Market's Hokkaido Festival in Torrance. It was this past weekend and the next best thing to actually being in...
*Jackie Toshi Hashimoto is a graphic designer and native Tokyoite who recently moved to Long Beach for a year. He enjoys hanging...
INGREDIENTS 1 pound Manila clams (I used fresh ones from the Farmer's Market) 1/4 yellow onion, diced small 2 Santa Fe peppers or jalepenos, de-seeded, diced small 2 stalks of lemongrass, cut bottom part off, diced small 1 cup white wine...
By Marta Bernal Valencia Last year I decided it was time for me to reinvent myself. It sounds daunting, but if you settle on some goals, it’s a vibrant experience! I lived in Madrid for the last seven years, working in the sales department of...
Last month, MOTO made a surprise appearance for our one-year anniversary party. With not one hair out of place, he casually sauntered into our shop and helped us dress into our summer kimnonos. On his last day in California, we had dinner at...
Japan has a wonderful fall tradition known as otsukimi (お月見) or Moon Festival, which celebrates both the moon and promise of a good harvest for the year. Besides otsukimi, it's also called chushu no meigetu or jyugoya. The custom is believed to have originated in China. In...
“I hate Tokyo.” S’s face was perfectly serious. “Sapporo is so much better -- less people, nice weather, great seafood, lots of snow… and Tokyo sucks during the summer.” I’ll never hate Tokyo but you can’t argue with a Sapporo boy on that last point....
When it comes to waiting for food, New York is turning into Japan. The Cronut for example, a pastry mashup of croissant + donut created at the Dominique Ansel Bakery, is apparently so good that people line up at 6am to score the precious...
Mytilus edulis, also known as the common mussel, is a medium-sized edible “marine bivalve mollusc” in the family Mytilidae, or simply, mussels. I sure most of you have had Moules-frites when in France, but the dish is actually from Belgium, and dates back as far as...
UPDATE: A SECOND CLASS HAS BEEN ADDED! Wednesday 9/25 at 7:30pm. This will be the same class as the one on Monday. Get your tix here! We are extremely excited to co-host an event with Oaktown Spice Shop. All about...
Umami Mart's Oakland HQ turned one year old this last month. What a wonderful year it's been! To celebrate (as we do), we threw a big matsuri (festival) in the street -- Broadway hasn't seen anything like this! We gathered many of our food-tastic...
This was one for the ages. Jiro is legendary. It’s spawned a slew of imitators, one of which crossed an ocean. Many think it’s an entity unto itself, like tsukemen, rather than a type of ramen. I’ve known about Jiro since the very beginning...
I've been really lazy about cooking these past few weeks. I don't know if it's because we are (finally) experiencing summer here in Oakland, or if I'm feeling unmotivated in the kitchen. It's probably a little bit of both. But eating out...
While Jonathan and I were visiting the east coast for a wedding last week, we snuck away for a couple of nights to his family's house in Vermont. New England is absolutely gorgeous this time of year. Blueberry-picking is a popular activity here during...
Fact: A gin and tonic is the quintessential summer cocktail. My grandmother Margaret knew this and would serve the iconic drink from a gallon handle of Gordon’s gin topping it off with a lime and Schweppes tonic water. She made the switch...
It's been such a nice summer here in Denmark for a change. After literally 6 months of cold, dark and snowy weather it was finally time for the sun to return to the land of vikings and LEGO. It's bright from 4 in the morning until...
