On an overcast morning high in the hills of the Priorat region in northern Spain, I found myself faced with a dilemma: I had to decide which shoots to prune from the gnarled arms of a 60-year-old Garnacha grape vine. It was mid-May, and ...

In 2008, British food writer Michael Booth embarked on a journey deep into the heart of Japanese food culture. The outcome of his three-month sojourn, a memoir titled “Sushi & Beyond,” follows Booth and his young family from Hokkaido to Kyushu as they seek ...

The latest trend in fine dining has nothing to do with molecular gastronomy or pan-Latin fusion: Sustainability is the new order of the day. At the influential World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in London last month, the organizers presented their first Sustainable Restaurant ...

For those new to sake, learning to distinguish the subtle nuances in the flavor of various brews can feel like a daunting task. When evaluating sake, professionals consider the balance of sweetness and acidity, the body and the finish, in addition to the drink’s ...

Dressed in a crisp white jacket, white shirt and black tie, bartender Gen Yamamoto looks as though he has just emerged from a casino in a James Bond film.

With an ephemeral canopy of pink sweeping Japan, the JT’s food writers know the perfect spots to dine with an eyeful of sakura (cherry blossom) — or just the right sake to sip as you picnic under the petals. Innsyoutei, Tokyo When it comes ...

On March 6, in a banquet room of the Hotel The Manhattan in Chiba a group of television camera crews surrounded American chef Jeff Ramsey as he carefully spooned a layer of black rice onto a slice of omelet. “The chef is using something ...

On my recent trip to Singapore, Japanese drinks seemed to follow me everywhere. At Jigger & Pony, a stylish new cocktail bar in an old part of Chinatown, the first thing I noticed was the selection of around 20 Suntory and Nikka whiskies that ...

Inside the visitors’ center at Chichibu Distillery, high in the hills of Saitama Prefecture, a hint of sawdust mingled with the aromas of vanilla, dried fruits and honey that filled the air.

As people across the globe toasted the New Year this month, Japan’s sake brewers had another reason to celebrate. The industry saw modest increases in sake sales, offering a glimmer of hope to producers who have watched consumption decline since the late 1970s. According ...

It’s official: Natural wines are entering mainstream consciousness in Japan. I know this not simply because sections devoted to organic, “bio” (biodynamic), or shizen-ha (natural) wines have become fixtures in many retail shops, or even because sales of natural wines have risen around the ...

The thermometer inside the brewing facility at Shimazaki Shuzo registered a chilly 8 degrees. Like everyone else who had signed up to take part in the final sake-making session of the Karasuyama Taiken (www.karasuyama-taiken.jp), I was dressed for work — in a thin white ...