Melinda Joe - The Japan Times

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Melinda Joe

Melinda Joe is an American journalist in Tokyo. A certified wine and sake professional, she writes about Japanese drinks in her Kanpai Culture column for The Japan Times and blogs at tokyodrinkingglass.blogspot.com.

For Melinda Joe's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE

May 13, 2017

Brut Wine Bar pop-up brings taste of Israel to Tokyo

On a cool afternoon in mid-April, Israeli chefs Yair Yosefi and Omer Ben-Gal, co-founders of Brut Wine Bar in Tel Aviv, examine a shipment of fresh silver-skinned sawara (Spanish mackerel) from Tottori Prefecture in a tiny kitchen on Cat Street — in the middle of Tokyo's bustling Harajuku neighborhood.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE

Apr 8, 2017

Japanese sake startup finds way to float in sinking industry

Entrepreneur Nao Kohara sits at a table in his favorite neighborhood bar, checking emails on his laptop computer and sipping a glass of sake.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS

Mar 11, 2017

Restaurateur Danny Meyer: ‘Hospitality is a dialog; service is a monologue’

American restaurateur on tipping and the rise of fast-dining establishments.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE

Mar 10, 2017

Hidehiko Ishizuka takes his love of sake on tour in streaming TV series

Gourmandizing television personality Hidehiko Ishizuka has a famously large appetite. Apparently, the portly comedian also has a taste for Japanese sake. On a clear February afternoon in the sake-producing region of Fushimi, just south of Kyoto, a camera crew forms a tight circle around Ishizuka as he samples a glass of sake in the tasting room of Matsumoto Shuzo, a historical brewery and designated heritage site.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Mar 3, 2017

Japan's culinary professionals rank high at Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards

On the evening of Feb. 21, chefs from nine of Japan's top restaurants ascended the stage to receive honors at the fifth Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in Bangkok.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE

Feb 10, 2017

Sake sommelier unlocks the fun of 'nihonshu' for visitors from abroad

Every week, sake sommelier Satoko Utsugi leads groups of overseas visitors past the Fukagawa Fudosan Temple and along a shopping street in Tokyo's downtown neighborhood of Monzen-Nakacho.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE

Jan 13, 2017

Ginza sushi restaurant tests Champagne pairing

Nothing says "festive" like Champagne, that most elegant of elixirs. The drink's life-affirming effervescence makes it a natural choice for New Year's celebrations, but Champagne pairs so well with many of my favorite foods that I drink it far more often than once a year — with everything from raw oysters to fried chicken.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE

Dec 9, 2016

Tokyo's progressive French restaurants are developing a taste for sake

The first time I drank sake at a non-Japanese restaurant was nearly seven years ago at Coi, a Michelin-starred establishment in San Francisco that serves modern Californian cuisine. I had opted for the beverage-pairing course, and the drink came with a dish of tofu mousseline in a thickened mushroom broth laced with kelp and bonito flakes. The combination made perfect sense: the sake played off the Japanese-inspired ingredients in sensory and conceptual harmony.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE

Nov 11, 2016

The Kyoto Distillery: home of Japan's first artisanal gin

It's a mild Kyoto evening, and a group of spirits enthusiasts are gathering at a handsomely restored machiya (traditional townhouse) to celebrate the launch of Ki No Bi, a boutique gin produced by The Kyoto Distillery, Japan's first craft gin specialist. Guests spill onto the machiya's moss-covered courtyard, carrying martinis and Moscow Mules mixed by top bartenders from Kyoto's Ritz-Carlton and Hyatt hotels. Inside the townhouse, placards depicting Ki No Bi's main botanicals hang on the walls: juniper, yuzu (Japanese citrus), green tea, ginger, bamboo and sanshō (Japanese pepper). In front of each sign are cups filled with the distillates of those ingredients, which guests are invited to sample. Bamboo and ginger are subtle; green tea displays a gentle insistence; yuzu and sanshō vibrate with a sparkling intensity. Besides the juniper, all are surprising aromas to find in gin.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Nov 10, 2016

A short walk from the garden: Belgian chef Gert De Mangeleer is succeeding in self-sufficiency

During the mild months of early summer, the garden at the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Hertog Jan — located 20 minutes outside of the Belgian city of Bruges — is in full bloom. The pale orange outlines of butternut squash peek out from beneath a thick cover of wide, flat leaves. Radishes grow in neat rows along one edge, while golden nasturtium flowers sprout in another corner. But Hertog Jan's garden functions as more than fancy landscape design: it is an experiment in self-sufficiency.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Nov 10, 2016

Belgian beer is a 'perfect partner' when it comes to these food pairings

The Belgians take their beer seriously. With a brewing history that dates back to the 12th century, Belgium is one of Europe's most prolific producers, turning out 1.8 billion liters per year, according to industry statistics. Scattered around the country, Belgium's roughly 180 breweries produce an impressive 1,500 varieties of beer — from tart and fresh lambics made with spontaneous fermentation, to rich and malty triples with alcohol levels over 7 percent. For every style there is a uniquely shaped drinking vessel designed to enhance the aromas of the brew.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE

Oct 7, 2016

Rating, ranking — and ruining? — Japanese sake

On Aug. 31, the Wine Advocate, a publication started by the influential U.S.-based wine critic Robert Parker, released its first "official" ratings guide to sake with reviews written by Chinese critic Liwen Hao. Parker, who gained fame for creating the 100-point scoring system widely used to rate wines, applied the same evaluation standards to sake. Although Parker did not review the sake himself, the popularity of the Wine Advocate led many in the industry to predict that the list would help boost sake's global appeal.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE

Sep 9, 2016

Japanese wine is no longer a novelty

Five years ago, Japanese wine was still considered a novelty, and finding it in Tokyo required a fair amount of searching. These days, most shops carry at least a few varieties and some have entire shelves dedicated to domestic wine. Popular magazines now run features on local producers and ways to match the wines with food. Japanese wine, it seems, is officially now in vogue.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Sep 9, 2016

Being young, Japanese, a woman and a chef — in Paris

Chiho Kanzaki has been cooking for as long as she can remember. Growing up in Tokyo, she used to watch her father prepare dinner for their family and would climb onto a stool to imitate his movements in the kitchen. Like a lot of little girls enamored of the food world, she imagined herself as a baker or a patissier, but had never dreamed of becoming a chef with her own restaurant in Paris. Years later, she would come to see it as fate: Last spring, she launched the trendy eatery Virtus in the French capital's 12th arrondissment with her partner, fellow chef Marcelo Martin di Giacomo.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Sep 2, 2016

Japanese chefs defy expectations across Asia

The rainbow trout confit at Mezzaluna, an acclaimed fine-dining restaurant in Bangkok that overlooks the city from the top of the 65-story Lebua State Tower, is an impeccable example of contemporary French cuisine. As is the luxurious foie gras flan, which lies beneath a grilled morsel of red snapper in a broth of smoked duck — and the silky veloute sauce that accompanies a rectangle of breadcrumb-encrusted ayu (sweetfish) garnished with basil and cucumber. The techniques are classically French, but — like many of the dishes' star ingredients — chef Ryuki Kawasaki finds his origins in Japan.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE

Aug 12, 2016

Sake Competition sets the standard for new enthusiasts

On July 29, Iwao Niizawa, the fifth-generation president of Niizawa Jozoten in Miyagi Prefecture, was one of six brewers to claim prizes at the 2016 Sake Competition awards ceremony that took place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo. His Atago no Matsu Tokubetsu Junmai topped the list in the contest's junmai-shu division, which covers sake made without the addition of distilled alcohol.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE

Jul 8, 2016

In search of 'natsuzake,' Japan's summer sake

Summer is my least favorite season in Japan. Stepping outside, the heat and humidity hits with startling force: the hot air weighs heavy on my limbs, enveloping me in a stifling and unwelcome embrace. The thought of spending the height of summer in Tokyo fills me with existential dread.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE

Jun 10, 2016

Distilling the mysteries of shōchū

From my seat on the second floor of Shochu Zanmai, a bar specializing in Japan's indigenous distilled liquor, I can see directly into the building across the street. The bar is located down a narrow alley a 10-minute walk from Tokyo's Ikebukuro Station, and the close proximity of the surrounding buildings gives me a clear view of the neighbors. Through the window, I make out a group of Japanese men sitting around a low table next door, their arms raised in a toast. This scene of quotidian conviviality mirrors the atmosphere inside Shochu Zanmai, and I imagine that — like us — the men are drinking shōchū.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE

May 13, 2016

A toast to the arranged marriage of Champagne and 'kaiseki'

I didn't protest when my friend Katrine suggested — apropos of nothing — that we order a bottle of Champagne one afternoon last week. The marvelously warm and sunny weather, combined with the fact that I had finally begun to recover from a debilitating cold, provided justification for the extravagance. Champagne has a way of transforming mundane occurrences into tiny celebrations.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS

Apr 23, 2016

Janice Wong: 'To really achieve success, you have to stay focused'

Singaporean chef on the role nostalgia plays in modern desserts.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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