Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Sep 8, 2018
Cheers to beers connecting northern Europe and Japan
by Melinda Joe
J.L.S. Trading imports an eclectic range of craft beers from various microbreweries in the Baltics and Scandinavia.
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Aug 11, 2018
by Melinda Joe
Tokyo-area craft sake breweries gather to celebrate local specialties at the Greater Tokyo Sake Festival.
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Jul 7, 2018
At Mugaritz, sommelier Guillermo Cruz pairs sake and the avant-garde
by Melinda Joe
Although Basque Country in Spain might not be your first thought when it comes to Japanese brews, two-Michelin-star Mugaritz is helping diners fall in love with sake by offering multiple pairings with each imaginative dish.
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Jun 9, 2018
It's not what's in the glass of sake, it's the glass itself
by Melinda Joe
Riedel's new Junmai Glass elevates drinking junmai, or "pure rice," sake to a multisensory experience.
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE May 12, 2018
Put the sake down, warm weather means craft beer
by Melinda Joe
Although Yona Yona Beer Works is a staple for great craft beer in Tokyo, there are plenty of other hidden gems. Global beer-drinking afficionados share some of their favorites.
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Apr 7, 2018
Hong Kong and Macau, the sake gateways to China
by Melinda Joe
With tastes for premium Japanese sake on the rise, new opportunities to drink sake abound in Hong Kong and Macau.
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Mar 10, 2018
Celebrating the Tokyo weekend with a glass of natural wine
by Melinda Joe
Jose Moya (a.k.a. "the Spanish Hipster," a moniker that refers to both his country of birth as well as the name of his food blog) is, to put it mildly, a natural wine snob. As a purveyor of natural wine, he has a professional ...
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Feb 10, 2018
At high-end restaurants, sake is the sommelier's new best friend
by Melinda Joe
At restaurants around the world, sake is increasingly becoming the beverage of choice for challenging pairings. Ingredients such as artichoke, asparagus and fermented foods are kryptonite to most wines.
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Jan 20, 2018
Sake company Aramasa Shuzo seeks new edge with techno partnership
by Melinda Joe
Last month, techno DJ Richie Hawtin — who came to fame in the 1990s under the alias Plastikman — threw a party at The Hangar, a cavernous sake den in Tokyo's hipster Nakameguro neighborhood. A brown sugidama (cedar ball) hung from the ceiling in the ...
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Nov 11, 2017
Whirlwind wine romance led to a brand of her own
by Melinda Joe
Early in her career, winemaker Atsuko Radcliffe aspired to brew sake. Fate, however, had other plans.
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Oct 7, 2017
'Doburoku': Reviving a rustic sake tradition
by Melinda Joe
Sachio Egawa is a Renaissance man of sorts. A spry 68-year-old with a jokey manner and a full head of black hair, he raises his own cows, grows rice and cultivates giant yamame trout in a pond on his farm in northern Iwate Prefecture. In ...
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Sep 9, 2017
Tokuyoshi adds some creative cocktails to the mix
by Melinda Joe
Japanese chef Yoji Tokuyoshi has been pushing boundaries with cuisine that reflects his philosophy of intercultural cross-pollination since 2015 — the year he opened his eponymous restaurant, Tokuyoshi, in Milan. A native of Tottori Prefecture, the 39-year-old chef left Japan for Italy at the age ...