September 2005 Archives

Good Eats broiled, butterflied chicken with jus, served with roasted beets, Japanese turnips, sauteed rainbow chard, and maple glazed butternut squash.

Over two hundred sakes and only two and a half hours to try them all. It must be the Joy of Sake. Yoo Mee wasn't able to make it, so Jordan came with me instead. We managed to try fifty three sakes. We cleared out the Daiginjo A portion of the list, tried a few in the Daiginjo B, and then moved on to the "Not Available in the US" section. Next year I'm starting over there. The old school method yamahai sakes were out of this world! The food was also quite tasty. Sakagura, Sumile, Bao Noodles, and a number of other restaurants were present. Bao stuck out a little bit, not being Japanese, but the smells coming from their table were irresistible after a few drinks. Fish curry and sake? Bring it on!

I regret that I can't remember which restaurant it was, but they had some wonderful kame aspara yakitori. Another amazing hors d'oeuvre was a terrine of foie gras and sake, topped with a plum gelee. I think it was Bond St. Sushi (of all places), that served kimchee sausage with thin slices of lotus root fried up as potato chips.

I picked a flyer for oms/b, an onigiri cafe on E 45th St. Here's a related link I found off Google.

Drinking gives me the munchies, but the buzz from sake takes me to a whole 'nother level. We didn't want to go to Makimono without Yoshi being there, so we went to Sobaya instead.

Dobin mushi, with its delicious warm broth of matsutake mushrooms, shrimp, and duck, is just the thing to have after drinking sake. Warm duck fat, good. Why is duck not as popular in the US?

I also had the salted squid with innards. They were tasty, but my buzz was starting to wear off. This is really better with more to drink. And perhaps with something grilled or fried.

Keeping with the duck theme, I polished the meal off with kame soba. I remembered to snap this picture before scarfing the rest down.

Three sake tastings in five days. Why doesn't this happen more often? I found out about this tasting at Union Square Wine's sit-down tasting on Friday night. Master brewers, executive directors, and presidents from Masumi, Dewazakura, Hoyo, and Kamoizumi were present. Each brewery provided generous pours from two of their outstanding sakes, and the food from Ono was the perfect accompaniment. Plates and plates of free sushi, and lots of yakitori.

I was familiar with the selections from Masumi and Dewazakura, but Kamoizumi was a great surprise. I've only had their Kome Kome prior to tonight, which I find to be too sweet. Their selections tonight were balanced and full of wonderful flavor. I recall seeing Hoyo on sake lists, but this was probably the first time I've tried their sakes. One was poured from a miniature sake cask, just the right size to take on a night out. Every single selection was outstanding.

I really appreciated this chance to talk to the folks who make this wonderful drink. There were occasional language barriers, but appreciation of food and drink needs no words, and everyone was just so damned friendly. The executive director of Dewazakura gave me his business card. I mean, what the heck?

Jean-Louis and Frolic cheeses from the Bobolink Dairy.

Am I making excuses if I say this looks better at 1600x1200?

This is a spread of Italian cheeses. Visible are Fontina, Pecorino Toscano, and La Bauma Garrotxa cheeses. The Gorgonzola is either hidden from view or was eaten up. There's a spread of crackers, fresh and medjool dates, walnuts, and grapes.