New: Sake Brewery Tours!

Have you ever wanted to tour Japan and visit the places where sake is made? I just heard about an amazing opportunity to do just that!! Sake-World expert John Gaunter and TokyoFoodCast dynamo Etsuko Nakamura are undertaking something I had always wished existed – Sake Brewery Tours!

Samurai Tasting at Sakaya

What: Tim Sullivan Samurai Tasting
When: Sat. March 8th, 2-4pm
Where: Sakaya (324 E. 9th Street)
Why: It’s free and fun and delicious! Please stop by if you can to sample some fantastic sakes that have a connection to the Samurai Spirit.
I’ve been invited by Sakaya to host a special sake tasting at their shop and introduce some [...]

Urban Sake In the Press!

I’ve been lucky enough to get a few mentions in the press and on other blogs of late. I even got interviewed! And you know it’s really me…. who else would match Sake and Turkey Burgers. sheesh! Take a looksee the links below to see where Urban Sake has been popping up!
Chopsticks Magazine, [...]

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Sakaya is Now Open!

If New York City had a Town Crier, I know exactly what he’d be shouting right about now: “Hear ye, Hear ye Sake fans! New York’s first dedicated sake shop is now open: Sakaya!!!”
In Japanese “sakaya” means sake shop, so this seems the perfect name for a stateside temple to Nihon-shu. This beautiful store is [...]

Fugu Fear Factor

After my fantastic introduction to the production process at Dassai, Mr. Sakurai Sr. and Mr. Sakurai Jr took me out for a fantastic all-blowfish dinner. Known as “Fugu” in Japanese, yes… it is that deadly, poisonous fish. Yeah, that’s the fish you need to have two years of training and a special license [...]

Visit to Dassai Brewery

I was honored to receive an invitation to visit Asahi Brewery, makers of the delicious Dassai Brand Sake located in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The beautiful Sakurai Family generously opened their home and their business to this curious American/fledgling Samurai, and I was rewarded with a real insider’s view of life at the brewery. This [...]

Sushi Yasuda

Scott took me out for a special dinner and we went to perhaps the most well known sushi restaurant in New York: Sushi Yasuda. Because it’s such a famous temple to the art of sushi, it’s been on my “must try” list for a long time. What amazing Sushi and Sake combinations await me here!? [...]

I Have a Dream… Sake Day 2007

October 1 is International Sake Day a.k.a. “Sake No Hi”. Even I will admit Sake Day is not yet as well known as other Hallmark-type holidays such as Valentines Day or Groundhog Day… but I have a dream, people! One day, Sake No Hi will rank up there with the other holidays [...]

Sake Twin Powers… Activate!

My first message from Melinda, the mastermind behind Tokyo through the Drinking Glass Blog, arrived in early July 2006. After a few messages back and forth it became clear that we were kindred sake otaku and so began our (online, 21st-century, cyber blogging) fast friendship.
Together with Melinda, we not only chatted back and forth [...]

Sakedelphia

New York is crowded and hot. Yuck! what better reason to head out of the city and do a little “sake research”?
Zip across NJ and before you know it, you’re in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. I wanted to see how much sake lovin’ was going on in the city that bore [...]

Domo Arigato Mr. Robata

My sake friend Nell works at an amazing robata grill restaurant on the east side called Aburiya Kinnosuke (213 East 45th, 212-867-5454). After many promises to visit, I was overdue to give Nell’s workplace a try. Once I found out Aburiya was owned by the same folks that run Torys and Yakitori Totto – [...]

Emily Post can’t help you! Saké Manners…

The internet is quite a treasure trove. So much information right at your fingertips. Every once in a while, however, you stumble upon something that is, well, just plain special.
While doing my usual internet sake “research”, I came across some fun info at the Kiku-masamune sake website called “Manners for Sake Party“. Sounds fascinating. [...]

Saké Bar Hagi

The phone in my office rang bright and early last week. It was Scott asking me “Did you see the Times?!?!” well, at that point in the morning I’m usually just staring down at my iced coffee, not the newspaper. Scott proceed to inform me that the coveted “$25.00 and under” food column in the [...]

Sake Gets Some Converts!

Can I get an Amen?! Who knew saké was so popular in the nation’s heartland? I predict Nihon-shu will be bigger than Nascar. Well, we all know that Saké can be a religious experience…

p.s. Check out this site if you want to spread your own bit of Gospel.

The Truth Will Set You Free: True Sake

I go on and on all the time about how lucky I am to live in new york… and how amazing all the NYC sake bars are… and how the Liquor stores in the Big Apple have such a great selection of sake… and did I mention how lucky I am to live in New [...]

Sushi Samba’s Super Sake Salon

Boy, I was in a bind! Now that I’m known as the “Sake-Guy” among my friends, It always falls to me to pick the location and the drink when we decide to go out for a little nihon-shu sipping. My College buddy Brad and I were long overdue for drinks and we wanted to catch [...]

Mall+Discount= Sake?? Boston Part I

UrbanSake.com hits the road! This past weekend Scott and I took a weekend trip to Boston to visit with my sister Maddie. This was the perfect opportunity to see what was happening in Beantown in regards to all things sake.
So, here’s part I of what I saw on my little peek into the [...]

Beam me up, Sake!

If there is a Mothership for sake lovers in the New York City area, it has to be Mitsuwa supermarket in Edgewater NJ. I discovered Mitsuwa by chance as my Feng Shui school happened to be in Edgewater, too. The first time I saw the sake aisle, phasers were set to stunned! It must be [...]

Sake or Saké

Oh Lordy… I’ve been at this a couple months and already I’m facing my first big moral dilemma. For the whole rest of my career with rice wine which is it? Do I go with…
Sake or Saké?!
well I kinda know the answer… saké WITH the áccént is the way [...]