Daishichi Kaiseki Dinner at Hakubai

NYC in May 2011 was chock-a-block full of sake events – just the way I like it! One of the highlights was a special Kaiseki dinner featuring Daishichi sakes held at the Kitano hotel’s Hakubai restaurant..

Daishichi Sake Brewery was established in 1752, and is based in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Japan. Daishichi is world famous for making all of their sake using the most traditional KIMOTO method. All Daishichi products are superb examples of KIMOTO style sake.

On this trip, we had the extreme pleasure of getting the chance to meet Mr. Hideharu Ohta, the 10th generation owner of Daishichi Sake Brewery. Mr. Ohta is a soft spoken man with an air of refinement – and I could feel his passion to communicate with us about his sake. Also visiting from Daishichi was Mr. Ad Blankestijn, Daishichi Sake Brewery’s master sake sommelier.

Our pal Chizuko-san from Sake Discoveries helped arrange the event and spoke eloquently about her special relationship to Daishichi. Daishichi was one of the first sakes she tried as a sake sommelier in New York and it stoked her passion to teach the world about sake.

The Food was delicious as always and executive chef Sato-san really outdid himself this time. The sashimi course and dessert course were highlights for me. Dessert included matcha mochi and fresh fruit which was paired with the outstanding Daishichi Ume-shu (plum sake). The delicious Sashimi was paired with the wonderful Daishichi Minowamon Junmai Daiginjo Kimoto. A superstar sake.

Of course, Fukushima prefecture has been in the news a lot because of the troubles at the nuclear reactor. Ohta-san explained that his products had been checked and tested and didn’t receive any damage. The brewery is quite far away from the reactor and the brewery building is quite sturdy with thick concrete walls. I could tell that everyone in attendance was supportive of Fukushima!

What a great evening this was! If you’d like to support Fukushima, pick up some Daishichi sake for yourself!