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 the brainchild of sake-loving couple Hiroko Furukawa and Rick Smith. Hiroko and Rick envisioned a boutique space where sake aficionados could find the best the sake world has to offer and expand their palates as well.

Sakaya is a special place indeed, both inside and out. The interior design of this boutique was crafted by the same talented Japanese architect that designed Momofuku and Kyotofu. It’s beautiful, simple and elegant. The owners even found the perfect window dressing, a beautiful life size Sugidama imported from Japan.

Rick and Hiroko are starting out with about 80 hand selected sakes and will ramp up to sell more brands in the future. Sakes range in size from 300ml to the large 1.8L ishobin size. Some of the brews are even available for “try before you buy” sampling – a rarity in New York.

In addition, they are offering a small selection of sake serving sets, sake books and shochu. BTW… Sake makes the perfect holiday gift… um, especially for me.

All this really is great news for the New York City Sake community. It’s enough to make me want to grab a bell an shout from the roof tops.