Japanese Sake Tasting Event at the Ambassador of Japan’s Home

On Wednesday night, I was one of the limited number of honored guests who were invited by Japan Sake Association and Ambassador and Consul of Japan into the stately home of Ambassador of Japan, Shigeyuki Hiroki in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. We were treated to an informal sake seminar, led [...]

Lunch at Kum Sung Chik Naengmyun

Restaurant signage and our banchan spread

On a recent chilly Saturday afternoon, my family and I craved Korean food and decided on eating at Kum Sung Chik Naengmyun (interestingly enough, their sign reads Geum Sung Restaurant). Hearing good things from friends about this and remembered that this restaurant’s specialty is generally cold [...]

New Year’s Day 2013 Dinner

Homemade savory goose liver pastries (鵝肝酥); Hard Cider to drink; Snow peas with prawns

Happy 2013! As 2012 flew by, it’s been a good year for me. Celebrating at home, my family and I cooked a Chinese-style feast.

We started with savory goose liver pastries (鵝肝酥) baked from scratch. The filling [...]

Christmas Day Dinner at Tori Shin, 1* Michelin Yakatori Restaurant

Exterior; Skewers of meat, looking over the bar; Condiments on the counter bar; Yakatori chefs prepping and cooking behind the counter

During Christmas Day, my family and I wanted to do something a bit unusual – dine out. Craving Japanese fare, I figured we should go to Tori Shin, the only yakatori [...]

Best Memories & Meals in 2012

It’s kind of hard to wrap my mind that it’s almost the end of 2012. Time and life never takes a break but sometimes serendipitous things happen. (In relatively random order.)

First thing in mind would be my graduation gift from the luxe chocolate and pastry brand, La Maison du Chocolat…

A [...]

Dim Sum at Home

The spread…

It’s been a hectic week to say the least. The superstorm Hurricane Sandy pummeled through New York City and the tri-state area pretty bad. To save you the details, all I have to say is that my family and I feel fortunate we’re all OK.

To celebrate this feel of [...]

Homemade Kimchi

Some of the ingredients to make kimchi

Over the summer, I attended the Cook Out NYC preview party hosted at Jimmy Carbone’s restaurant, Jimmy’s No. 43 in the East Village and watched Kheedim Oh of Mama O’s Kimchee demonstrate how to make kimchi.

Intrigued and inspired, I thought of making it myself…eventually. [...]

The Joy of Sake Preview Party at Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya

The Joy of Sake’s Preview Party on Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya’s terrace

Last night I attended Joy of Sake‘s preview party at Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya. At this party, a selection of 40 gold and silver award-winning sakes from the 2011 U.S. National Sake Appraisal were served.

Food [...]

Mihoko’s 21 Grams – Japanese-French Fare in an Elegant French Setting

I recently ate at Mihoko 21 Grams last week for an event.

Exterior, interior, one of the tables, shelf of top-shelf liquor, the beautiful crowd

This restaurant is founded by a former Japanese ballerina, Mihoko. She collected most of the items from her travels and used them to decorate and/or be sold [...]