What is (one of) your favorite sake choices and how can we get some?!
Sake has only 4 ingredients: rice, water, koji and yeast. The koji changes the starch from the rice to sugar. The yeast ferments the sugar to alcohol. It’s a beautiful process to study. Currently, I am crushing on sake that uses alternative yeasts, for example, yeast from flowers (think strawberry blossoms and sunflowers) and yeast from olives. Nature is magic and these beverages are proof. My current favorite is Kawatsuru Olive… it tastes like a low ABV version of the Olio Martini from Frank’s Wine Bar in Carroll Gardens.
New Yorkers are so lucky! You have impeccably curated sake shops like Sakaya in the East Village and Bin Bin in Greenpoint. You also have two sake breweries, Kato Sake Works and Brooklyn Kura. Additionally, you live among some of the best sake bars in the world like Sake Bar Decibel. A sake lover's dream.
My highest recommendation is to add sake to your dinner tables this holiday season. You will be pleasantly surprised. Sake is the most food friendly cheerleader.
You have some pretty amazing looking snacks available at the bar like the ‘Japanese Curry Empanada.’ How was the menu created and who is your chef?!
I am the chef but my team and I work together to design the food menu. The recipes are ours with the exception of my mom's cucumber quick pickle recipe (Candy's Cukes... my mom's name is Candy). My Japanese curry is wrapped up in delicious empanada dough in partnership with my neighbor "Super Bien" which is a grocery-bar selling Buenas brand empanadas (by the same owner), delicious snacks and South American natural wine.
