Sake Night

Hi everyone,

Fun, fun, fun!!
It was packed with people at last night Tokyo Table Sake Night event.
There were more than 150 people who had enjoyed sake and sake cocktails with paired food. I hope people learned something about sake last night.

Here is a write up about the last Sake Night in Arcadia from latheplace.com


The Spectacle

What a site to behold! Two types of sake at each of the ten tables! Sushi for miles! DJ spinning tunes! Happy, beautiful Angelenos from all over town eating the finest sake and sushi to their hearts content (which took awhile because we all know what big hearts Angelenos have!).

The Layout

Upon walking in, I was treated to a site beyond my wildest sake sushi dreams. Stretching to my left and to my right were what seemed like an endless string of tables of different sake and sushi, carefully arranged by event expert Hideyuki Sakurai and masterfully assembled by Sake Sommelier Yuji Matsumoto, the Tokyo Table sake master who was brought in from the homeland of Japan to oversee the sake supply and choose the best sakes in Japan to stock Tokyo Table with.



The Experience

Sommelier Yuji Matsumoto is a sake master who represented the USA West Coast Region at the 2006 World Sake Sommelier Competition. Hideyuki Sakurai is a Director of New Store Openings who has opened fine dining establishments from all over LA to Honolulu. Together, they created a feast of dreams:

At each table, two types of top shelf sake and two types of succulent and oh-so-fresh sushi awaited. Cards were available at each table describing the offerings, and the friendly staff re-filled each cup with a beautiful smile, as teeming crowds of Angelenos became ever more sake’d and sushi’d out, or should I say, in.

The Sake

Let’s start off by saying that there were far too many varieties of sake to describe, but some of the options ranged from Kaguyahime, a Junmai from Kyoto, Japan with a refreshing aroma with sweet rice flavor; to Shirakabegura, a special full-bodied Junmai from Hyogo, Japan rich in rice flavor; to Kikusui, a Junmai Ginjo from Niigata, Japan with light to medium body and crisp, smooth aftertaste, to Daishichi Kimoto, a Junmai from Fukushima, Japan, with a smooth but pleasant and long-lasting after-taste, etc. You get the idea? This was going on at every table.

Suffice to say, by the end of the delectable rounds, I had learned about a whole new world of sake, and was amazed by the quality and distinct taste of each one of these hand-picked offerings. In fact, I was humbled. I have so much to learn! My mouth waters at the prospect.

Health Benefits

For the record, sake and sushi are two of the healthiest things on earth. As a matter of fact, in Japan with the rise in the sales of beer, wine and liquor, sake is now being diverted towards women’s cosmetics for its cleansing qualities, where the rice extract has proven to be beneficial to skin tone first and foremost while providing nutrient support for a whole range of cosmetic and dietary benefits.



Informative Staff

Big Success at Tokyo Table SAKE NIGHT

Oh boy, people had so much fun last week's sake night at Tokyo Table.
They had to let people go because of the over capacity.

There was a good write up on LA the place web site.
Take a look here.

Next event is on April 24th(Thu) at Tokyo Table Arcadia. I think this would be last event that they are offering at only $35.00.
Can you imagine all you can eat and drink even Kubota and other super premium sake at only $35.00!!!!

Pasadena Star-News Interview

Here is the article about the last Sake event I did for Tokyo Table.
This event is a bargain deal! You can drink even Kobota as much as you want, which is normally around $100/720ml bottle at restaurants.

Tokyo Table: A taste of this and a taste of that at 'Sake Night'
By Maritza Velazquez, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 04/10/2008 04:38:38 PM PDT


SAKE NIGHT
7:30 p.m. April 24
$35, which includes food and drinks
Tokyo Table
Westfield Santa Anita Shopping Center
400 S. Baldwin Ave.
Arcadia.
Reservations required, (626) 445-4000; www.TokyoTable.com.
Kiss hangovers goodbye.
If you don't want those morning-after woes, change your beverage of choice to sake, says sake sommelier Yuji Matsumoto.
About 75 people got to see for themselves during "Sake Nights, a Celebration of Japan's National Drink" at Tokyo Table Restaurant in Arcadia on March 27, one of several planned throughout the year.
The very sleek but small restaurant offered this alcoholic beverage in 20 different varieties.
At each booth in the dimly-lit room, a different variation was paired with a Japanese dish to complement it. The offerings were chosen by Matsumoto, who represented the USA Westcoast Region at the 2006 World Sake Sommelier Competition. He selected combinations of food and drink that didn't overpower one another.
My personal favorite pairing was the Kikusui Sake with the Tuna Tutaki salad. The Kikusui, a light- to medium-bodied sake, was a bit fruity and went down smoothly. The slice of raw tuna served atop a bed of romaine lettuce was really fresh and had a light taste.
Over a leisurely three-hour period, people made their way to each booth, where friendly
________________________________________
servers poured chilled sake in plastic wine glasses and handed out small portions of Japanese fusion cuisine.
Each server had knowledge about the drinks and food they were serving. They had no problem explaining to each customer what they were about to enjoy.
The only problem with this event was that it was difficult to find a comfortable seat. With so many people walking through the small passageways waiting to be served, it was a little tight. It was a reservation-only event, and the host said that about half of the guests who reserved spots didn't even show up. I can't imagine what it would have been like with a larger crowd.
The favorite booth seemed to be the one serving sake cocktails - people were lined up there all evening. There were four varieties; the bartender shook each drink sample in a small cocktail shaker.
I tried the lychee mixture. Sweet and a little fruity, it had more of a light tropical taste. It was also the most popular cocktail at this station.
The event wasn't just about enjoying great food and sake. It was also intended to teach partipants about the traditional Japanese drink. After Matsumoto turned down the loud background music, he gave a presentation on how sake is made and how it compares to wine.
The main ingredients of sake are polished rice, koji (steamed rice fermented into alcohol) and water. Sake tends to be less acidic than wine and doesn't keep for more than a year.
And why no hangovers?
"Hangovers are normally caused by chemicals in the liquor," Matsumoto said. "Sake has alcohol, but it's all natural, with no sulfites or preservatives. So you can get drunk, but you don't get a bad headache the next morning."
The next Sake Nights is April 24. Reservations are required.
maritza.velazquez@sgvn.com
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2303