Over a decade ago, when the owners of Umami Mart — the sleek Japanese boutique that sells hard-to-find liquor and high-end barware like 24-karat gold bar spoons and diamond-cut mixing glasses — first arrived in Oakland, they hoped to celebrate Japan’s diverse beverage offerings. And they’ve done exactly that.
Umami Mart Pours Fresh, Raw Sake at NamaFest in Oakland
Yoko Kumano (left) and Kayoko Akabori (right) have been supplying Oakland with hard-to-find Japanese beverages and more since 2012. (Courtesy Umami Mart)
Providing one of the Bay Area’s largest selections of Japanese craft beers and spirits, owners Yoko Kumano and Kayoko Akabori — who met while growing up in Cupertino — have successfully imported Japan’s cheerful “kanpai” culture to the East Bay. If you’ve ever wandered around their quaint brick-and-mortar outpost on Broadway & 40th, you’ve certainly discovered their lo-fi bar at the back, where whiskey highballs and shochu (a Japanese grain- and vegetable-based spirit) are served with a generous hand.
On Saturday, April 13, they’ll be upping the ante with their annual NamaFest. A “nama” — an abbreviation for namazake, or raw, unpasteurized sake — is the most freshly pressed iteration of sake you can find. Every spring, the seasonal sakes are ceremoniously made and bottled. In honor of the tradition, Umami Mart has held a small-scale NamaFest celebration at the bar each spring, but this year’s event will be the biggest one yet — the first time they’ll be hosting a full-on outdoor festival with 16 sake makers, both local and international, pouring up for the Bay Area’s most avid rice wine lovers.
The event will take place in the shop’s back lot and will also include bites from pop-up Casa de Kei. With a one-ticket-gives-you-access-to-drinking-everything model, visitors can rotate through each glass of undiluted sake — including offerings from Sequoia Sake, Fifth Taste Sake, Joto Sake, Takara Sake and, for the non-sake drinkers, Suntory malt beer.
Afterwards — or better yet, beforehand, while you still have your wits about you — festival-goers can peruse the shop and snag a miniature ceramic ghost or cat-themed can of beer. In my experience, Umami Mart sells top-shelf Japanese goods and beverages I’ve otherwise only ever seen while visiting Tokyo. Except this is in Oakland.
NamaFest will take place in Umami Mart’s back lot (4027 Broadway, Oakland) on Sat., April 13, from 1–5 p.m. Tickets are $55 and include a tasting of all 16 sakes.
Sponsored
