Start it Off At Sakaya

Our friends at Sakaya want to invite everyone to kick their weekend off with a Happy Hour sake tasting at their store on E. 9th Street, saying:

This evening from 4-6PM 6-8PM, sake sommelier Paul Tanguay
from the importer Vine Connections will pour samples and familiarize visitors with selections from their portfolio of exceptional sake including...

Fukucho "Moon on the Water" Junmai Ginjo - This bold
fragrant sake from Hiroshima is made by one of Japan's
rare female master brewers.

Sato no Homare "Pride of the Village" Junmai Ginjo - From the famous Sudo Honke brewery in Ibaraki(also know for their Kakunko and Yusura nama junmai daiginjos), this beautifully refined sake is elegantly floral with a classically clean finish.

Sounds tasty and educational. How can you beat that? Kanpai!

Hello Sakaya

Just because we broke the story, we may as well take you all the way home. Specialty sake shop Sakaya is poised to open tomorrow. We'll let owner Rick Smith bring it home. "It has been nearly two years since we returned from our first trip to Japan together with the commitment to our dream of opening NYC's first shop dedicated exclusively to sake. Tomorrow that dream becomes a reality." Kanpai Sakaya. Kanpai.

Update: Sakaya

A quick update from Sakaya, the soon to open specialty sake store in the East Village. Store owner Rick Smith checked in to say, "We were approved for our liquor license in mid-July and are moving forward on our build-out...During the construction phase we'll also be doing some things in the shop window to begin to create the feeling of what we'll be about by treating passersby to a bit of sake imagery and info." Sounds good to us. Don't forget to check out their semi-regularly updated blog as well. Kanpai!

Reduxe: Sakaya

Recently, we dipped our toes in the water that is Sakaya, a small, soon to open storefront on East 9th Street that will specialize in sake. We weren´t exactly sure what to make of this. Is it to be just another liquor store in a neighborhood awash with them? It turns out our guess was pretty spot on. How can we be sure? Well, Sakaya´s owner Rick checked in to clarify, saying, ´´We hope to have our liquor license by the end of the month....stay tuned, you're right about the synchronicity with Tinto Fino.Kanpai. ´´ Kanpai to you sir. Kanpai to you.

Sakaya? Sake You!

This small retail space on East Ninth Street seems pretty unassuming. The street is mostly small boutiques with a few exceptions. Veselka being one. MUD being another. But this store may just throw a little wrinkle into that scene. Coming soon is Sakaya, a small retail space specializing in sake. But DBTH, isn't that just a liquor store in rice wine clothing? Maybe. Or maybe it will be a small gem of a store where clerks will be able to help customers match the proper bottle of sake for each occasion. Perhaps the Tinto Fino of Sake. And there ain't nothing wrong with that.