It’s happening. Ippuku, the East Bay’s premiere yakitori and shochu bar is opening on Monday 7/5! HOLLA!

I was lucky enough to get a tour of the restaurant before it opens and talk with the owner/chef, Christian Geideman. Located in the heart of Berkeley, the restaurant space is quite breathtaking (read: epitome of cool) and the menu boasts nearly 50 kinds of shochu! INSANITY!

Christian himself is not new to the world of Japanese cooking, or running restaurants. He opened Kasasoba, an izakaya in Santa Fe, before becoming chef de cuisine at Ozumo in Oakland. He has dedicated himself full time to building Ippuku from the ground up since the beginning of 2009, which is about to become a full-blown reality on Monday, as the doors will officially open on Center Street.

Christian, who once worked as a sake distributor, began exploring the world of shochu on a trip to Japan years ago. I guess you could say he was smitten, considering he decided to make it his personal mission to open a bar/restaurant devoted to this stuff (which is surprisingly little known here in the States).

Right when you walk in, you’re greeted by a long row of 24 shochu bottles– ON TAP. The bottles are gigantic, but somehow defy gravity and hang upside down. Christian said he was inspired by an izakaya in Osaka that had this, and just had to have the genius contraption. Each one dispenses an exact shot! I would say it’s the main centerpiece of the entire restaurant– it is just AWESOME.

Ippuku is an expansive, sparse space with light wood accents to compliment the cement walls and hanging pipes, painted blue. It’s as though a hip izakaya in Tokyo just landed in Berkeley. Local master builder, and ordained Zen Buddhist priest, Paul Discoe designed the 600 sq. ft space– not an easy task considering how long and narrow the space is. Bravo Mr. Discoe!

The bar is located right as you walk in. But there will be no stools– standing room only. Racer 5 on tap!!

Despite the super high ceilings, intimate and cozy booths align one wall– just like Tokyo. This is gonna be the hottest date spot in the East Bay. Hell yah!

There is an enclosed area on the other side, with several tables that will seat about 4-5 people each. NOMIKAI! (Please excuse the construction).

Walking towards the back, the open kitchen with bar seating is just delightful.

Getting all the fire codes squared away here must have been a nightmare. With all the grilling and the smoke, this couldn’t have been an simple process with the DOH. But they did it! Skewered meats will be grilled, before your very eyes, on coal, just as they are meant to. Whew.

A little bit about shochu, which is a Japanese liquor– a close cousin to the Korean soju. It is absolutely NOT to be mistaken as sake (nihonshu), and is more like vodka in profile and taste, as it is distilled with barley, rice or potato. The end product tastes clean and often earthy. The potato version can be a bit pungent, and takes some getting used to– but when sipped on the rocks, as is recommended, one begins to appreciate the different dimensions of flavor.

Also to be enjoyed with oolong tea, or with some freshly squeezed grapefruit juice!

Ippuku’s shochu menu is out of this world. With nearly 50 bottles, 12 of them will be making their West Coast debut. As in, they aren’t available anywhere around here. They also have Awamori on the menu, which is a liquor from Okinawa. Yoko wrote about it last year.

I believe Ippuku will increase shochu knowledge in the Bay Area tremendously. This is REALLY EXCITING!

Their food menu will predominantly be yakitori, crunchy parts and all, with a sprinkling of usual izakaya fare. I have an insider source telling me they make their own mayo and ponzu. Ohhhh Yahhhh.

Great story: Christian grew up in Berkeley, and told me that the actual Ippuku space used to be an art house theater (hence all the awesome vintage Japanese movie posters). He said that the very last time he was there, he had accidentally left his wallet behind. The wallet contained $650. GASP! Of course, it was never found. He told me that he’s determined to make back that money here. It’s as though he was destined to open his dream restaurant, right in this exact location. It’s fucking fate.

Ippuku, in Japanese, means to “take a break.” In slang terms, it’s more like, “take a smoke break.” Love it.

Here’s to a fantastic opening, Ippuku! Wishing you many years of success in the Bay Area, that will surely bring a community together over grilled chicken gizzards and sweet potato shochu. We look forward to many drunk nights here, and watching you grow!

IPPUKU
2130 Center Street
Berkeley, CA
T: 510.665.1969

Full disclosure: Washi, Yoko’s husband is one of the bartenders at Ippuku. Make sure to stop by and say hello to him when you’re there! He is lots of fun and extremely knowledgeable about shochu, and drinking in general. We’re all drunks here, at Umamimart, what can I say.

More photos of Ippuku here.

Billy Goat Tavern was my absolute favorite place we went to in Chicago. You know a place has really made an impression on you when you keep wanting to go back. Matt and I were only there for three days, but I made sure I went twice. I even bought a tshirt. Ha.

Oddly enough, we didn’t even really know about Billy Goat and we literally just “stumbled upon” it. We had just finished an architectural boat tour around the city, and were looking to get a quick drink when Matt saw this sign:

This obviously piqued our interest so we started the descension into the underworld of Chicago. So cool!

We walked in and were greeted by this sign.

Totally bustling. Totally retro. Totally underground.

We took a seat at the fully stocked bar, with all the brown stuff lined up in the front row. Already likin’ the place. Dusty black and white photos hung on the walls.

Nick, our bartender, was RAD. We started talking to him, and mentioned he had worked there for 21 years. Whoa. That’s when Matt and I started to suspect that maybe this place was a big deal???

Jim Beam Old Fashioned.

I started getting hungry, and wanted a snack before dinner. What’s good here?, we asked Nick. He started on about their “famous cheeseburger.” But make sure to get a double patty, he recommended– the single one is just not enough. Yessir.

So off I headed to the ordering counter.

Menu was super old, drawn on a long, single piece of white plastic. It looked like they hadn’t changed the pricing since the 80s.

The grill.

My cheeseburger!

Two super thin patties and cheese on a roll. I added raw onions, mustard and ketchup.

This was OUT OF CONTROL goodness. So simple! No frills! GOODNESS. I had asked for fries, but they didn’t have any. I got bbq chips.

Matt’s a breakfast sandwich conosseiur so he went to order one for himself. Just bacon, egg, on a toasted roll. Add ketchup.

Bfast sandwich porn.

We spent over an hour here, it was so awesome!!!! It just had this really great old-school Chicago vibe– friendly bartender, great drinks, easy menu. Really, what more do you need in life? Billy Goat has the basics, all done really well.

There was this super old goat’s head that hung from above the bar– it was so dark I couldn’t get a good picture of it, but it really added to the super JANK quality of the place. Umamimart loves JANKY. Check out this painting on one of the doors!

Alright, so it turns out that Billy Goat Tavern is actually a really big deal. I’ll let you read about it on their website for a full recap of their long history, but basically, they’ve been around since 1934, when a Greek immigrant, William “Billy Goat” Sianis, opened it and named it after he acquired a pet goat. Legend has it that Bill put a curse on the Cubs in 1945, when he and his pet goat were denied entrance into the World Series game. HA! The Cubs have never made it to the World Series since.

More importantly, Billy Goat was immortalized in the 1978 Saturday Night Live skit with John Belushi, Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. HILARIOUS.

The phrase, Cheezborger, Cheezborger, Cheezborger. No Pepsi. Coke is all over the place in the Tavern. We wondered where it came from when we were there, and that’s where it comes from.

Anyway, so Matt and I had NO IDEA of any of this when we walked into Billy Goat– the curse, the SNL skit, its long, rich history. Life can be so serendipitous.

I’m a dork and was totally determined to go back once more before we left. We were crunched for time on our last day, but I ducked in and got a few burgers to go so we could eat back in our hotel room while we packed. Matt was in charge of getting the beers.

L’ultima Cena. (Last Supper)

We are so classy.

There are many locations in Chicago, but you MUST go to this one! It’s been here since 1964, and it’s where, I assume, the Second City gang hung out, which inspired the skit. It’s a really special place!

BILLY GOAT TAVERN
430 N Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL
T: 312.222.1525

Alright gang, this concludes THE CHICAGO TEN. God, what an awesome trip! Many thanks to Matt K. for being a superb traveling and eating buddy. We always have good times, great laughs. He gets to choose the city for our next annual meetup so stay tuned in 2011!

Top photo by Matt K.

Whenever I travel to a new city, I try to make sure to visit a jazz club. The jazz scene in Paris, Tokyo and Rome are unreal! There’s just something about going out and listening to jazz at some grimy club, while sippin’ on a classic cocktail that transports you through time. In New York, I would yearn for a midnight jam session with Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane at Minton’s Playhouse or The Five Spot. What an amazing era for music! Those days of jazz are gone though, as are those venues (sad face).

A few friends recommended The Green Mill to me, as an old school jazz club destination in Chicago. It is well known historically as a hangout spot for one of Al Capone’s gangsters, back in the day, and inspired a scene in a Frank Sinatra movie, The Joker is Wild.

The Green Mill is in North Chicago, and was at least a fifteen minute cab ride from the city center. Chicago is pretty huge! But we got there and were greeted by the awesome flashing green and gold sign. So retro!

The club has been around since 1907, and it has really maintained an authentic prohibition-era vibe– both inside and out. It’s neat that they aren’t trying to recreate it or anything. It’s the real deal!

Check out this metal (copper?) lighting fixture! SO AWESOME!

There was this large disc of lights towards the end of the bar, à la spaceship District 9, hovering over the bar.

I wish I got a better pic of the bar. It wrapped around half the venue space, it was really neat. You can kinda see it here.

Do you see that statue in the corner there? She is Ceres, Goddess of Harvest. Pretty hilarious.

Neither Matt or I remember the name of the band that night. Sorry, jazz band! We had a great time though. Awesome historic venue for sure! I highly recommend making the trek out.

THE GREEN MILL
4802 North Broadway
Chicago
T. 773.878.5552

Top photos by Matt K. Many thanks to Weird Chicago, for the extensive background info on The Green Mill. They conduct Weird CHI tours! Awesome!

Photos by Matt K. and myself.

Heard about The Violet Hour, a little speakeasy-esque bar in the Bucktown/ Wicker Park area of Chicago, courtesy of Paystyle. When Pay suggests a place, I follow, no questions asked.

Matt and I definitely walked up and down the street a few times and looked around like baffled, confused tourists before finally finding this place. Of course, no sign– just this awesome little scary Micky Mouse vampire dude doodle. The fun is in the hunt, I suppose. The guys at the door were surprisingly super nice (wow!). No obnoxious password needed (wow!!). It was around midnight on a Thursday, but they seated us immediately (wow!!!).

We walked through the lush velvet curtains and were greeted by opulently high ceilings, dimly lit chandeliers, and a gorgeous mirrored backbar lined with high-end, hard to find brown liquors.

They sat us at a table, where the chairs had really tall backs. These chairs were probably about 9-10 feet tall and added to the atmosphere nicely.

My Whiskey Smash: Wild Turkey, Lemon, Mint, Peychaud’s Bitters.

Matt’s Tequila Old Fashioned: Lunazul Blanco, Fees Old Fashioned Bitters, Grapefruit Oil.

I think I’m just really jaded by the SF/ NYC cocktail bar scene snobbery, and was pleasantly surprised by how easygoing everyone at this bar was. Although maybe we went on a chill night cause my friend who used to live in Chicago thinks this place is pretentious. I didn’t think so at all!

THE VIOLET HOUR
1520 North Damen Avenue
Chicago, IL
T: 773.252.1500

Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve and JD on tap. Life can be so sweet.

Kuma’s Corner. CHI.

Gold Star’s a little dive bar in Wicker Park, Chicago. The bartender was a gracious, round lady, who bought her regulars rounds of drinks. She’s the daughter of the owner, meaning this bar has been around for decades. How old do you think this Bud Light wall clock is?

The tamale guy came through the Gold Star Bar at around this time, selling his supply for $5 a pop. Just like there’s the Tamale Lady in SF, there’s a dude in CHI. Isn’t that uncanny? The guys next to us said it’s the best meal in town for the money.

Fugazi blasted through the speakers, and they sold $2 cans of Hamm’s beer. I adored this place– @totallymatt even bought a shirt.

Everyone in Chicago– from the bouncers, restaurant servers, and locals on the street– are so ridiculously friendly here. Save the fact that they have horrible senses of direction: THREE people, all locals, gave me wrong directions yesterday. Or maybe people just like to fuck with me?

Four words as I depart this great city today: TALK DERBY TO ME.

Finally made it out to The Alembic, a bar on Haight Street in SF– it’s a spot that has been buzzed about extensively for their cocktails and gastroeats. I believe it is related to Magnolia, the brewpub right down the street.

Yoko, Washi and I enjoyed ourselves at the bar– with their awesome cocktail list, personable bar chefs, a wall of supremely well-curated brown liquors, Carl Sutton’s local vermouth on tap, and curiously pink pickled quail eggs. After a few drinks, we called it quits, and I picked up a box of matches on our way out.

I gave a box to Yoko. We were mesmerized. “This is a work of art,” she proclaimed.

And it is.

It’s hard to tell in this picture, but the actual box that the matches are encased in is gold foil. I love the stark blackness of the matches inside the box of gold. GO SAINTS!

I usually hate when there’s too many different typefaces on one product, but this all comes together so well.

Now, fancy matches are nothing new, if not greatly debated, in the haute cuisine scene. In matters of dining, how relevant is graphic design? Packaging Whore says: VERY RELEVANT. One of my favorite matchbooks ever can be found at WD-50. I do love the attention to detail in Alembic’s, very much.

Don’t leave the bar without one!

A bourbon expert once told me that the defining ingredient in a cocktail is bitters. PDT clearly takes this very seriously.

Yoko and I have decided to make 15 Romolo UM’s official clubhouse in the Bay Area. We’ll be there on Tuesday 3/30 at 6pm, and think you should meet us there. Pencil it in, please!

We have a wee obsession with this bar. It’s spacious, unpretentious, they’ve got a great juke, and unique cocktail list. Most importantly, they are recession-friendly, with a kickass happy hour menu from 5-7:30pm. Yoko loves their sliders, and I love their Brooklyn cocktail (a clever use of Crown and Picon Club).

Downside is that it’s in North Beach and the parking is just awful. But suck it up and come hang with me and Yoko! We’ll get tipsy and dance a little, then maybe go to Tony’s for a pizza margherita nightcap.

I’m organizing this in lieu of an Umamiventure this month– I’m so sorry, March just flew by! But I’m planning a totally VIP event for April, so stay tuned for that.

Until then, hope to see you on Tuesday 3/30! As usual, RSVP on the FB Fan Page, and bring all your friends/lovers/fighters.

Matt and I were sitting at our favorite bar, Hotel Del Mano in Brooklyn, when the bartender mumbled something about the Japanese. We were both a bit bewildered (we were the only Asians at the bar), but then he placed a clunky copper contraption in front of us. He told us that it was from Japan, and they make perfectly round ice cubes.

Oh, the Japanese.

He let us try it out– watch the above video for a demonstration (sorry it’s so dark, and loud). Basically, it’s two heavy copper cylindrical molds that you connect via two steel rods that stick out from the bottom portion. You place a regular ice cube in the middle, and watch the top part move down at a snail’s pace. When the top part can’t depress any further, disconnect the copper pieces, et voila! You have your ice cube ball. The design and simplicity of this gadget is brilliant.

Buy your own ice cube ball maker at the Japan Trend Shop, for the low price of $200. I want one!