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Umami Mart co-owners Yoko Kumano, left, and Kayoko Akabori stand at their bar in Oakland on May 15. (Ray Chavez\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n
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The Samurai Lime sake cocktail is served at Umami Mart in Oakland on May 15. (Ray Chavez\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n
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(Illustration by Anders Arhoj \u00a9 2026 Clarkson Potter Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House)<\/p>\n
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Umami Mart co-owners Yoko Kumano, left, and Kayoko Akabori stand at their bar in Oakland on May 15. (Ray Chavez\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n
Expand<\/a><\/p>\n Can I drink sake hot? Will it go bad if I leave the bottle opened? Does sake with cheese taste gross<\/a>?<\/p>\n Yoko Kumano and Kayoko Akabori have heard these questions a lot. As Cupertino high school friends who went on to open a Japanese specialty store<\/a> in 2012 \u2014 Oakland\u2019s Umami Mart<\/a> \u2014 they deal with people asking about sake all the time. Now they\u2019ve put out a definitive collection of answers, in the form of a book that was published in May: \u201cEveryday Sake: The Go-To Guide for Choosing, Pairing and Serving<\/a>\u201d (Clarkson Potter Publishers, $27).<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to find a more qualified pair. Kumano is a kikizakeshi, or sake sommelier<\/a>, who\u2019s spent years visiting sake breweries in Japan. Akabori is a former bartender who now writes about aged and aruten (fortified) sakes for Umami Mart\u2019s monthly subscription club, Sake Gumi<\/a>. Together, they have a simple message for the world: Drink more sake.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very pure and transparent beverage. It\u2019s only made with four or five ingredients \u2014 koji (mold used for fermenting), water, rice, yeast and sometimes distilled alcohol,\u201d Akabori says. \u201cPeople who are really into natural wine should definitely consider sake. It\u2019s also gluten-free, so it plays well with physiology.\u201d<\/p>\n Recently, the pair took a break from their Umami Mart duties \u2014 stocking kitchenware, barware and bottles of sake, plus managing the sake-tasting bar in the back \u2014 to talk about their new book, which is delightfully illustrated by Anders Arhoj<\/a>.<\/p>\n Q: What makes this book different from other sake books out there?<\/p>\n Kumano: Our role as sake stewards is being shopkeepers. So we are recommending bottles. I think previous books about sake, while very informative and beautiful, focus on history, production or some Japanese cultural aspect. This book is a direct reflection of what we are doing at Umami Mart, which is serving sake, curating sake and telling people how to choose sake.<\/p>\n Akabori: It was years in the making, and the inspiration was due to our customers. Everything is in the service of questions that we hear every day: How should I serve this? Can I use a wine glass? I\u2019m having tacos tonight, what should I drink with it?<\/p>\n Q: The book has positive blurbs from some well-known chefs. Are you keyed into the local restaurant scene?<\/p>\n Akabori: We have all sorts of cooks and bartenders who come through the doors. Tanya Holland<\/a> was a member of our sake club for many years. Kyle Connaughton at [the three-star Michelin restaurant] SingleThread<\/a> orders a lot of our barware and glassware. So there is a lot of crossover with Umami Mart \u2014 we\u2019ve been growing our community for almost 15 years.<\/p>\n Q: The book gives recommendations for food pairings: sweet nigori with spicy noodles, sparkling sake with fried chicken. In general, how does sake interact with food?<\/p>\n Kumano: It is an excellent food-pairing beverage. While wine is the one you think of, the acidity in wine can fight with food. We know that sake plays better with seafood because wine-making equipment leaves iron residue in the wine. When that happens, the iron reacts with seafood, making the seafood taste metallic. Sake is also very high in umami. The possibilities of pairing sake with all kinds of food are really exciting.<\/p>\n Q: The book introduces an interesting metric for evaluating the aroma of sake: \u201cIs this a fruit basket, a bowl of rice or a yogurt parfait?\u201d What\u2019s that about?<\/p>\n Akabori: Those are the buckets of aromas that you most commonly get from sake. Are you smelling something fruity? Are you smelling something grainy and ricey, or are you getting a dairy smell? I think it surprises customers that sake can have these kinds of aromas.<\/p>\n Q: What\u2019s the landscape like for nonalcoholic sake right now?<\/p>\n Kumano: There is a lot of work to be done on the nonalcoholic front. In the book, we do talk about amazake<\/a>, which is a \u201csake\u201d that does not use yeast. It\u2019s quite sweet, almost like this thicker, porridgey texture. It\u2019s really delicious \u2014 I love having it with a little bit of ginger \u2014 and is very good for you. A lot of athletes in Japan use it for hydration.<\/p>\n Q: Are you enjoying any sake right now that people might grab at your shop or at local markets?<\/p>\n