New York

Sake lovers, take note: My pals Reika and Jesse at EN Japanese Brasserie in lower Manhattan are holding their annual monster sake and shochu tasting this Saturday from 3p to 5:30p.

Please join Chef Tadashi Ono and Sake Samurai Timothy Sullivan, with yours truly as moderator, for an important fundraiser for Japan earthquake/tsunami relief at Matsuri restaurant on Tuesday, April 12th at 7pm. The fundraiser will be very special workshop and tasting that goes behind the scenes at Japan's legendary Dassai sake brewery, where Timothy has just spent two months training.

Hey, Chefs Sono-san and Abe-san are ready to cook for you -- so what are you waiting for? Whew, it's been over two years since I posted a list of my favorite Japanese restaurants in New York -- an update is way overdue.

I knew I was in for a treat when my pals at Manhattan's EN Japanese Brasserie invited me to sample cocktails up whipped up by their new mixologist, Gen Yamamoto.

My friends at EN Japanese Brasserie are planning a very special dinner party on Saturday, January 16th. The theme: "fish heads, eel bones and beer" -- in other words, food (and drink) inspired by traditional Japanese restaurant staff meal cooking. The host: yours truly. I hope you can join us. Here's the blurb on the event:

Kobe beef. Wagyu. Washugyu. What's the difference?

I've only recently discovered Soba Koh, a tiny spot in New York's East Village where you can watch Chef Hiromitsu Takahashi roll and cut soba by hand as you walk into the place. I don't know what took me so long.

A few months ago, I mentioned the opening of Kajitsu, a Kyoto-style vegetarian restaurant in the East Village of Manhattan. On Sunday night my wife and I pulled up seats along the lovely wood counter there for dinner. What a magnificent meal.

I recently visited En Japanese Brasserie to learn more about Chef Yasuhiro Honma's cooking.

Working on a manuscript this past spring for a Japanese noodle cookbook (for Ten Speed Press, publishes in 2009) gave me a chance to do a bit of research on ramen, soba, udon and somen. Soba, buckwheat noodles, I found particularly interesting, because they're both a down-home soul food and something more rarefied. That "something more rarefied" side to soba can now be found at a terrific new restaurant in Manhattan called Matsugen, where I recently visited the chefs there to learn more about their noodles.

At least in my opinion... New York is fortunate to have a sizable Japanese expat community -- and real deal restaurants to serve them. I'm talking about Japanese cuisine beyond sushi, which is just a tiny part of the food culture there, despite its popularity here. Many friends ask me to recommend Japanese joints in the big city, so here I go: Check out the half-dozen restaurants below (listed alphabetically) to discover a world of Japanese cooking from sophisticated cuisine to tapas-like pub food to home style chow. And what about your favorite places? Any Japanese restaurants you want to add? (And not just in New York) Please share your thoughts in the comments!

After my recent pickle-making experiment (see earlier below) I visited my friends Reika and Jesse at En Japanese Brasserie, one of my favorite Japanese...