Our guest is John Gauntner who is one of the world’s leading non-Japanese sake experts and educators. He has been writing and lecturing about sake since 1994, in various newspapers and magazines in Japan and overseas. He has published six books on sake across two languages, and hundreds of articles on the topic. Several times each year, he runs the Sake Professional Course, a week-long intensive sake study course, held both in and outside of Japan, as well as the advanced level of that course.

John joined us in Episode 25 in December 2015 and discussed his intriguing path to becoming a sake expert, why sake was gaining popularity in the world, how to get to know more about sake and many other topics.

Sake has become popular globally over the last decades but we tend to think that sake is something to drink only at Japanese restaurants. However, more non-Japanese restaurants are serving sake, including new American restaurants Michelin-starred Per Se, Blue Hill At Stone Barns and Eleven Madison Park in New York.

In this episode, we will discuss food pairings, in particular sake and non-Japanese food!!!

Our guest is Nobu Yamanashi who is the president of Yama Seafood based in New Jersey.

Founded in 1980 by his father Kengo Yamanashi, Yama Seafood has been one of the most reliable sources of high-quality seafood in the U.S. for almost 45 years.

Nobu joined us in Episode #245 in November 2021 to discuss why he decided to succeed the highly demanding job in the seafood business, the changing needs for seafood at New York City restaurants, why Yama Seafood had many employees who had worked for the company over 30 years and many other topics.

Since then, plenty of new things have happened at Yama Seafood, reflecting the ever-changing demand for quality seafood and the environmental issues that affect the oceans.

In this episode, we will discuss how Nobu is proactively dealing with the increasingly challenging issues caused by climate change, his efforts to educate consumers about seafood through social media, what seafood has potential for the future and much, much more!!!

Our guest today Xander Soren who is the founder of Xander Soren Wines https://xandersorenwines.com/ .

Xander Soren Wines is a unique boutique California Pinot Noir producer whose mission is to create wines that pair exceptionally well with sushi and other Japanese foods without overpowering them. Equally unique is Xander’s background. He spent 20 years at Apple where he played a pivotal role in helping to develop digital music products like GarageBand, iTunes, and iPod.

Since the winery launched in Japan in 2023, top restaurants like 3-Michelin-starred Sushi Saito, NO CODE and KOKE have included Xander’s wine on their lists. Also here in the U.S., his wine became available in the summer of 2024 and is on the lists of notable restaurants on the West Coast such as n/naka, Single Thread and Nisei.

In this episode, we will discuss how Xander’s love for Japanese food started, why he decided to make his own wine to pair with Japanese food, why Pinot Noir goes very well with Japanese food, tips to pair Japanese food with wine and much, much more!!!