ESCAPE THE ORDINARY: Interactive Japanese Sake Pop-Up To Launch at Iconic Seafood Restaurant in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion Center (JFOODO) is delighted to announce an exciting San Francisco pop-up honoring sake and seafood. Produced in collaboration with Hayes Street Grill, the "Restaurant Paired" pop-up will celebrate Japanese sake as the best alcohol pairing for seafood. Taking place inside the restaurant from October 31st through November 3rd, the pop-up will allow guests to explore this pairing with a new prix-fixe menu featuring elegant seafood dishes accompanied by a selection of premium Japanese sake curated by Certified Sake Sommelier Chris Johnson.

With a goal to enrich lives by proposing a unique pairing, JFOODO hopes to encourage people to embrace the fresh harmony of seafood and sake, which is scientifically proven to enhance the umami of seafood even better than white wine. To explain this, there will be a special area in the restaurant where guests can "Escape the Ordinary" with seafood and sake pairings. The regular restaurant will also serve a special menu item. Upon entering, guests will be led to the dining areas by twin greeters representing each space.

The pop-up space will serve two special seafood and sake pairing menus for lunch and dinner. The lunch menu will include two glasses of sake for $45 per person, and the dinner menu will include three glasses of sake for $65 per person — both extremely great deals as the sake is basically complimentary! The event will feature sake from Nanbu Bijin Brewery, Akashi Sake Brewery, and Momokawa Brewing.

Sake and Seafood

As a drink, sake evolved alongside Washoku (Japanese cuisine), which aims to bring out the best in the raw ingredients used to make it. From a historical perspective, Japan has always been a seafood-focused country. Whether you're by the sea or in the mountains, sake and seafood are served together all over Japan.

It is unsurprising that the Japanese have always paired sake with seafood rather than wine. Now, as exports of sake hit ¥22.2 billion (approximately $205 million) in 2018, it is clear that global diners are increasingly discovering why Japan's national drink complements fish so well.

The key to this popularity is sake's ability to bring out the natural flavors of seafood, while remaining non-reactive to potentially unpleasant odors. Because wine grapes absorb iron from the soil and many winemakers use sulfite as preservatives, wine can react badly with seafood, resulting in fishy odors. In contrast, sake brewers are prohibited from using sulfites, and any iron is filtered out of the water or removed when the brewers polish the rice grains. Additionally, according to Dr. Hitoshi Utsunomiya, the director of the Sake and Food Lab and sake expert at Japan's National Research Institute of Brewing, sake has two-to-five times more amino acids than wine, and as amino acids translate to savory, umami flavors, it makes sake a natural pairing with any type of seafood because all seafood is rich in umami.

Sake Inspired Lunch Prix Fixe $45  (Subject to change)

1st Course
Hog Island Sweetwater Oysters on the half shell
Smoked Trout Toasts with Radishes
Grilled Sardine with Roasted Pepper-Frisee Salad

2nd Course
Grilled Salmon with Beurre Blanc, French Fries
Petrale Sole with Olympic Peninsula Chanterelles and Fingerling Potatoes
Pan Fried Ekone Yearling Oysters with Tartar Sauce, Cole Slaw, French Fries

Dessert
Yerena Strawberry Ice and Straus Frozen Yogurt with an Almond Cookie
Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Meyer Lemon Gelee
Creme Brulee

Sake Inspired Dinner Prix Fixe $65  (Subject to change)

1st Course
Hog Island Sweetwater Oysters on the half shell
Smoked Trout Toasts with Radishes
Local Halibut Crudo with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sea Salt, Lemon

2nd Course
Calamari and Butter Bean Salad
Dungeness Crab Cake with Tartar Sauce
Grilled Sardine with Roasted Pepper-Frisee Salad

3rd Course
Grilled Pacific Coast Salmon with Beurre Blanc, French Fries
Petrale Sole with Olympic Peninsula Chanterelles and Fingerling Potatoes
Hayes Street Grill Paella with Gulf Shrimp, Hog Island Clams, Salt Spring Mussels, House made Chorizo, Saffron rice

Dessert
Yerena Strawberry Ice and Straus Frozen Yogurt with an Almond Cookie
Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Meyer Lemon Gelee
Creme Brule

For more information, visit foodandsake.com.

Dates: October 31st through November 3rd
Lunch: 11:30am-2:00pm Thursday and Friday
Dinner: 5:00pm-9:00pm Thursday 5:00pm-10:00pm Friday and Saturday; 5:00pm-8:00pm Sunday
Seats: 30
Address: 320 Hayes Street, San Francisco, CA 94102

To make a reservation, please call the restaurant at (415) 863-5545.

SOURCE JFOODO