Hachimaki Sushi & Sake Night at Yoshi's, Lower Fillmore, SF.

Some SF food media big-shots got together with Rivera PR for an amazing Hachimaki Sushi & Sake evening at Yoshi's SF!

Yoshi's is such a beautiful space. We gathered in the swanky, glass-walled Omakase room, where we enjoyed a fun-filled, intimate dinner, with Yoshi's signature jazz playing in the background.

Hachimaki attack! Mine said, "Karate", while others read "boss", "peace" and "#1". This was such a fun idea, and was a great conversation starter to kick off our fabulous dinner.

SEA SALT CURED JAPANESE CUCUMBER

Creamy Sesame Dressing

&

KONBU SEAWEED CURED ASPARAGUS

Miso Mustard Dressing

&

FRENCH BEANS

Silken Tofu Dressing

POACHED BLACK COD

Grilled Japanese Eggplant Salsa, Shiso Oil

How beautiful is that?! I love the actual plate, too!

FRIED HIRAME & LOBSTER

Wrapped in Seaweed & Served with Tentsuyu

The seaweed-wrapped lobster was encased in battered soy-beans--yummy. I wasn't the biggest fan of the boney fish, but I did give it a try. It was certainly interesting and new to me. It wasn't bad, but I much preferred the lobster, naturally!

The tentsuyu dipping sauce.

GINGER SOY BRAISED JAPANESE RED SNAPPER

Burdock Root, Chinese Cabbage, Spinach

Everyone agreed that this was one of the stand-out dishes of the evening. The snapper was cooked to perfection. For me though, this came in as my second favorite dish, which just means there was something even better!

And, again, I can't get over these plates! They really add to presentation of the dish.

I couldn't keep track of each pairing, but our 8 courses were paired with 10 different sakes and there wasn't a single one I didn't like! Here is the first half of our sake adventures: Dewazakura "Oka"; Masumi "Yumedono"; Akitabare "Suirakuten"; Masumi "Arabashiri"; Masumi "Okuden Kantsukuri".

GRILLED DUCK BREAST

Wrapped With Mochi, Sweet Tomato & Eringi Mushroom

&

ROASTED CHICKEN TSUKUNE

Poached Egg Yolk

I love duck and was anxiously awaiting this course, but when it arrived, I was much more intrigued with the chicken tsukune and poached egg yolk! I'd never seen only the yolk poached. It was really quite lovely--third favorite for sure!

SHABU-SHABU STYLE WAGYU RIBEYE

Carmelized Onion, Mizuna

All right, this was my absolute favorite dish of the evening! Super tender. Super flavorful. Super super! I'm craving more of this already!

STEAMED KING CRAB LEG

Sea Urchin Roe, Crispy Rice, Roasted Snapper Soup

What a fun dish! I love interactive food. The tea kettle held the broth for this dish, which transformed it into...

This beautiful soup. It was a bit difficult to eat with this spoon, but it was a choice that went along nicely with the traditional setting of the dinner.

GRILLED WATERMELON, FIG & KUMQUAT PANA COTTA

Grapefruit Jelly

Very interesting. I really enjoyed the special fruits in this dish, but the Grapefruit jelly wasn't my favorite thing. I think it had something to do with the consistency being too similar to that of the pana cotta.

Unfiltered sake with editors Erica and Carleigh of 944 SF and Culinary Trends, respectively, in the background. Here is the second half of our sake adventure: Kamoizumi "KomeKome"; Kokuryu "Junmai Ginjo"; Miyasaka "Yamahai 50 Nama"; Koshi no Kanbai "Muku"; Kamoizumi "Nigori Ginjo".

Each sake was incredibly smooth. They were served in an assortment of glassware, which made it more interesting, too. The above is an unfiltered sake in a champagne glass. We had another excellent sake served in a white wine glass that tasted like apple juice! It was as delicious as it is dangerous, I'm sure! I believe that one was the Kamoizumi "KomeKome".

Execultive Chef Shotaro "Sho" Kamio, joined us at the end of our meal for well-deserved congratulations and a toast! Chef Shotaro created such a lovely menu for us--many thanks!

Seio Shimada, the Yoshi's sake expert! So kind and so fun! Just look at that smile--adorable! This is definitely the guy you want pouring your sake.

The amazing team at Rivera PR, who made this all possible, and the rockstars behind Thrillist SF and Urban Daddy SF and, of course, SF Station. Such great company for such a fantastic meal! As you can see, we were all smiles after, yes, 10 pairings of sake!

Thank you again, Rivera PR and Yoshi's SF!

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