Sakaya NYC Blog

With the cooler and checkout counter in place, the shelves finished, and floor revealed, there are a few finishing touches to be added before construction is complete.

As of this morning, this is the look of the space as the display shelves near completion.  The white “monolith” in the center of the room is the cooler which will ultimately be centered at the back of the shop.  Friends take heart,  Sakaya is slowly emerging!

Yesterday afternoon when we stopped by to check on the store, we encountered a veritable beehive of activity behind the building permits prominently displayed in the window. Upstairs, workers were busily fabricating the skeletal structure for the shelves. And downstairs, a team was engaged in putting the finishing touches on the newly erected sheetrock walls.

According to our neighbors, these efforts are continuing “’round the clock” which of course, gives us hope that they will complete construction in the next week to ten days. Yes, Sakaya is actually beginning to take shape! To this, we joyfully say….

Kanpai!

On Wednesday morning we were excited to open the New York Times Dining section and find a feature story on Hiro and Swee our design and construction dream team (link provided at the end of this post). It has been a true pleasure getting to know them and we couldn’t be happier that they’ve garnered this recognition for their work.

When we first met them last March we were impressed by their humility, candor, and interest in understanding what our vision was. Although they tend to work on smaller scale restaurants, our store was small even by their standards but they believed in Sakaya and made us their first retail project. Their creativity and craftsmanship was the perfect match for what we envisioned as the personality of our store. We hope that when you visit us that you’ll feel welcome and appreciated by not only the staff, but also by the environment that Hiro and Swee have created.

Kanpai!

NYT 10/17/07 Dining Section

October 1st is Sake Day or Nihonshu no Hi in Japanese. Sake Day officially originated in 1978 when the Japan Sake Brewers Association declared it as the day to celebrate and promote the enjoyment of sake. Historically, its origin can also be traced to the implementation of the Japanese State Taxation Law in 1895 which taxed sake based on a production calendar beginning in October. In addition to the practical (tax) and rice harvest rationale for this timing, there is also the idea that it has some basis in the fact that the kanji or Chinese character for sake is é…’, which is very similar to that of the Rooster, the tenth sign of the Chinese zodiac é…‰.

On this particular Sake Day, we are also celebrating the progress on the interior of our shop. The personality of Sakaya is beginning to take shape with freshly painted “river rock” colored walls, a “metallic pearlescent” white ceiling, and a stripped and refinished cedar-shade floor.

Please join us in enjoying a cup, glass, or bottle of sake today to thank our friends in the sake brewing community for their dedication to creating and producing this exquisite beverage.

Kanpai!

On Friday we signed off on our architect Tsuruta-san’s final plans setting wheels in motion for the build out.   FYI Tsuruta-san’s previous work includes Jewel Bako, Chikalicious, both Momofukus,  Soto, and Kyotofu.  We couldn’t contain our excitement as we finally reached the point where the transformation of our barren store of eight months will begin to take shape soon.  First step is acquiring the building permits of course, which will probably take about two weeks.  After that, construction is anticipated to be another three.

In the meantime, we’ve been attending sake distributor events over the last couple of weeks tasting our palates off to determine which tasty brews to offer our customers when they (you) walk through our door for the first time.  We’re planning to open with about 75 – 80 different sake to start but, believe it or not,  it’s really tough to keep it to that number!  Don’t be surprised if the selection exceeds 100 or more in short order.

We’ve been excited about Sakaya ever since the idea came to us but, now that we’re on the verge of beginning construction, we wanted you to know that it won’t be long now until there’s a place to go to indulge your passion or curiosity about sake!

Kanpai!

Simply put, Sakaya means “liquor shop” in Japanese or even more literally, “place that sells alcoholic beverages.” The word sake in Japanese, is actually the broad term referring to all alcoholic beverages. Nihonshu is the term used to differentiate the beverage that is brewed from rice, water, koji, and yeast. Does it really matter which term you use? Nope. If you go to Japan or when you come to see us, either will get the job done.

As NYC’s first shop specializing in sake, we chose our name for its no-nonsense, straightforward expression of what we envisioned the store to be…a place where you’ll find only carefully selected sake (and a couple of other Japanese tipples), have the opportunity to taste many of them, and get answers to your questions.

There is much to enjoy and learn about sake (if you so desire). We want to make it as easy and as simple as possible… starting with our name.

Kanpai!

After receiving the prior approval of local Community Board 3, and after five months of waiting since we filed, our appearance before the New York State Liquor Authority Board on July 11 yielded a thumbs up on our license application! In fact, they uncharacteristically complimented us on our “unique idea” and wished us “good luck.”

We’re now going full throttle on finalizing the plans for the shop interior design and construction. Along with that, we’ll be meeting with our distributors, tasting, and selecting the sake that we’ll be stocking to offer you when we open our doors. If you live in the neighborhood, you’ll notice some subtle changes in the window over the next few weeks as we begin to give passersby a taste of what Sakaya will be all about.

We’ll continue to keep you up to date on our progress. Coming up next….some Sake 101 basics.