Dassai, the brand of sake made by Asahi Shuzo in Yamaguchi, in southern Japan, is not new to the United States. But this week its sake produced in the Hudson Valley is making its debut. On Oct. 12, the company’s new sake brewery in Hyde Park, N.Y., a 55,000 square foot complex of rooms for washing and soaking rice, koji-making, drying, steaming, fermenting and bottling, will open its visitor center for tastings and tours by reservation, $50. The facility is producing a few sakes, the first of which, Dassai Blue 50, is now appearing on store shelves and in restaurants. Kazuhiro Sakurai, the company’s president, said that Dassai has partnered with the nearby Culinary Institute of America, which approached them to open the brewery in part to work with its instructors, students and chefs to educate them about sake. Dassai is a supporter of the cooking school. In addition to the brewery’s sprawl of antiseptic white rooms equipped to handle the various stages of sake-making, there is a separate building where the rice for sake is milled at enough of a distance to prevent dust from the process from tainting production. Rice is milled or polished to varying degrees — the more extreme the finer the drink. Dassai Blue 50 refers to the rice grains that are polished to 50 percent of their original size, making the drink a daiginjo. (The company plans to introduce sakes at 35 percent and a 23 percent.) For now the rice is being imported from Japan, but Dassai has begun cultivating the proper variety in Arkansas. Dassai Blue 50 (about $35) is clear, with a fruity, honeydew aroma, and a smooth, slightly sweet flavor. Though most sakes, including Dassai’s imports, have 16 to 17 percent alcohol, Dassai Blue 50 is 14 percent. Mr. Sakurai’s father, Hiroshi Sakurai, the company chairman, said that one of their goals is to make sake more acceptable to accompany cuisines other than Japanese; “a challenge,” he said. The company recommends using stemware, not traditional sake glasses.
Dassai Blue Sake Brewery, 5 St. Andrew Road (Route 9), Hyde Park, N.Y., 845-407-0721, dassai.com.
Petrossian Brings Its Caviar to the Meatpacking District
Petrossian, the venerable Paris-based purveyor, has caught the train downtown. They’ve repurposed what had been offices in the meatpacking district into an elegant new shop. The company wanted to open a shop closer to clients in the West Village, TriBeCa and the financial district, said Serguei Aver, the business development director for North America. Refrigerated cases display Petrossian’s full range of caviars and other roes along with foie gras, charcuterie, truffle items and smoked salmon, including an alluring new salmon dusted and infused with black truffles. For now the uptown shop and restaurant, at Seventh Avenue and Central Park West, are closed for renovations. The new store is open Wednesdays through Sundays.
419 West 13th Street, 212-245-2217, petrossian.com.
Explore ‘The Simple Art of Rice’ According to JJ Johnson
As Eric Ripert has a way with seafood, so the chef and restaurateur JJ Johnson’s beat is rice. His casual FieldTrip restaurants explore the grain’s diverse potential. And now you can, too, with the book “The Simple Art of Rice,” which he has written with Danica Novgorodoff, who also painted the book’s illustrations. The many varieties of rice, both oryza sativa, the type that originated in Asia, and oryza glabberima, the African variety, are explained and cooking methods are described. The point of the book and of his work, he said, is to make rice more than a side-dish afterthought. Recipes land in chapters like everyday, comfort foods and celebrations. A Peruvian arroz con pollo, green from a fistful of cilantro and weeknight simple, is rich enough to anchor a dinner party. Kimchi fried rice could bolster the center of many plates. Beans or shrimp or both co-star with the grain in a number of recipes.
“The Simple Art of Rice: Recipes From Around the World for the Heart of Your Table” by JJ Johnson and Danica Novgorodoff (Flatiron Books, $34.99).
Celebrating a Century of Chocolate at Li-Lac
Long before chocolate was a percentage, free trade or even a truffle, there was Li-Lac in New York’s West Village, turning out popular nut bark, nonpareils, toffee and bonbons. They’re still at it after 100 years, now with multiple locations. To mark the century they’ve issued a hefty commemorative 1923 Vintage Collection gift box with those nonpareils, butter crunch, almond bark and pecan chews made according to the recipes of George Demetrious, who founded the company that is now owned by Anthony Cirone, Anwar Khoder and Chris Taylor. Celebratory sales with special discounts on the gift box and other chocolates for early birds are scheduled at stores in Hudson Yards (Saturday), Chelsea Market (Oct. 7), Grand Central Terminal (Oct. 11) and Industry City, Brooklyn (Oct. 13).
Limited Edition 1923 Vintage Collection Gift Box (2 pounds of chocolate), $85, Li-Lac shops, li-lacchocolates.com.
Keep Time in the Kitchen With Beethoven
The Metropolitan Opera opens its 2023 to 2024 season this week, and it added new items to its gift shop. Among them is a kitchen timer with a bust of Beethoven and his music. It doesn’t insist with the famous four chords of the Fifth Symphony, but plays the gentle “Für Elise” for piano repeatedly until the time (up to 60 minutes) is complete.
Beethoven Musical Kitchen Timer, $20 ($18 for members), Met Opera Shop, metoperashop.org.
