I found this blog in a round about way. I was doing some historical research on the izakaya (Google, if you enter “izakaya history”, will return a time line, among other things) and in the process, saw Zack Davisson’s review on Amazon of Mark Robinson’s cookbook. I found the review to be well written and impressive (I’ve ordered the book as well). Zack’s coverage of Japanese topics was too extensive for him not to have another outlet for his skills. With a little digging, I found the author’s blog and a blog based review of “Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook”.
This is the kind of article I hope for in a blog, something heart felt and based on personal experience. Looking at the rest of the blog betrays interests from high culture to low, from novels and literature to the simplest pop phenomena.
The author of the blog lived in Japan and claims a master’s in Japanese studies. As such, this kind of eclectic resource isn’t to be missed, for those of us curious about the history of food. Right now, Zack’s experience is totally on point as the “izakaya craze” expands to Atlanta and beyond.
FnS.
Food Near Snellville 
October 27, 2009 at 11:09 am
[…] I have spoken about this cookbook before. I could review it, but Zack Davisson’s review is excellent, a must read if you’re interested in this kind of cookbook. I will say it has a […]
October 27, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Thank you for the kind comments! Izakayas are one of the things I miss most about Japan, and every “izakaya”-style restaurant I have been to in the US has been a disappointment.
I realize there are different styles, but to me, a good izakaya needs to have cook/customer relationship that is face-to-face. I always avoided the big chain places, and would rather go somewhere like the place where I cooked, with the charcoal grill and the fish case being the only seperation.
Its easy to re-create the food of an izakaya in the US, but difficult to re-create the atmosphere. The food I can cook at home, but the atmosphere…