Learning the joys of living local during the lockdown. The first days of lockdown in London already feel like another age. Maybe it’s because they were marked by never-ending queuing for food. For someone born in Lithuania duringthe last years of the Soviet Union, long queues for grocery shopping felt…

There is an irony about Japanese cuisine: it is ubiquitous but at the same it’s one of the least-understood of the world’s great gastronomic cultures. Sushi is easily available from Norwich to Novosibirsk, but finding real Japanese cuisine is very difficult. Culinary Journeys events in collaboration with All Nippon Airways…

Few weeks ago I was very fortunate to experience Mexico City’s incredible Xochimilco area and learn about the Chinampas. An inspiring initiative led by the @yolcan_mx entrepreneurs is reviving traditional farming practices established in Aztec times centred around Chinampas: these are small, rectangular areas of fertile land harnessed to grow…

I thought I knew something about fish until I met up with Aitor Arregi, who heads the kitchen at Elkano, a seafood restaurant in Getaria on the Cantabrian Sea. Aitor is the son of the late Pedro Arregi, who founded Elkano in the 1960s and developed his own pioneering ways…

If you have ever witnessed a Japanese tea ceremony, then you know that it is a very special event. Unfortunately, many Westerners think the ceremony is just a fancy way to drink tea. As Fuyuko Kobori, a 17th-generation tea master and one of the rare women to attain this position…

Many thanks to Mrs Mimi Kobayashi, my “fixer” and interpreter, who made this interview happen. Mimi-san can be your best guide in Tokyo! https://www.instagram.com/kobayashimimi2/ Yukitaka Yamaguchi is, without any doubts, a very important man at Tsukiji market and one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever met in Tokyo. If…

You can probably tell me what brand coat you have on, but can you tell me what brand of knife you used to prepare dinner last night? According to Jay Patel, owner of London-based Japanese Knife Company, the knife is humankind’s most valuable and underrated tool. There is a big…

I’ve been lucky enough to have met many exceptional people thanks to my blog, and today’s post is about one of those experiences. While I was staying at Maria Cristina hotel in San Sebastian last year, I had the great pleasure of talking with Andreas and Dr Shokat Cohen, organizers…

The market of all the markets, the largest fish market in the world is coming to the end. Or at least in the form how we know it. On November 7th 2016 Tsukiji market will officially open in its new location, where tourists will be no longer allowed to browse…

Below is a slightly modified and adapted to my blog presentation I gave at “Made in Japan” conference in Vilnius on October 24 2015. When you think of Japanese food, what comes into your mind? A glistening red and white striped prawn draped over a wedge of vinegared rice? Or…