Pre-Tariff Premium Uni — This Week Only
This week we made a deliberate decision to import a higher-grade allocation of Hokkaido Uni than we would normally carry — specifically because the new tariff structure takes effect in the coming days and this is the last shipment at the previous duty level. The quality tier is above our standard weekly Uni: the selection was stricter at the Hokkaido end, the roe is fuller and more consistently colored, and the flavor is cleaner. If you have been on the fence about Uni, this week is the moment.
Alongside Uni: Hotaruika (Firefly Squid) is available again this week. The allocation arriving this week came with larger pieces than usual — selected at the port rather than the standard mixed sizes — which makes a difference to the eating experience. The bigger the Hotaruika, the more flavor per bite, and the more viable it becomes as a standalone item rather than just a pasta ingredient. Reserve Uni online; Hotaruika is available at the storefront. Nagasaki Bluefin Tuna in all cuts as always.
AAPI Heritage Month Wine Tasting — May 4, with Keiko et Jérôme
The AAPI Heritage Month Wine Tasting on May 4th is now confirmed, and we have added a third producer to the lineup. Joining Six Cloves Wines and Shiba Wichern Cellars will be Keiko et Jérôme — a winery and small urban farm in the south of Albi, France, that we have been excited to introduce to DC.
The story behind Keiko et Jérôme is worth telling in full. Jérôme and his wife Keiko met through a shared love of food and the land — Keiko Japanese, Jérôme French — and after careers in IT and extensive travel, they left their former lives to start over in the Tarn region of southern France. They established their domaine in 2015, farming without additives or mechanical intervention, guided by Japanese natural farming principles and the French natural wine philosophy. Side by side in their garden: Japanese vegetables and French vineyards. The wines are living, textural, and unlike anything produced by either tradition alone — a genuinely hybrid sensibility that takes both cultures seriously.
Tickets for the May 4th event will be released shortly. Follow @keita_sashimi_dc for the announcement.
Wine & Fish Pairing — Launch Imminent
We are finalizing the revamped Wine & Fish Pairing event program and will announce the schedule soon. The format has been refined based on everything we learned from the October and November sold-out sessions — more structured pairings, better documentation of what works and why, and a slightly expanded guest count to make tickets more accessible without losing the intimacy that makes the event work.
On Keiko et Jérôme: The combination of Japanese natural farming technique and French natural winemaking philosophy in a single producer is genuinely rare. Their wines have an organic, alive quality — you can taste the philosophy behind them. We are excited to bring them to Washington DC for the first time.