Le Samourai Restaurant, Brussels Belgium

posting to Sake World with work being exceptionally crazy so I wanted to make sure to find and write about a memorable sake experience this trip.  My hotel concierge came up with an excellent location and I think as a result he’s going to be a honorary member of the Sake World Hall of Fame when I create it (email me to pre-order your T-Shirts).

ICANN is the organization that administers the Internet and as my company’s representative I have the good fortune to travel to some interesting places and spend time with customers and other industry types.  The ICANN organization itself has to cover a lot of ground so as a result much of the work is done by people in the industry who volunteer on working groups.  These groups meet via conference weekly throughout the year, working on their respective projects.  The ICANN meetings are a culmination of these working groups where after months of preparation, decisions are made (or not) and everyone gets to burn the candle on both ends and the middle for a week.

The spring ICANN meeting was in Nairobi and unfortunately my company took the bomb threats seriously and nixed my attendance.  I was disappointed as I’ve avoided bombs so far and couldn’t really see the problem but I guess insurance rates could have been an issue.  Last fall’s meeting was in Seoul which is not exactly a sake mecca and I never really got anything worth writing about.  It was mandatory that this trip be different.

I had dinner plans with Michele Neylon and Adam Eisner, two close friends and customers who weren’t big on fish so I needed to find a place that would cater to the non-sushi crowd.  Our Most Excellent Concierge recommended Le Samourai, high-end but not absurdly priced (added benefit I now know how to spell Samurai in French).  He agreed to book a table for me when Samourai opened and I went to meet my friends at Le Grand Place in the heart of Brussels.

Le Grand Place is truly one of the most impressive town plazas I’ve ever experienced.  It measures 360 by 223 feet and is surrounded by massive gothic buildings that house their city hall, several enormous guild halls,

Le Grand Place, Brussels Belgium

and the Bread House.  The origins of Le Grand Place date back to the end of the 11th century when an open air marketplace was set up there.  The market was well situated along the Steenweg (Dutch: Causeway), an important commercial road which connected the prosperous regions of the Rhineland and the County of Flanders.  The Brussels City Hall was built on the south side of the square in stages between 1401 and 1455, and made the Grand Place the seat of municipal power. It towers 96 metres (315 ft) high, and is capped by a 3 metre (12 ft) statue of Saint Michael slaying a demon.

On August 13, 1695, a 70,000-strong French army under Marshal François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi began a bombardment of Brussels in an effort to draw the League of Augsburg’s forces away from their siege on French-held Namur in what is now southern Belgium. The French launched a massive bombardment of the mostly defenseless city centre with cannons and mortars, setting it on fire and flattening the majority of the Grand Place and the surrounding city. Only the stone shell of the town hall and a few fragments of other buildings remained standing. That the town hall survived at all is ironic, as it was the principal target of the artillery fire.  The square was rebuilt in the following four years by the city’s guilds. Their efforts were regulated by the city councillors and the Governor of Brussels, who required that their plans be submitted to the authorities for their approval. This helped to deliver a remarkably harmonious layout for the rebuilt Grand Place, despite the ostensibly clashing combination of Gothic, Baroque and Louis XIV styles.

Tucked in and around the larger buildings are pubs and restaurants that do a booming business.  We stopped at Le Roy d’Espagne for a couple of excellent Belgian beers and really interesting people watching before dinner.  Like most pubs in the area, Le Roy served several hundred beers and I tried a white beer which was absolutely superb.    I don’t think during the entire week that I was there that I drank the same beer twice and I don’t recall being disappointed with any of them.  Brussels is a town that knows it’s beer.

We eventually pulled ourselves away from Le Roy and walked a few blocks to Le Samourai.  Fortunately our our trusty concierge had come through for us and our table was ready.  We sat down and immediately I knew I was in trouble.  I don’t know any Japanese and my French vocabulary for Japanese restaurants is pretty limited.  We somehow managed to get the gist of things from our waiter and Adam and Michele ordered a couple of beef dishes.  I ordered the chefs sashimi selection.  When I lived in France I found the sushi to be very different than what I was used to in the states and I wasn’t always crazy about it.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but the sashimi was quite good and I was not disappointed.  Definitely not at the level of some of the better NY sushi places like Blue Ribbon but the value for money was right up there.

Le Samourai, Chef's Selection, Sashimi

My dinner guests hadn’t tried fine chilled sake so I was hoping to make their first experience a good one.  Michele and Adam are that rare combination of exceptionally smart and fun and to order a dog of a sake definitely would have been a let down.  I wasn’t familiar with any of the sakes on the menu so I took our waiters recommendation and ordered a bottle of Kubota Manju, and it was fantastic.  Smooth, crisp, and served at just the right temperature.  One of the nicest sakes I’ve ever experienced.  We couldn’t have picked a better one and I’ve since been told that Adam and Michele are starting sake blogs of their own!

We finished the meal with green tea ice cream and then left to meet other conference attendees at our official workgroup pub, Delirium, with over 2,500 beers on the menu.  I had a feeling that it was going to be an exhausting week.

Upon returning home I did some research on Kubota Manju.  Apparently the brewers do not designate the level of this sake but it’s technically a junmai daiginjo since the rice is milled down to 28% of it’s original size.  Significantly more pure than most daiginjos which are milled to 40 or 50%.  Kubota is produced by Asahi Shuzo in te Nigata province of Japan.  Surprisingly Asahi Shuzo is one of the largest sake breweries in the world and they use a completely unique designation for their sale.  There are a couple of excellent posts I found on-line that talk about this sake, one is TrueSake.com where the Sake Guy John Gaunter talks at length about this phenomenal brewery.

“Few sake brands in Japan can equal the combination of ruthless branding power and true quality of Kubota. Perhaps the quintessential representative of Niigata sake, their reputation is all but unparalleled in the world of sake.

The brand name Kubota was actually only created in 1985, with the original brand name being Asahiyama, and Kubota being a “yago” or nickname for the company used by locals around the time of its inception back in 1830. Their timing was good, as at that time (in the early to mid 80s), a combination of the “ginjo boom” and a nationwide frenzy over Niigata sake were both taking root. Kubota rode this, fueled no doubt with diligent marketing efforts coupled with pristine quality, so that within a scant ten years, Kubota grew to unprecedented heights of popularity that it still enjoys today.

The company (Asahi Shuzo) is the largest in Niigata, which is the third largest sake-producing region in Japan, and one of the largest kura in all of eastern Japan. They have long been innovative, and were one of

Adam Eisner (left) of Tucows and Michele Neylon of Blacknight Solutions

the first kura to commit to going from wooden tanks to ceramic lined steel tanks back in 1929, way ahead of the national curve. This doubtlessly helped create the light, dry, very refined style that is Kubota, if not Niigata sake in general.

And it is not as if their success or penchant for quality is something new, either. In 1932 and 1933, they won first place among all sake in the country in the national new sake tasting competition; then in 1938 they won both first place *and* second place in the same vaunted competition. Few kura in the country can claim a feat equaling this.

Back in October of 2004, a brutal earthquake hit Niigata, and Kubota was one of 40 breweries hit hard. Tens of thousands of full bottles awaiting shipment were lost or damaged. “I can’t imagine the total damage,” said a company rep in a newspaper article. “It’s no exaggeration to say this is our company’s biggest crisis since its foundation in 1830. We’re going to do our best to overcome this difficult situation.” But overcome it they did, even employing some clever marketing like a “muroka nama genshu” (unpasteurized, unfiltered, undiluted) sake. Such a product had never been offered by the company, and was hailed as being in honor of 20 years of Kubota. Needless to say, it sold out in a jiffy (it was good, that’s for sure), providing much-needed revenues and stability, I imagine. But it was wonderfully indicative of the great leadership that has obviously always been behind that company.

There are about six grades of Kubota, depending on the season. Rather than go by simply the grade, such as ginjo-shu or daiginjo- shu, they all have a product name that is somewhat indicative of the level – assuming that is you can speak and read the language.

The three most well distributed and representative of Kubota are Hyaku-ju, Sen-ju and Man-ju. The “-ju” in these three means “congratulatory” or “long life,” and is the same character as the su- of sushi, for what it’s worth. Hyaku means 100, Sen means 1000, and Man means 10,000. Put them together and you can see how they are fairly easy to figure out. For the record, Hyakuju is a honjozo, Senju is a Tokubetsu Honjozo, and Manju is a junmai daiginjo.

By far the most popular of these is Kubota Manju. It has come to represent fine sake for so many Japanese everywhere. If you know nothing about sake, order the Kubota Manju. You will be safe, and no one will smirk or giggle. That is what it seems so many people are doing. But in truth, you will never go wrong with this product, so that conventional thinking holds up well.

Kubota Manju is incredibly clean, crisp, and elegant. It is indeed light and refined, but not at the expense of either flavor or aroma. Not by any stretch. Distribution is tightly controlled and it is not cheap, but what it is and what it represents almost dictates it must be tried”

http://www.truesake.com/newsletters/2007-01.php

Another excellent post on Kubota Manju can be found on vinography.com:

http://www.vinography.com/archives/2009/01/kubota_manju_junmai_daiginjo_n.html

Information on Le Grand Place from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Place

Mark S. Umphrey, 1958 - 2009

Mark like so many students at U Lowell came from humble roots and went there for the quality of the engineering program and the relatively low tuition cost.  Mark was from Worcester and programs like Worcester Polytech cost 5-6 times more than our state school.  He and several friends from the Worcester area enrolled at U Lowell two years before I did, and joined the fraternity their freshman year.

Every school has its “animal house” and Phi Psi was U Lowell’s version.  One weekend I needed a ride to school and when my parents dropped me off my mother asked if there had been a fire there.  Many of the windows were broken from various wild parties and the exterior hadn’t been touched in decades.  The ancient victorian had a flat roof where we spent much of our time in the nicer weather.  Our house had the Wednesday night party slot where we charged a $1.00 cover charge that went to the band and sold beers for $0.50 and a devilish concoction called “kit” for $1.00.  Kit was a secret mix passed down from class to class but the primary ingredient was grain alcohol which we procured from the drug store up the street.  Wednesday night was the best deal in town, you could show up with $5.00 and get live entertainment and four kits which you’d still be feeling the following afternoon.

Mark was a fixture at all Phi Psi events but as president of Phi Psi was a bastion of calm and responsibility.  One night when I went off the rails and incited a small riot Mark assessed me a $10 fine which I duly paid.  I thought twice about causing breakage knowing I’d lose 2 hours of my hard earned pay as a roofer on weekends for the next incident.  Mark was tough as nails and in a rough town like Lowell, had plenty of opportunities to test himself.  He never backed down from anyone.  One night he came back from a party with a collection of scrapes and bruises but laughed that even though he got the worse of his encounter that night, it was nothing compared to our drunken fraternity wrestling matches.  I can vouch for that, I wrestled in high school and could beat most of my brothers on the mat but constantly marveled at how they could find ways to leverage a coffee table or bed frame to inflict the maximum about of pain on you.

The travel Gods were smiling on me as I landing at Logan from Toronto on Friday night.  The wake was from 4:00 to 8:00PM in Lowell and my flight landed almost on time at 6:40.  Note:  I flew Porter Airlines out of Toronto Island Airport which was one of the most pleasant airline experiences I’ve had in years.  I was seated in row two with gate-checked baggage so was second in line at immigration and breezed through.  I paid the parking ticket at a kiosk and flew out of central parking minutes later.  There are times when I think the Big Dig was worth every penny of the $14 Billion that we paid for it and this was one of them.  I screamed through the tunnel network from east Boston to route 93 north and was out of the city in under 10 minutes.  Traffic was moderate and moving quickly, I tucked into a group of cars in the fast lane and quickly we were touching 80 mph.  As traffic cleared each of us took turns taking lead.  The front car would pull over and let the others pass, then pull in behind and keep up.  I always enjoy this protocol, the cars in the middle are the least likely to get a ticket so it’s only fair to switch around.

I arrived at the funeral home at 7:40, in plenty of time to pay my respects to Mark’s family.  You never know how these things will hit you until you arrive and I had an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach to see my friend after all these years in his coffin.  Mark was way too young to move on.  He has a wonderful family with a son in medical school and a daughter in the masters program for public health at Boston University.  Mark was president of Thermo Engineering and leveraged his experiences at the Animal House into success both at home and in his career.

Attending the wake were three of my closest fraternity brothers.  John and Steve Fairbanks, and Rick Strand.  John was also known as “Fearless” Fairbanks and saved my neck on more than one occasion when I got in over my head.  John was a black belt in Karate and at 6 ft 2 could side kick most mortals across the gym.  His brother Steve never practiced but would show up for the tournaments hung over and always seem to win more fights than he lost.  Rick was probably the most naturally talented fighter of the bunch with flexibility and strength that would enable him to throw and land high-section kicks from just about anywhere.  He rarely fought in tournaments but when we could talk him into it he never lost a fight.  His main reason was that collegiate tournaments didn’t allow contact to the head which he felt took all the fun out of it.

We arranged to meet after the wake at a Feng Shui, a Japanese restaurant near the Wang towers in Chelmsford Massachusetts.  Feng Shui is a sparkling multi-level facility with a hibachi section, a buffet, and traditional seating.  We joined John’s mother and wife at a big table and toasted Mark and each other.  It had been quite a few years since we had all been together and despite the sadness of the moment it was wonderful to be with such old and great friends.  We talked about the good times, the parties, the close calls and triumphs of college life, and wondered why it was Mark’s time to go.  The appetizers and sushi were excellent and the price was extremely reasonable, under $100 per person for literally a boatload of sushi and saké.

And yes course we drank saké, lots and lots of saké.  Feng Shui’s sake menu has a couple of very drinkable Junmai Ginjo’s.  Hakushika which I’ve written about before is one of my favorite table saké’s.  Its clean taste and reasonable cost make it extremely popular at many restaurants.  It is moderately dry and served chilled is a very pleasant experience.  We shared a couple of bottles and then switched to a very interesting saké that I’ve had before and been meaning to write about.

Momokawa Silver is produced by SakeOne of Forest Grove Oregon, one of the few saké’s that is brewed in the US.  Like most saké breweries in Japan, proximity to an ultra-pure source of water is key.  SakeOne is located on the east slope of the Coast Range at the edge of a lush rainforest aquifer.

Founded by an American who evolved into a saké visionary after experiencing the finest sakés Japan had to offer, SakéOne was first incorporated in Oregon in 1992 under the name Japan America Beverage Co. (JABC). It was established through a joint partnership with Momokawa Brewing Inc. Japan of Momoishi, Aomori Prefecture, Japan, a saké producer since 1856 that brought deep product knowledge and ages of experience. The new company started as an importer, then built its facility in Forest Grove just a few years later. In October of 1998, JABC changed its name to SakéOne and became the world’s only American-owned-and-operated sakéry.

I like how Momokawa has positioned this brand.  There are four different sub-brands within Momokawa:  Silver, Ruby, Pearl, and Diamond.  They vary greatly in terms of their level of dryness ranging from the extremely sweet Pearl (SMV -20) to the very dry Silver (SMV +6).  The Silver is has a deeper richer taste than the Hakushika.  John tasted Anacet, but the consensus was that too much kit had destroyed his taste buds.  I find it to taste extremely dry with an aroma of green apples.

As we finished the evening we touched glasses with one final toast, “To Ump” John said.  A fine man who will be missed.

Feng Shui Restaurant
285 Chelmsford St
Chelmsford, MA 01824
978-250-8888

Momokawa Silver Sake
$14.85 at InternetWines.com
From: Oregon (USA)
SMV: +6 (Dry)
Acidity: 1.8
Alcohol: 15%

Sake is made from rice but the enzymes that convert the starch to sugar are on the outside of the rice.  The outer shell of sake rice is removed before being introduced to the brewing process so sake brewers use a special kind of mold called Koji-kin to convert the starch in rice to sugar.  The thing that makes the sake process unique is that the process of converting starches to sugar occurs at the same time as the fermentation.  No other alcoholic beverage uses quite the same process as sake.

The rice used to make sake is called Sakamai and is very different than the rice that we eat.  Sakamai rice grains are 25% larger than table rice and are much more challenging and time intensive to grow.  The rice stalks grow very tall and due to the large size of the grains are prone to tip over and fall into the water in the rice paddy during storms which will ruin them.  This height means the rice must be harvested by hand rather than by machine.  Sakamai is also more susceptible to insecticides, and requires optimal growing conditions.  As a result of all these factors sake rice is three times more expensive than table rice.

The starches for sake rice are concentrated in the center of the kernel.  The proteins, minerals, and fats which can adversely affect the flavor of the sake are distributed on the outside.  For that reason sake rice is milled to remove the outer shell before the brewing process begins.  The milling of the rice must be done slowly and carefully as if it’s done too quickly, the rice will heat up which will adversely affect the flavor of the finished product.

The more of the outside shell that is milled away, the more pure the sake will be.  Premium sake is rated by different classes and a major determinant of class is the degree by which the sake is milled.  Junmai Dai Ginjo which is the highest grade of sake is made with rice that has had up to 65% of the rice grain removed.  The powder that is milled away is not wasted but is reused for livestock feed and consumer foods such as crackers.

After the rice has been polished it is washed and soaked.  The washing removes any remaining powder from the milling.  Soaking allows the rice to absorb water which is controlled very carefully in premium sake.  The amount of water absorbed by the rice will greatly affect how the rice dissolves during the fermentation process.

Once the rice has finished soaking it is steamed.  The rice must be steamed to a point where it is neither too mushy nor too firm.  After the rice is steamed it is spread out on large pieces of cloth to cool.

The next phase is a crucial one where some the rice (usually around 30%) is set aside and mixed with a special mold called Koji-kin.  The mold is sprinkled onto the rice and mixed over the course of two days.  The resulting mix is called Koji and it takes many years for a sake brewer to understand this part of the process.  Sake brewers typically do not sleep much if at all when the Koji is being made.

When the Koji is complete it is mixed with yeast and a small amount of lactic acid to protect against bacteria.  The yeast feeds off the sugars created by the Koji to begin the fermentation process.  Gradually more rice is added over a 2-3 week period to create what’s called Moto.

The Moto is then combined in much larger vats with the remainder of the rice and lots of water.  The rice and water are added in phases over a four-day period to create what’s called Moromi.  The Moromi is then allowed to ferment for 18 to 32 days.  The brewer must take care to stop the fermentation process at the proper time as too long or too little fermentation will dramatically impact the sake flavor.

The next phase is pressing.  Pressing has changed radically over the years and is automated in many breweries today.  In olden times the Moromi was put in cloth bags which were then put into presses and squeezed to eject the liquid which was in fact the sake.  Modern breweries use an accordion-like machine to press the sake but there exist breweries today that still use the manual method and many people find that the flavor is noticeably better.  Sake typically sits for 10 days after pressing to allow sediments to settle and chemical processes to finish.

The next step is filtering where the bits of rice are removed from the sake.  After this the sake is pasteurized by heating it to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

Finally, water is added to the sake to bring its alcohol content down from its natural amount of 20% to around 16%.  Most sakes then age for 3-6 months before bottling.

This is an extremely simplistic overview of the brewing process.  Sake has been being made for thousands of years and the evolution of the brewing process is a complex and fascinating topic.  There are numerous web sites and resources that go into much more detail about the sake brewing process including:

http://www.sake-world.com/html/brewing-process.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sake

I hope this post was informative.  Next I’ll be reviewing a delightful little sake that I picked up locally and can’t wait to open.  Stay tuned.

Yama