Japan Eats!

Our guest is Kazuya Kubota, who is the Global Brand Director of Pizza 4P’s https://pizza4ps.com/. Pizza 4P's is truly a unique concept. It goes far beyond serving pizza, with the vision of “Make the World Smile for Peace”.

Pizza 4P’s was founded in Vietnam in 2011 and it now operates over 40 locations in 5 countries: Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, India and the U.S. Its first U.S. location opened in Brooklyn, New York, on July 4th, 2026.

In this episode, we will discuss the unique concept of Pizza 4P’s, how each location sets a theme and goals to make the world more peaceful, why the brand has been so successful in inspiring and inviting guests to join social movements and much more!!!
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Our guests are A-K Hada and Christian Suzuki-Orellana, who opened a fascinating cocktail bar Dokidoki https://www.dokidokinyc.com/ in Brooklyn, New York in July 2026.

Both A-K and Suzu have highly successful careers as bartenders. A-K served as head bartender at the renowned cocktail bar PDT for six years. She also worked as a brand ambassador for Bacardi Rum, earning nominations for Best U.S. Brand Ambassador at the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards in 2023 and 2024. Meanwhile, Suzu honed his craft at notable cocktail bars in San Francisco and became a semifinalist on Netflix’s hit bartending competition show, Drink Masters, in 2022.

At Dokidoki, they feature Japanese sake and shochu in innovative ways, breaking the mold of how they are traditionally served at Japanese restaurants.

In this episode, we will discuss the unique, cross-cultural concept of Dokidoki, how the duo creatively uses sake and shochu as cocktail ingredients, what a Tachinomi bar is in Japanese culture and how they introduced it to Dokidoki, and much, much more!!!
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Our guest is Genki Ito, who founded the unique online sake shop Tippsy Sake in 2018. He joined us in Episode #254 in February 2022 and discussed its innovative concept. Tippsy Sake’s business has grown successfully, alongside a community of sake lovers, and in May 2026, Genki renamed it Palate Project https://palateproject.co/ to reflect the company’s new mission to make sake more accessible to American consumers.

In this episode, we will discuss what exactly Genki’s new mission at Palate Project is, how it could change the distribution of Japanese sake in the U.S., why it can help traditional family-owned small sake breweries as well as American consumers and much, much more!!!

Tipssy Sake, Palate Project, Japanese sake, Japanese food, Japanese culture, Genki Ito, vertically integrated Japanese sake distribution

Social Handles:

IG palateproject.sake
FB https://www.facebook.com/palateproject.sake/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@palateprojectsake
X https://x.com/palateproject
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Our guest is Nick Rowan, author of Japanese Wine, a fantastic, comprehensive book on Japanese wine. The Japanese wine industry and culture have been developing very rapidly since the 1990s, and Nick’s book, which came out in 2025, is so timely.

The book covers 725 producers and 130 grape varieties—over 80 of which are unique to Japan—to showcase the uniqueness and diversity of Japanese wine. It also includes 380 bars, restaurants, and wine stores specializing in Japanese wine, and 125 Japanese wine fairs and festivals.

In this episode, we will discuss how Nick got into Japanese wine, the unique terroir of Japan, how Japanese winemakers embrace and overcome its climatic and commercial challenges, the outstanding flavor characteristics of Japanese wine, and much, much more!!!
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Our guest is Silvia Mella who is the owner of Sorate in New York. Sorate is a unique Japanese green tea company, which sells premium Japanese tea through online and operates beautiful tea houses in Manhattan.
Japanese tea has been gaining attention in the global markets, fueled by rising health consciousness and growing interest in Japanese food. According to the Japanese government, Japanese tea exports in 2025 reached record highs, and the key driving factor was Matcha. The U.S. accounts for approximately 40% of total export volume, 80% of which was Matcha. And it is mostly used for iced or hot lattes and smoothies.
But in Japan, people don’t drink Matcha on a daily basis. There are many other types of delicately produced, highly flavorful Japanese tea. Silvia knows the profoundness of Japanese tea culture very well, and is passionate about introducing its charm to a global audience.
In this episode, we will discuss how Silvia got into Japanese tea, how she convinced a traditional tea farm to work with her, the types of tea she recommends you try, the tea ceremony sessions that she offers with a Japanese tea master, and much, much more!!!
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