Sake Drinking Guide to New York’s Little Tokyo
Sake has long been one of the more exotic ways to consume alcohol. While less common in America’s heartland, there has been a revival of interest in the beverage inside America’s coastal urban areas thanks to a growth in the popularity of Japanese culture since World War II. Sake is a fermented rice wine that was originally created and consumed in Japan but has since spread across the globe, showing up in bars from New York City to Dubai. Here, we have put together a short video documenting the culture of Sake in Lower Manhattan’s Little Tokyo, a two-block area in the East Village that originally developed in the late 1980’s and early ‘90s when Japan was experiencing a financial boom. These authentic restaurants and bars are known throughout Japan and are featured in all the country’s guidebooks. Even though the Japanese economy has taken a step back from its blistering pace 20 years ago, Japanese sophistication and Sake watering holes still dominate the area on East 9th Street between 1st and 3rd Avenue.—Logan R. Baker