Nombe Starts a Monthly Sake-Tasting Series Next Week

Kasumi namazake, one of the featured sakes.

​Next Thursday, Gil Payne, Nombe Izakaya's co-owner and sake sommelier, is launching a new monthly series of sake-and-food pairing dinners. Payne is currently making his way through the certification program at the Japan Sake Brewers Association in Tokyo. In fact, he just returned from another trip there, where he visited several of his favorite breweries.

For the Mission restaurant's first tasting dinner, Payne is showcasing this spring's fresh releases of namazake, which he compares to the Beaujolais Nouveau of the sake world. Chef Nicolaus Bella will pair the four namazakes Payne has picked with spring dishes like local halibut suimono with pea leaves and truffle and lamb belly with roasted spring onions, dried strawberries, and coriander. The Nombe Web site lists the four sakes Payne is pouring, and he says he'll make another four available for people to order as a $20 tasting flight.

The izakaya will be open for regular dinner service that night, so you'll want to make a reservation especially for the dinner and get there promptly at 7 p.m. to hear Payne's talk. He says future tastings will focusing on either single producers such as Masumi and Take No Tsuyu ― the brewery where he spent a day working last month ― or specific styles such as yamahai sake or koshu (aged) sake.

Event details:
Nombe Namazake Tasting
Date: Thurs., March 18, 7 p.m.
Location: Nombe, 2491 Mission (at 21st St.), 681-7150
Price: $45 plus tax and tip