Top Houston Sushi Restaurant to Put On a Sake Dinner Like No Other, Zooming Participants to Japan and Back

Kata Robata Gets Creative During the Coronavirus Pandemic

BY Shelby Hodge // 08.03.20

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Three bottles of Dassai sake are included in the Zoom dinner from Kata Robata.

Dassai president Kazuhiro Sakurai will lead the saki tasting via Zoom. (Photo courtesy of Dassai)

The Zoom dinner with Kata Robata will take diners into the Dassai sake fermentation room. (Photo courtesy of Dessai)

Inside the Dassai koji room (Photo courtesy of Dassai)

Kata Robata chef Manabu "Hori" Horiuchi

Consider this is one of the most creative dinners of the COVID-19 era — a Zoom affair that stretches from the kitchen of Kata Robata to Yamaguchi, Japan, and the Dassai sake brewery. Rounding out the dinner table will be Dassai president Kazuhiro Sakurai; Bradley Bailey, curator of Asian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Kata Robata chef Manabu “Hori” Horiuchi and assistant general manager Emmanuelle Massicot.

While participants dine at home on the omakase/bento box dinner and tune in on Zoom on August 20, the headliners mentioned above will lead the conversation on Japanese food, drink and art.

The dinner menu — hot and cold dishes, sushi and sashimi in custom wood packing — will be paired with three 300 mL bottles of Dassai sake for a special tasting. This is Kata Robata’s description of the three sakes:

Dassai 23: The rice milling of 23 percent is the highest milling of all commercial sake and is said to have a gorgeous aroma of melons and peaches and a long, elegant finish.

Dassai 39: With its rice milling of 39 percent, it is a second best quality (after DASSAI 23). It has smooth and mellow taste with refreshing finish.

Dassai 45 Nigori: Flavor and aroma are both lively and refreshing with expert balance between sweetness and dryness.

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Sakurai will lead diners through the tasting, joined by Chef Hori, himself a certified sake specialist.

“We prefer to host special dinners and tastings in our dining room so we can interact and feed guests in person,” Chef Hori said in a statement. “However, a virtual dinner and tasting like this gives us the opportunity to truly go global. We can visit Japan and dine in Houston at the same time, while participating in a conversation with leaders in Japanese art, drink and food. I can’t wait.”

The tariff is $200 per person with food and sake available for pickup at Kata Robata between 5 and 6 pm on August 20. Those interested can purchase tickets by contacting emu.kata.robata@gmail.com.