Food and Jazz twice a month is worth the wait at Saburi

[jonkyo]

I went to Saburi last evening, 168 Lexington Ave. (between 30TH and 31ST), with wonderful food brought out to customers on nicely presented plates, and live music .

They had live jazz by Miki Yoshitake, who actually is not only a wonderful singer but an arranger. There was an artist, Amy, painting oils near the jazz band as they played, adding much to the poetry of this small restaurant, like a haiku.

Here is a promo for an earlier date

http://amytoart.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html

Miki and Amy at Saburi:

http://amytoart.blogspot.com/2011/04/charity-saburi.html

Miki

http://mikiyoshitake.blogspot.com/

I can't say anything about the food other then the fact that several fellow customers surrounding me at the bar ordered up dishes, mosly japanese cooked dishes, that looked so wonderful. I had already eaten much sashimi at Umi Japanese Restaurant (owned and staffed by wonderful chefs from Fuzhou, China), so when I stumbled upon Saburi I was only able to take beer, part of their very nice selection of drinks, that includes wines of the Japanese variety .

The staff is mostly from Japan, and the atmoshere is very relaxing in a small comfortable space with tables to sit at. Japanese themed decor.

It is so unfortunate that they only have live jazz two times every month, but I was very fortunate to have stumbled upon this place during one of those evenings.

Find the menu on their website.

http://www.saburiny.com/

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Saburi
168 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016

Umi Sushi
118 E 31st St, New York, NY 10016

[Silverjay]

I've only had lunch here a few times. This is a Wafu-Chuka place meaning it specializes in Japanese takes on Chinese food. Mostly sort of homey classics. I've heard there is a night scene there and always wondered about all the bottle keep bottles lined up. Interesting to hear about live jazz, etc.

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Saburi
168 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016

[jonkyo]

The bottle thing is a fashion in Japan and Taiwan, and to some extent Mainland China.

It is nice, I used to do it, but not here. It is a regular thing, and is actually economical and convenient.

They do have this wonderful beverage called Ichiko. I have had many a pleasent time enjoying that, but have never seen it in the states until Saburi.

Here is a photograph of that particular bottle:

http://whiskeygoldmine.com/downtown-b...

I saw Lau's good article on Siburi's food, and will have to check into that. Like I said, I had filled my belly with raw fish before hand, and judged the food by what I saw, and it all looked good.

[Silverjay]

Iichiko is a standard brand of wheat shochu. It's available at pretty much any Japanese restaurants. Also easy to find at large liquor stores like Astor and Warehouse.

I have some bottles keeping at Japanese places around town, but might have let the deadline slip. Used to have a place in Tokyo with a bottomless bottle keep.

[jonkyo]

I have seen it at large stores, yes.

I have never asked or seen it at Japanese restaurants here though obviously they stock it. So, I should rephrase that as I have not seen it in a bar in the states.

[Silverjay]

Any Japanese restaurants with a liquor license will serve it or an equivalent brand as serving shochu is the primary reason to acquire the license. Hatchan and Uminoie are two Japanese sochu bars in the city. God, it would be my dream if shochu were more widely available here.

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Uminoie
86 E 3rd St, New York, NY 10003

Hatchan
210 E 44th St, New York, NY 10017

[Chinon00]

I love food and jazz but not together. Each deserve my uninterrupted attention;] Place looks great tho'.

[jonkyo]

I understand such a contention, and am myself of the sorts that would prefer all music listening to be done through observing performances. They serve no food at Royal Albert Hall, but one can eat as many hot dogs and bags of pop corn as one desires at Nicks games or in Yankee stadium.

Thus said, we must remember the roots of jazz, which is not found in Japan, but in New York City, and these roots are found not in Yankee Stadium, but in watering holes of the era, and smoke filled bar, that served food as well as drink.

A good movie that depicts these roots to some extent is The Gene Krupa Story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MY24t...

Or do a seach for sence to this film.

It should be added that Japan has for decades fostered some world renouned jazz musicians, such as Junko Moriya, in late 70s and 1980s, and she is not to be confused with another Junko, Junko Onishi, who is a much later celebrated Japanese jazz pianist. Also, Sadao Watanabe is someone not to be missed in any survey of Japanese jazz musicians. Miki is from this tradition, and performs in NYC, and I must say, if your contention is to listen and not eat, arrive early to Saburi, eat and visit with your guests, then enjoy the jazz, because the food, as I saw it presented, is not to be missed.

[Chinon00]

"Thus said, we must remember the roots of jazz .. found in.. watering holes of the era, and smoke filled bar, that served food as well as drink."

When discussing the roots of jazz specifically during the pre-bebop era the music was primarily for dancing. That changed w/ Charlie Parker and others who took jazz from being dance music to art music. Having said that drinks and nibbles at the bar or at your table while listening to live jazz are fine as far as I'm concerned.

[jonkyo]

I forget the exact title, but the recording is found on compact disc, and it is live. Charlie Parker with Jimmy Smith and I forget the others, but it is an amazing recording.

I find Eric Dolphey to be the one who brought jazz to new horizons, and that is just me. Thus said, the recording industry and producers took jazz and made it into a commondity, sort of what happened to bluegrass when country music was born. And your point is quite a good one.

I recommend High Lonesome, The Story of Bluegrass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujeZw4...

And to keep with the topic of food, I will add that performances in the high courts during feudal times were often observed while the rulers wined and dined. And for the peasants, celebration was always accompanied with food drink dance and live entertainment.

Its all at Seburi, whether you're a peasant of a feudal ruler, twice a month.

Thanks for that historical note.

[Polecat]

Don't forget Sleepy Matsumoto.
P.