October is the third annual Dining Month on OnMilwaukee.com. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, delicious features, chef profiles, unique articles on everything food, as well as the winners of our "Best of Dining 2009."

In keeping with the "Dining Month" theme for October, I want to focus for the next four weeks on a few local establishments and what makes them unique. To start things off, we are going to take a look at Sake, the restaurant responsible for bringing great sake to Wisconsin and why you should eat there.

Since opening nine years ago, Nanakusa, 408 E. Chicago St., has had one goal -- to bring traditional Japanese cuisine to Milwaukee.

If you are not familiar with sake, here are your Cliff's notes. Sake is made from rice. It is a brewed alcoholic beverage. There are varying degrees of quality determined by production and the amount milled away from each grain of rice. There are more than 30,000 unique sake labels, almost all from Japan. The unique and distinctive flavors of sake rival the most complex wines. (For limitless additional information about sake, you should definitely go to Nanakusa and speak with the owner, Richard Kaiser and the staff. Richard's knowledge and passion for sake and Japanese cuisine is incredible.)

Sake and Nanakusa
Before Nanakusa opened, there was very little decent sake to be had in the city. After years of pressuring his vendors to import and distribute quality sake from Japan, Richard was finally successful. Now instead of requesting to have the option to buy great sake, his vendors are begging him buy from their large sake portfolios.

When choosing a particular sake for the list at Nanakusa, his first goal is quality -- he is always looking for better product. There is a sake style for any taste from sweet to dry, clean and classic, to bold and complex. The beauty of sake is that when it comes to pairing with Japanese cuisine, sake is incredibly versatile. This gives the guest tremendous confidence when experimenting with sake.

The knowledgeable staff, under Richard's tutelage, takes the basic principles of sake pairing, combines that with the guests' individual preference and focuses on finding the perfect sake for you to enjoy. Richard had a few anecdotes involving one guest who loved scotch, another who only drank oaky red zinfandels and how he found the perfect sake for both of them which reflected certain characteristics of their beverages of choice.

I asked Richard which sakes he currently enjoys having on the list and current menu items to accompany them:

• Kurasawa "Kimoto" - a very affordable tier sake but still exhibits great koji style (ask Richard about koji) and contains subtle aromas but still has plenty of weight. He really likes to pair the "Kimoto" with tempura. The lightly fried seafood or vegetables really play nicely with the nuances of the earthy koji flavors.
• Mizbasho Ginjo "Water Plant" has wonderful anise and floral notes, and is beautifully feminine. This delicate sake pairs exceptionally well with sashimi and milder nigiri (Sashimi on top of rice).
• Shichiken Ginjo "7 Wisdoms" is a full, rich sake that remarkably enough, reminds the drinker of autumn. It contains gorgeous earthen notes, with smells of fresh foliage alongside great crisp acidity. Richard loves to pair this with the current special of Matsutaki mushrooms which Chef de Cuisine Ian Somerville is preparing three different ways.
• Katana Ginjo "Samurai Sword" is very dry, full flavored with subtle earth notes alongside crisp cedar. A full bodied sake like this pairs well with one of my favorite dishes, the Buta No Kaku Ni which is Japanese black pork slowly simmered in a savory/sweet sauce.

Nanakusa Philosophy
In order to adequately discuss what makes Nanakusa different and special, we need to first look at what makes traditional Japanese Cuisine so special.

Japanese cuisine as a cooking style has been around for more than a thousand years. At it's core is simplicity, and in order to attain perfection in simplicity, the freshness of the ingredients is essential. The cuisine style changes from region to region in Japan. Those areas inland focus on organically raised animals and fresh produce. Regions near the coasts obviously focus on fresh seafood. The portions are small, designed for maximal effect on the palate with the simplest of ingredients. In a country known for attention to detail and unparalleled craftsmanship, it is only natural that those qualities express themselves in the cuisine.

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2 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by sas_tarr on Oct. 5, 2009 at 1:25 p.m. (report)

I also want a tea ceremony!

Posted by eito on Oct. 5, 2009 at 8:55 a.m. (report)

this could have been one of the most painful reviews i have read on this website had i had the stomach for it to finish it..........wow!