"Kanpai!" You may hear a few attendees joyously exclaim this Japanese phrase, equivalent to the English "Cheers!" at the fifth annual Northern California Premium Sake Fest. The event kicks off Wednesday at The Sheraton Grand. North American Food Distributions — importer and wholesale distributor for Asian food retailers — hand-selected over 100 of the finest sake, shochu and Japanese beers to be presented and tasted for this event. "Shochu is a distilled spirit," said Judy Inaba, event manager for North American Food Distributions Inc. "It is an old-style beverage, very popular in Japan." The drink can be mixed with different juices, much like vodka, for a desired taste, Inaba said. Ea

Saturday morning I contemplated whether or not I should eat breakfast. My stomach was inexperienced with grub crawls, the Eat Your Art Out Crawl would be my very first. I settled on eating something small. Luckily I lived close enough to walk to the captain meeting place and by the time I had gathered my team's bags and badges, my stomach was growling. Of the 18 restaurants and dining establishments in the Crawl, I had eaten at all of them but five.  My team, Team Snuffleupagus, started at Brew It Up! where a fruit platter and blue cheese kettle chips awaited. This was a good warmup for the digestive system, not too heavy, and easy to eat. Lucca was one of the restaurants I hadn't tri