Nightclub & Bar 2016

Michael John Simkin
Principal
MJS Sake Selections


With extensive experience in the wine and spirits industry, and having visited more than 50 saké breweries on 40 separate trips to Japan, Michael John Simkin, 47, is one of the preeminent saké experts in the field. After moving smoothly through all the major areas of the industry, Mr. Simkin has found his calling in saké. Along the way, he has garnered the expertise necessary for an unsurpassed mastery of saké (nihonshu). As Mr. Simkin says, his knowledge stretches “from the mouth of the tank to the mouth of the consumer.” Mr. Simkin’s fascination with the culinary world surfaced while he was growing up in the Finger Lakes region of Central New York, where he worked on farms, and it was later cultivated by years spent at jobs in restaurants while he attended high school and college. By this time, Mr. Simkin had developed a love for Japanese culture, studying Japanese language and pursuing a degree in East Asian Cultural studies at Cornell University and the University of Rochester. This marriage of Japanese culture and restaurant experience would later blend harmoniously in his current role as a saké expert.

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