Yoshiko Ueno-Müller Managing Director
Sake is the elixir of the Japanese soul
Yoshiko Ueno-Müller, born in Tokyo, is committed to the harmony of European and Japanese culinary culture. Yoshiko Ueno-Müller is an IHK-certified sommelier, sake expert assessor (NRIB) and the first female, and the first person who does not live in Japan to pass the difficult "Master of Sake Tasting" exam. As the founder of UENO GOURMET and Sake & Shochu Academy Europe, she is committed to the Japanese gourmet culture and to train sake sommeliers. In October 2011, she was named SAKE SAMURAI by the Association of Sake Brewers for her services to the promotion of sake culture. She received the special award from the Foreign Office of Japan in 2015. Contact: ueno@japan-gourmet.com
Jörg Müller Managing Director
Sake is a wonderful pairing with all kinds of food – not only Japanese
Born in Lübeck, he has been enthusiastic about Japanese culinary culture since studying in Japan and is passionate about promoting it. The wine lover quickly recognized the value of premium sake and helped build the company Ueno Gourmet. To this end, he received further training as a wine consultant and sake sommelier as well as completing the Japan Sake & Shochu Academy, the WSET Level 3 Award in Sake and the Sake Diploma of the Japan Sommelier Association. Jörg Müller is now sharing his pleasure in premium sake and his knowledge of this traditional Japanese drink with other connoisseurs. Contact: mueller@japan-gourmet.com
Agija Immenroth Sales Manager
The point where you get stuck with wine, that’s exactly where sake starts
Agija Immenroth was born in Latvia. That’s where she studied Cultural Management and Directing after graduating from high school. During her studies, she worked in various positions in Marketing & Sales, and it was during this time that she discovered her love for gastronomy. After successfully completing her studies, she moved to Germany in 2013. This marked her start in the gastronomy industry. Her gastronomic career includes various selected bars in Riga and Hanover. During this time, she also approached the subject of wine and sake. In 2018, together with her partner, she opened "Mon Bonheur" - a French bar with classic French cuisine. Standing behind the counter and combining tastes is her absolute passion. That is why she attended the German Wine and Sommelier School in Koblenz in 2019, from which she graduated as IHK-certified sommelier. She took WSET Level 3 Awards in Wines, and participated to several cocktail competitions and numerous moderated tastings. This was followed by positions as a sommelier at the Insel restaurant, as a wine consultant at Ludwig von Kapff and finally as a sommelier at the Romantik Hotel Alte Münze in Goslar.
Agija is the contact for our customers in northern and eastern Germany. Contact: agija@japan-gourmet.com
Eric Walsh Sales & Marketing
Sake is the reflection of hundreds of years of craftsmanship
Having grown up in Boston, Massachusetts, Eric completed classic chefs training at multiple restaurants in the city while simultaneously completing his studies in Environmental Science at Harvard University. Having long been obsessed with everything flavour-related, his cooking career brought him promptly to an intense connection with sake and wine. When he relocated to Germany in 2020, he finally made the transition to the beverage industry. He worked most recently as the Sales Lead at Weinhandlung Suff in Berlin-Kreuzberg whilst completing his WSET Level 3 Award in Wines and also doing private wine consulting as well as running his own small-production cider brand, Domaine Eminent, on the side. He adds to the excellent UENO GOURMET Team experience with a multitude of different sake styles and his significant interest in sake-pairings. He is excited to continue his journey with sake and is currently studying for his JSA Sake Diploma.
Eric is the contact for our customers in northern and eastern Germany. Contact: eric@japan-gourmet.com
Isabel Fukuda Pichler Sales Manager
With every sip of sake you can travel and discover the cultural landscape of Japan
Isabel is our language specialist in the team. The native Italian speaks fluent German, French, English, and Japanese in addition to her mother tongue Italian! Born in Bolzano, after graduating from high school she first attended Ca' Foscari University in Venice, where she completed a bachelor's degree at the Institute for East Asian Languages, Economic and Legal Institutions. From there, she went to Freie Universität Berlin for her master's degree in Japanese Studies. During her six-year degree, she spent three semesters abroad in Japan - most recently in Tokyo, where she has also lived and worked in Sales & Marketing for the past ten years. Her work has taken her all over Japan, from Hokkaido to Okinawa, where she established a strong contact network and also experienced local delicacies, including sake. Isabel moved to Germany in August 2022 to face new challenges, both professionally and privately. Here she successfully passed J.S.A. Sake Diploma International in October 2022. Isabel would like to share her passion for Japan, Japanese culture and of course sake with you!
Isabel is the contact person for our customers in western Germany. Contact: isabel@japan-gourmet.com
Julia Lutter Sales Manager
Sake is the best medicine!
Born and raised in Lower Bavaria, after graduating from high school, she completed a classic apprenticeship as a hotel manager at the Althoff Hotel am Schlossgarten in Stuttgart. Her professional career took her to well-known companies such as the Arlberg Hospiz Hotel, the Steigenberger Hotel Graf Zeppelin together with Anton Gschwendtner, the Königshof in Munich or Geisels Werneckhof, where she worked as a maître-sommelier for 6 years with Tohru Nakamura. The chef's Japanese influence sparked her love for sake. She deepened her sake knowledge through further education, such as the WSET Level 3 Award in Sake in 2018 and the J.S.A. Sake Diploma in 2019. Most recently she took over the management of the restaurant at Victor's Fine Dining by Christian Bau, which has been awarded three Michelin stars. Now she looks after our customers from the gastronomy, hotel and trade sectors in Bavaria and Austria with training courses, menu and sales shelf design, sake pairing suggestions and moderating and organizing sake food events.
Julia is the contact person for our customers in Bavaria and Austria. Contact: julia@japan-gourmet.com
Naomi Ito Sales Manager
Good sake doubles our joy and divides our grief
Born in the sake brewery related family, Naomi is a big sake fan from early years. Her hobby is Kimono and Nihon Buyou (Japanese dance) and she likes to present sake in style. She always does her best to serve and present sake in an authentic Japanese atmosphere. She is a holder of WSET Level 3 Award in Sake. Contact: ito@japan-gourmet.com
Sayaka Hugot Marketing Manager
The more you know about sake, the more you want to enjoy it
Born in Kobe, a city renowned for its sake, she was raised in a shinto shrine where sake was always part of the rituals. She married a French man and moved to France to discover and enjoy a new food culture. She then moved to Germany, with a new range for her palate to enjoy. This is where she started working for UENO GOURMET allowing her to reignite her passion for sake. She passed the WSET Level 3 Award in Sake and is now busy with enriching her knowledge while spreading the delicious culture of sake through UENO GOURMET. Contact: sayaka@japan-gourmet.com