Hanna Lee Communications (HLC), an award-winning public relations agency specializing in hospitality and travel, announces its first book, The Japanese Art of the Cocktail, which is being published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on June 1, 2021. Co-authored by the agency’s first book authors, Masahiro Urushido and Michael Anstendig, the book is now available at independent bookstores nationwide, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Part memoir, part drinking guide and part recipe book, Urushido shares more than 90 recipes spanning cocktails and bar fare from Katana Kitten, one of the world’s most acclaimed cocktail bars. It also includes recipes from top bartenders in Japan and the U.S. who work in this style. The book includes stunning photographs by the renowned photographer, Eric Medsker.
Starting with the The Japanese Art of the Cocktail, Hanna Lee Communications is breaking new ground in the food & beverage sphere by building its clients’ cutting-edge, lifestyle brands through long-form storytelling. This author-centric, marketing-forward undertaking represents an exciting new approach to book publishing. The agency uniquely identifies inspiring authors and compelling subjects to bring biographical hospitality books to life. To create maximum visibility and ensure success, the agency provides PR and digital marketing services that are built into every phase of the process.
“The Japanese Art of the Cocktail book project is an example of our agency’s innovation series that furthers brand building, where we take our clients to the next level,” says Hanna Lee, President and Founder, Hanna Lee Communications, Inc. “It has been wonderful to work with the talented team at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. We chose to partner with them because we previously publicized two of their successful cocktail books written by our client, The Dead Rabbit.”
Urushido shares his first-person perspective on his rise in the world of bartending, first in Tokyo, then in New York City. His career culminates in the opening of Katana Kitten, the Japanese-American bar that debuted at #14 on The World’s 50 Best Bars list and earned the “Best New American Cocktail Bar” Spirited Award at Tales of the Cocktail, one of the drinks industry’s highest accolades.
Co-author Anstendig is Editor in Chief at Hanna Lee Communications and a contributor to David Wondrich’s upcoming book, The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails. He is also a freelance journalist, whose work has appeared in the New York Times, The New York Observer, The New York Daily News, Time Out New York and Nation’s Restaurant News. In addition, Anstendig has reviewed more than 200 restaurants for New York magazine’s website.
