An Advanced Sake Professional, Business Owner and Marketing Consultant living in Brookline + Brooklyn.

Fueled by over 15 years in hospitality, Alyssa is the proud owner of The Koji Club, an internationally acclaimed sake bar based in Boston and home of a strong community of sake enthusiasts who celebrate, learn about and drink really good sake. The club’s goal is to reframe Japanese sake from an esoteric, hangover inducing, sushi companion (insert sake bomb here) to an approachable everyday beverage choice through nontraditional partnerships, unique learning experiences and Boston’s first sake bar.

In this role, Alyssa has been recognized by top industry media like Wine Enthusiast in their annual ‘40 Under 40’ list and Imbibe magazine’s  ‘Imbibe 75’. Internationally, the bar was placed on Condé Nast Traveller’s 2023 Hot List and nationally, the bar was named as one of Esquire’s “Best New Bars in America” in 2023 and one of “19 Restaurants That Defined Dining in America This Year” by Resy. Locally, Boston magazine named her Best Beverage Director in Boston for 2022.

While this recognition is warmly received, the club is a vessel for her lifelong dedication to alternative ways of learning and food centric beverage study. She promises to help you find your favorite glass of sake on the menu and always keep your cup full. 

News

Esquire

Best Bars in America 2023

It was dark, late, and raining when I got to Koji Club, located in the Charles River Speedway, a little collection of bars and restaurants and shops that’s about a 20 minute car ride away from Downtown Boston. Perhaps it was the time and the weather when I arrived, but it felt like a world away here more Tokyo than Beantown. It specializes in sake, a first of its kind in these parts. And it’s tiny: no more than 16 seats in the place, and the bar itself has about seven stools. There was only one other person there that evening, but within minutes we all started to feel like friends deep into a sake journey that brought us through junmai made using the yeast from flowers style to even a bottle made in Massachusetts. When I left, the rain had stopped, and for a moment, I did feel like I had just stepped out of a bar in Tokyo. What you’re having: If they’ve got it, an aged Yuho sake that might change your mind about having sake with bigger bolder foods.

By Kevin Sintumuang
June 1, 2023

Condé Nast Traveler

International Hot List 2023

Nothing can stop a Bostonian with a plan, and Alyssa Mikiko DiPasquale is no exception—her endeavor to open the city's greatest sake bar is a wild success.

First impression?

It takes a certain degree of intention to show up to a place like the Koji Club. It's located in the Charles River Speedway, and adorable development with small-format shops and restaurants, yet not (yet) blessed with busy foot traffic (there's rumors of Western Avenue's forthcoming development boom); and "Boston's first sake bar" sounds like a niche concept that might not appeal to everyone. That being said, foodies in this town know and love Koji Club's founder Alyssa Mikiko Dipasquale, who for years ran the show at legendary omakase restaurant O Ya. Where Dipasquale goes, the city's most discerning eaters and drinkers will follow, including this, her latest project. With just 16 seats and 250 square feet of space, it has the intimate atmosphere of an authentic Japanese bar, and a truly enviable list of sakes and Japanese whiskeys, to boot.

(cont.)

By Todd Plummer
April 27, 2023

Resy

19 Restaurants That Defined Dining in America This Year

Thanks to an archaic liquor licensing system that punishes small proprietors and privileges deep-pocketed restaurant groups, true epicurean surprises are a rarity in Boston. But that’s just the right description for The Koji Club — Boston’s first-ever sake bar. Situated in the Speedway, a converted horse-racing track turned marketplace, and with just 16 seats and nary 250 square feet, the establishment’s tiny size proves a boon to its core mission: educating drinkers on sake produced near and far.

With an intimate setting that melds the hospitality of a corner bar with the openness of a college classroom, it’s of little surprise that a curious city formerly parched of sake knowledge has enthusiastically drunk in founder Alyssa Mikiko DiPasquale’s vision — just in time for a burgeoning sake awakening across the country. You’ll drink well, and also snack well on caviar with potato chips, Japanese potato salad, mushroom miso soup, and Basque cheesecake — perfect little doses of sake-friendly umami.

By Eric Twardzik
November 30, 2023