Where do you go to buy Sake in Sydney? Dan Murphy’s? The Oak Barrel? At each you might find 30 different bottles, maybe 50 if you’re lucky. How about 100? That’s the minimum Chef’s Armoury aimed for when it opened Sakeshop in July 2017 – a cellar and workshop space dedicated to Japanese rice-based spirits.

The idea was born when Leigh and Stephane Hudson, Chef’s Armoury’s owners, were in Japan buying knives for the original store in Melbourne. They imported sake to Melbourne from then on, but Sakeshop has taken it to another level.

Rather than having a mix of every kind of style and region in Japan, the shop is more suited to the couple’s taste, and the Australian palate more broadly.

Sakeshop also hosts workshops to teach people about different sakes, how they’re made and how to find what you like.