bento box - Articles and Posts from Slashfood

Posts with tag bento box

Spider Bento - Feast Your Eyes

Posted Oct 26th 2009 10:00AM by Alexa Weibel
Filed under: Halloween, Feast Your Eyes

Although we've been especially weary of spiders ever since a Toronto man brought a black widow home with him from Whole Foods, the creativity of this festive meal charmed us. Combining potato croquettes, fish salad and salmon rice, this Halloween bento box masterfully created a spooky -- and very leggy -- spider made out of seaweed perched atop rice.

For more visually satisfying edible feasts, check out Reiko's Bento Lab on Flickr, for everything from a depiction of mustachioed Dali on rice to a bento box artfully sculpted into a face. If the food components weren't equally ingenious as their appearances, the meals would be too good to eat. Either way, one thing is certain: Never has playing with your food looked so good.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

Wine, Wild Salmon and Worcestershire - The New York Times in 60 Seconds

Posted Oct 21st 2009 12:00PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: In Sixty Seconds

Fresh hops. Photo: david.nikonvscanon, Flickr.

A guide to beer additive hops, and the differences between what's fresh and dried.
The Minimalist makes Bok Choy with Shiitakes and Oyster Sauce.
Why do San Francisco residents eat local so fervently, yet drink European wines? Plus: A look at the primo vino locales in the Bay Area.
Room for Debate peeks into bento-box culture, wondering what aesthetically pleasing food says about Japan.
Michael Bao Huynh may think he's just a businessman, but he's building an empire of Vietnamese-inspired restaurants.
Avenue C's Summit Bar serves up classy cocktails with a side of laidback conversation.
Free and clear of "Gourmet," Ruth Reichl partakes in a Q&A with the Times.
A Good Appetite amps up wild salmon with brown butter cucumbers.
Recipe Redux takes a recipe for homemade Worcestershire sauce from 1876 and compares it to modern concoctions.
Food and Travel: Restaurateur Terence Conran starts new establishments in London, exploring the food of Charlevoix, Quebec farm country and Singapore's culinary melting pot.
Central Park South's Marea offers pricey seafood and atmosphere that's "unfussy, as welcoming as a luxe clubhouse."
$25 and Under finds a bunch of notable and classic Manhattan food carts.
Food Stuff finds: Kobe-style beef, fresh meats at Chelsea Market and crab apples.
New York's openings and closings and food calendar.

Bento Boom Hits Bay Area

Posted Apr 22nd 2009 5:00PM by Alex Van Buren
Filed under: Lunch, Dinner, Restaurants, New Products, America

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are embarking upon a Bento Boom. The prettily packaged (often very elaborate) box lunch has been around in Japan since the 1600s, has its share of obsessives stateside, and now boasts an upscale San Francisco Bay Area entrepreneur as its, uh, bentoperson. Meet Peko-Peko (Japanese for "hungry").

How can a simple, typically cheap boxed lunch go upscale? Well, owner Sylvan Brackett's restaurant background is at Alice Waters' famed local eatery Chez Panisse. His tribute to the food of his childhood -- his mother is Japanese -- do not come cheap. When they're so gorgeously presented in beautiful "to go" boxes, or on traditional servingware when catered, we'd be inclined to shell out the $25 minimum. (Full disclosure: We sampled Brackett's incredible potstickers as college acquaintances). Seasonal, organic ingredients might include Marin Sun Pork Kakuni (soy and sake-simmered pork belly) with chrysanthemum greens or a layered box of Dungeness crab, pork cutlet, local pickled ginger and Brackett's house-brined umeboshi (pickles).

Though gourmet bento has not yet charmed all of America, Brackett studied the cuisine in Japan and declares, "Beautifully laid out food is common there." How does Mom feel about him taking the casual food she served him as a tot and bringing it to the Alice Waters crowd? "She thinks it's amusing."

Box Lunch: Fruity fishies

Posted Aug 25th 2008 12:00PM by Emily Matchar
Filed under: Lunch, Fish, Fruit, Food Oddities

For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. The boxes can range from austere lacquered trays to multi-tiered Hello Kitty confections of neon pink plastic. The meals themselves are anything from rice and leftovers to elaborate themed affairs of Pikachu-shaped dumplings with sesame seed eyes and carved radish trees. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.

Today's adorable creation, courtesy of Aylanah, is a seascape where a kumquat fishie swims atop a dried plum-filled rice ball, blowing sesame seed bubbles. Below, a ginger root fish wriggles past a colorful reef of blueberries, raspberries, squash and cucumber.

Feast Your Eyes: Mr. Bento lunch

Posted Jul 2nd 2008 8:29AM by Marisa McClellan
Filed under: Lunch, Feast Your Eyes

a series of four bento box levels packed with food

I've always enjoyed the energy and care that people put into packing bento box lunches. I love checking out the stuff that Biggie creates on Lunch in a Box and Jennifer McCann's Vegan Lunch Box was once one of my daily blog stops (she doesn't update as regularly as she used to). Today's bento image comes to us from Kate, a regular commenter and photo uploader around these parts. She's packed up a delicious and abundant lunch that has me wishing she'd come to my house and pack me a mid-day meal.

Thanks for adding your image to the Slashfood Flickr pool, Kate!

Holy Hello Kitty hotness in a bento box

Posted Aug 21st 2007 10:31PM by Sarah J. Gim
Filed under: Lunch, Food Porn, Grains, Vegetables, Asia, Eggs, Rice

Originally, I was going to call this post "Kitty Porn," but in the wrong context, it just wouldn't be right.

Kitty Porn or not, this is quite possibly the most elaborate, intricate bento box I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of bento boxes. Not only is it Hello Kitty (you all know how much I love the little white, mouthless kitty, right?), but it's Hello Kitty in a lettuce (maybe it's cabbage?) leaf Totoro costume, surrounded by all the flowers, bugs and creatures of the forest. I have no idea if someone actually got to eat this masterpiece. All I know is that the most elaborate bento lunch I'd ever get is Mr. Bento.

[via: Fashionably Cute]

Mr. Bento gets a girlfriend

Posted Jan 31st 2007 2:03PM by Sarah J. Gim
Filed under: Lunch, Asia, Raves & Reviews, New Products

We here at Slashfood love the idea of bento, whether it is marvelling at the amazing home creations of Japanese mothers for their family, pointing to sites that are fanatical about bento, or finding cool gadgets to take bento yourself. Last year Nick showed us Mr. Bento, a handy canister made by Zojirushi for carrying your lunch, but it seems that Mr. Bento has landed himself a girlfriend, Ms. Bento!

Now I'm not quite sure what makes this bento box a "Ms." but it makes me wonder if Zojirushi believes that Ms. Bento is supposed to be carried by women and Mr Bento by men. Ms. Bento differs from the "Mr." in that it's a lovely pastel blue or violet rather than sleek silver and comes with a handy matching handbag, as opposed to the somewhat boring black drawstring tote. It also only has two containers for food rather than four. If I were carrying bento to the office or school, I think I'd still want to carry the Mr.

Baby's first bento box

Posted Jun 21st 2006 2:29PM by Joe DiStefano
Filed under: Fish, Culinary Kids, New Products, Shellfish

Why give your child boring toy food along the lines of plastic bacon and hamburgers when they can have their very own bento box to play with. How cool is that? I only wish that there was such a thing as plush sushi toys when I was but a wee gourmand.

Spoon Sisters makes the play set, which comes with several pieces of sushi, a California roll, chopsticks, and wasabi. Each piece of sushi is also velcroed so that little hands can disassemble and reassemble the toy treats. No mention as to whether it contains any fugu.

[via The Food Section]

Overachiever bento boxes

Posted Mar 26th 2006 1:51PM by Sarah J. Gim
Filed under: Lunch, Asia, On the Blogs

We certainly love bento boxes here at Slashfood. I think I am utterly fascinated by this utter fascination with such incredible artistry in a lunchbox. It is something that is so foreign to me as an American. When I was in elementary school, I think the most creative thing I took to school for lunch was gim-bahp, and when that happened I was totally embarrassed that I didn't have something normal like a sandwich.

If you're as amazed as I am by these miniature masterpieces, take a peek at yet another site dedicated to bento boxes. The site is in Japanese, but the creativity and detail in the photos need no translation.

Bento box lunch ideas

Posted Jan 29th 2006 12:15PM by Nick Vagnoni
Filed under: Lunch, Recipes, How To

I recently found a site that deserves a mention if only for its name: My Lunch Can Beat Up Your Lunch! A self-described "ode to bento lunches," the site has photos, descriptions and recipes for roughly 100 different compartmentalized, on-the-go meals. The recipes are very straightforward and many, but not all, have Asian influences. There's yakitori and gyoza, but also chicken salad sandwiches and fried plantains. All in all, good for inspiration if you're looking to mix up what you pack for lunch every day.

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Spider Bento - Feast Your Eyes

Wine, Wild Salmon and Worcestershire - The New York Times in 60 Seconds

Bento Boom Hits Bay Area

Box Lunch: Fruity fishies

Feast Your Eyes: Mr. Bento lunch

Holy Hello Kitty hotness in a bento box

Mr. Bento gets a girlfriend

Baby's first bento box

Overachiever bento boxes

Bento box lunch ideas

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