Late last year, we sat down with Jakub Horák, a Czech chef who specializes in Japanese washoku cuisine, and the winner of the 2022 Washoku World Challenge, a global Japanese cooking competition for non-Japanese chefs.
We chatted with Jakub about his time studying and competing in Japan, the state of washoku in Europe, and more.
Happy New Year! Japanese Food is back, with a very special guest!
Mike Satinover, AKA Ramen_Lord on Reddit and Instagram, is a modern legend in the English-speaking ramen world.
We sat down last year with Mike to chat about all things ramen, as well as learn more about his recently opened restaurant in Chicago, Akahoshi Ramen.
We're back, this time with something a little different! We sat down and chatted with Chris Mahmood
Chris joined the Bento&co team recently, relocating to Kyoto from Akkeshi, Hokkaido where he was living for 6 years. During his time there as an English teacher on the JET program, Chris came to love Hokkaido for its breathtaking scenery, fascinating wildlife, and, of course, mouth-watering cuisine.
We sat down to chat about life and food in Hokkaido, as well as share some of our recent favorite spots in Kyoto.
In this episode, we had the privilege of sitting down for a fascinating conversation with our Kyoto neighbor, Randy Channell Soei.
Randy Channell Soei, a Canadian tea master of the Urasenke tradition is an author and long term resident of Kyoto.
In our conversation we hear about Soei sensei's matcha cafe ran Hotei, his journey to becoming a tea master, and more.
We’re excited to share this conversation with you, featuring Yuji Haraguchi, a chef passionate about fish. Yuji is the founder and owner of OKONOMI Yuji ramen, Osakana Brooklyn, and Osakana East Village in New York City. We chatted about Yuji’s favorite fish (Medai—Japanese Sea Bream), why he wanted to introduce Mazemen to America, the Japanese philosophy of "Mottainai" that guides his work, and much more!
In this episode, we have something unique in store for you. Instead of a featured guest, you'll be hearing from us, your hosts Jeweliann and Thomas (the founder of Bento&co)!While we aren't experts on Japanese cuisine, we've lived in Japan for 40+ years combined and our love for the food is undeniable. Tune in to hear us discuss our favorite Japanese dishes, food trends of 2022 (did someone say scallop oatmeal?), and some possibly contentious opinions on Japanese food.
We’re back with another episode, this time with sommelier, shochu advisor and food tour guide, Yukari Sakamoto.
Yukari is the author of Food Sake Tokyo, a fantastic English-language guide devoted specifically to eating and drinking in Tokyo.
We talk about Sho-chu, Shokado bento, Yukari’s experience working as a
sommelier at Takashimaya department store + Park Hyatt Tokyo, and much more!
We were so happy to speak with the UK-based, American chef and cookbook author Tim Anderson. After relocating to London from Japan, Tim won BBC’s MasterChef in 2011 and went on to open the Japanese ‘ramen izakaya’ restaurant Nanban. Tim is the author of 6 cookbooks on Japanese food, most recently “JapanEasy Bowls & Bento: Simple and Satisfying Japanese Recipes for All Day, Every Day”
We talk about Tim’s favorite conbini, the TV show Iron Chef, Eki-ben, Ainu cuisine and much more!
We're back! On Episode 4, we had the honor of speaking with Elizabeth Andoh, who is widely regarded as the leading English-language expert on Washoku. Trained formally at the prestigious Yanagihara School of Classical Japanese Cuisine (Tokyo), Elizabeth now directs A Taste of Culture, a Tokyo based culinary arts program. In our conversation she shares about the features of washoku and washoku as a "mindset", how
washoku guidelines are the roadmap to making amazing bento, and the bento that she would make for her granddaughter!
We’re excited to share episode 3 of our podcast with you, featuring Momoko Nakamura. Momoko is an author and online food educator who is passionate about cultural conservation and the intersection of food and environmental responsibility. We talked about how the wisdom of Japanese traditions can help us in our modern age, allowing us to discover the goodness of plant-based eating and low-waste lifestyles! While we talked, we also got to sample some delicious foods from a wonderful zero-waste shop and deli here in Kyoto called Totoya.
We loved getting to chat with Marc Matsumoto—culinary consultant, chef and host of the NHK show, Bento Expo.
Even in our brief conversation, Marc shared so many fascinating tidbits of food science and food history.
Hear why his food blog is named "No Recipes", his passion for educating people about cooking techniques, the story of potatoes and how bento is good for our physical and mental health!
We’re kicking off the podcast with a conversation with Makiko Itoh, who's been writing online about Japanese food for over 15 years and writes the Japanese Kitchen column for the Japan Times. If you enjoy making bento or eating Japanese food, you're probably familiar with her wonderful blogs and best selling “Just Bento” cookbooks. If not, you're missing out!
Hear how Makiko decided to share her love of Japanese food online after experiencing burnout as a web developer and how her blog about bento inspired Thomas to start selling bento boxes online. We talk about sushi, Spaghetti Napolitan, the Japanese pear fairy Funassyi and more.