Last summer, for my birthday I invited my closest friends to my home to join me for a Japanese themed dinner party. We had so much fun!

To prepare for the party I ordered authentic Japanese bento boxes (which are actually Japanese “lunch” boxes). I had experienced a bento box dinner at a wonderful restaurant at the Mall of America here in Minnesota called “California Cafe.” I decided to duplicate this elegant serving style at my dinner party.

Traditionally a bento box has a different little section for each course of the meal. The bento boxes I purchased have 4 compartments. One for a salad course, one for an appetizer course, one for a rice course, and one for a meat/vegetable course. There is a tiny compartment located in the center of the bento box for a desired condiment that will enhance the meal (such as hot mustard, sweet and sour, or fish sauce to go with wontons or eggrolls.) A sample menu for a bento box would be:

• Appetizer Course- Eggrolls, dim sum, or wontons with hot mustard and fish sauce
• Salad Course- Cole Slaw tossed with mayo, sunflower seeds, a dash of cayenne pepper, a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and honey, and shredded carrots.
• Meat/Vegetable course- Cooked chicken or pork chunks tossed with stir fry veggies, Japanese noodles, and peanut sauce.
• Rice Course-Sushi is always my first choice…or, brown rice with butter and soy sauce.

I set the table with a golden organza table cloth and the 4 bento boxes, chop sticks and forest green organza party favor bags that held a bag of “Tazo-Zen” tea, a sake-rose votive candle, and the menu as a keepsake.

On my fireplace mantle I embellished two large glass cylinder hurricane lanterns with Japanese newspaper (as seen in my book “Welcome Home” on page 47.) I also included a crystal vase filled with faux bamboo. The mantle had a understated “Zen” elegance that set the stage for our “Journey to Japan.”

Some other fun ideas for a “Journey to Japan” party would include:

• Wear kimonos!
• Burn incense.
• Set up an indoor fountain. The sound is so relaxing.
• Play the soundtrack to “Memoirs of a Geisha“… the perfect background music for this occasion!
• Warm, almond or lemon scented washcloths offered to each guest before the meal.
• Ice cold sake served in hollowed out cucumber sake cups.
• Sencha and green tea ice cream served in authentic Japanese rice bowls for dessert.

Enjoy!