Ultimate Bento

“The hosts of Bento Expo, Marc Matsumoto and Maki Ogawa, make bento meals accessible to North American cooks with expert Japanese touches in their new book Ultimate Bento.” —The Vancouver Sun“It brings practical techniques, step-by-step instructions, and useful tips for 85 recipes that can be mixed-and-matched for 25 nutritionally balanced bento box lunches.” —Parenting Healthy blog“…features a fun and exciting combination of bento boxes along with helpful tips and tricks for both beginners and more experienced bento makers.” —Tara’s Multicultural Table blog

Marc Matsumoto is the host of the popular NHK World television series Bento Expo, which seeks to teach the world about the craft of bento making (currently in its fourth series and scheduled for a fifth). He is also a professional chef, restaurant consultant and food blogger. Born in Japan, raised in Australia and the U.S. and now back in Japan, Marc is uniquely suited to bridging culinary cultures and bringing these recipes to audiences around the world. You can keep up with him on social media @norecipes.

Maki Ogawa is the co-host of Bento Expo and the author of Yum-Yum Bento Box and Yum-Yum Bento Box All Year Round (Quirk Books). A Japanese working mom of two sons, Maki has been making bentos for her family every day for the last fifteen years. She shares her wealth of bento-making expertise not just on TV and through her cookbooks, but also on her Instagram @cuteobento.