Yikes! Sold out all the way through Sept
you gotta book the first of the month at 10:am PST for the next month. I booked on Aug 1st for bentos for Sep 14.
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Wow, that’s a lot of advance planning for takeout 
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A friend works for the Skid Row Housing trust and they are doing a silent auction. Hayato bento lunch boxes are available and 1 Howlin’ Ray’s fast pass for anyone who’s looking to make a charitable donation. Fair warning, since it’s charity, it’s going for more than street value.
Skid Row Housing Trust Silent Auction
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What is the street value of an HR line-pass.
$50
When you win an auction for a Bento Box, where does it say what day you can get one?
I believe that the winners get to schedule pick-up at their own convenience, but in accordance with Hayato’s current schedule. Chef Go is old friends with one of the Skid Row Housing Trust folks and offered up his services to help the cause.
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He is the BEST!
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I’d like to bid for a good cause. But I’m tired of my phone number being sold. I didn’t see any policy on their website and am waiting to hear back thru email.
All 4 boxes sold out. 2 of them sold for $75, 1 sold for $95, and another sold for $100. They’re like the only auction items that went above their value.
I’m getting mine tomorrow. What does a $50 Bento Box from a Michelin Star chef taste like?
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Please read the older messages in this thread. You’ll find photos and descriptions by some great folks. You can also take a look at @J_L’s pictorial essay in a separate thread using the search function. Also good references, an L.A. Times article by Billl Addison and coverage by Food & Wine and (I think) Bon Apetit magazines.
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Disclaimer: I have never had the bento box, but I’ve visited Hayato for dinner about 2 months ago and understand Japanese cuisine / washoku enough to give an answer.
Think of this bento box as a collection and representation of true classical Japanese culinary skills at their highest possible level (and of refinement). Chef Go starts very early and I’m guessing just a couple hours of sleep Friday nights if any, and hours past midnight into Saturday (and a good part of Friday earlier on during the day) to prep just to make so many items and distribute evenly into whatever quantity of the boxes he sells (sounds like it’s 24 but don’t know if the # has changed since then). I know this for a fact as I tried to suggest to him if he could attend a LA annual restaurant industry trade show on a Saturday and he regrets not being able to afford dropping in even for an hour just to taste possible new sake, because of all this preparation effort.
It’s arguable that he just breaks even (barely) with all that he puts in just for these boxes. He doesn’t even have to do them to be honest as that time could be freed up for Saturday dinner preparation or shopping for supplies/groceries/inventory/cleaning etc, but that just speaks to his dedication and willingness as a true/authentic Japanese (kitchen) craftsman (shokunin). Perhaps the team he works with for dinner service preparation also learn valuable knowledge and skill by these food preps for the bento.
The items in the box are seemingly simple but requires a lot of technical skill (and passion) to execute, and whether one feels it is complex with subtlety will be entirely up to the perception of the person tasting it.
I would see this as more than just a work of art, and also an extension of Chef’s Go training and sharing his passion with those who are able to purchase a box.
If the items are lukewarm or very lightly chilled (if not room temperature…I don’t know I didn’t really read the older tasting notes and reviews of others), it is by design. More importantly, does the food even at its regular serving temperature, still have flavor and intensity, and I am guessing yes.
I encourage you to try to google each item from the bento box when you get home (or if you choose to eat each item, take notes and then follow up on researching), and also do a deep dive into understanding from your search results what goes into making each item, its origins and how they relate to washoku from a culinary standpoint. Or if there are no results, just focus on certain words and their meaning. For example, if there is dashimaki tamago and datemaki tamago understand what the differences are and also in taste. Try google translate and scan the japanese names from the menu/instructions on your phone, copy and paste and put into google then translate the website results for further deep diving. You’ll learn a lot just by doing that as well as tasting each individual item, why they taste the way they do, appreciate their textures, flavors, and nuances.
Once you get it, you will understand this is not simply a “Michelin star bento box” and be further enlightened with classic high end washoku/Japanese cuisine from this representation (alongside Chef Go’s interpretation of the dishes).
Please enjoy the box to its fullest and savor each bite. I wish I lived closer and could give it a try someday. And let us know what you think!
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And to add on to @beefnoguy’s elegant advice - the boxes are dope. Lots of interesting bites of thoughtfully prepared food. Very tasty!
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What would be a good order to eat each pieces in, like if it was a full kaiseki course?
Like which order should I eat steam, grilled, fried foods?
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Good question. In this setting as they are all grouped together in a box, it’s really up to you how you want to enjoy it. There is no need to adhere strictly to kaiseki rules and you can just sample whatever you like. However if you must follow the kaiseki progression, you can reference the wikipedia page of kaiseki that describes the order of the courses to give yourself an idea, but those dishes aren’t the same as the ones in the bento box.
With that said, I would advise that if you really want to sample specific items first so to taste and appreciate each of them individually, to start from lighter flavored and progress to heavy (how you determine would be perhaps by instinct and experience). If you want to strictly follow the progression then eat the rice at the very end. I would start with the vegetables first (ending with eggplant in the vegetable lineup as those are heavier flavored than say the carrots, baby turnips if using BlurA14’s photo as a general guide), then seafood, grilled seafood, either the animal protein or deep fried item (depending on what’s inside) next followed by the other. You can also eat most of these items with the rice together as well if you want. You could also save the datemaki (the one that looks like a swiss roll) to the end as that would be sweeter than dashimaki (generally) and treat it like a dessert (they are both egg based items) or enjoy the eggs side by side for a savory / sweet comparison (or the dashimaki could be a sweet forward version less savory). Another variant approach is to take anything that’s pickled or has a sweet/sour light acidic component and eat that together with the rice at the end (e.g. if the baby turnips are pickled).
I don’t know what the pickup process is like, but if Chef Go is the one handing the boxes to you, you could ask him quickly what he recommends for the order of eating, and get his take. Have the brochure/list handy to save time. He might just say, however you like.
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Been there done that. Go-san also says there is no specific progression. Enjoy as you see fit. The beauty of bento is that each bite should theoretically mesh with the next, regardless of sequence.
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I just try to stuff it in my mouth as quick as possible.
But I also like to interchange meat and veggie bites
It really is a tasting menu in a box.
Loved every piece, even the food I never liked before.
Especially loved the black cod, seared duck breast, grilled scallop, and shrimp shinjo.
I can see why they sold from $75-$100 in the Skid Row Silent Auction.
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