ABOUT THE TEAM
LEANNE VALENTI is the chef owner of Bento Picnic, a beloved Japanese-inspired eatery specializing in bento boxes and premium sake that was open in East Austin from 2015-2023. She is an enthusiastic disciple of Washoku — the Japanese tradition of designing balanced meals — which became the cornerstone of her personal culinary philosophy when she was living in Japan in 2011.
In 2023, Valenti closed her bento shop to take a sabbatical — which has given her the opportunity to revisit in Japan, journey through India, and ideate around the future of her brand and career. Her intention with this cookbook is to share sought-after recipes from the restaurant, and shine new light on Washoku — revealing what makes Japanese menu design so successful in terms of its ability to produce meals that are visually stunning, deeply nourishing and reliably delicious.
In addition to running her own restaurant, Valenti has also worked with award-winning chefs and authors over the past 15 years, including Elizabeth Andoh, Jesse Griffiths, Gerard Craft, Rene Ortiz, Laura Sawicki, and Chad Sarno, plus many more from her days of managing a weekly supper club featuring new chefs and rotating menus each week.
Particularly relevant to this project is the work that Valenti has done with Elizabeth Andoh, the “Julia Child of Japanese Cuisine.” Valenti led a team of volunteers to conduct recipe testing for Andoh’s most recent cookbook, and she helped garner international attention for Andoh’s work by organizing events stateside — including an interactive TEDx Talk in Austin, Texas in 2013. Immediately after Andoh delivered her talk about Washoku on the TEDx stage, Valenti activated the idea by executing a bento-style lunch with 5 local chefs for 500+ attendees.
More importantly than what work Valenti has done, is how she has done it. For her, work is love made visible. Wherever Valenti goes, she naturally builds community, cultivates lasting relationships, and celebrates moments throughout the day. In fact, when Valenti was working for an educational afterschool program right out of college, she received the first ever Tulaine Montgomery Village Builders Award — which has continued to be given to one staff member annually who “demonstrates exceptional village building by acting as a bridge or connector for staff, students, and the community.”
She has been featured in Austin Food and Wine Festivals’s Chef Showcase and deemed a Net-Zero Hero by the city of Austin. Her expertise in the Japanese philosophy of Washoku has been profiled in Forbes Magazine, Edible Austin, and the Austin Chronicle. Leanne also lives, cooks, and hosts elaborate dinner parties with her partner in their beautifully-designed 1930’s home spotlighted on Architectural Digest Online in 2022 and 2023, and in print twice with an 8-page spread in Better Homes & Gardens: Cottage Style Fall 2023, and a 4-page spread in Better Homes & Gardens: The Complete Guide to Color in 2024. Valenti also recently starred in a 40-minute episode of Homeworthy where she gave cooking demos and dinner party tips (91k views).
As a lifelong learner and passionate cook equipped with a Masters in Education from Lesley University and Chef’s Certificate from the Natural Epicurean Academy, Leanne’s vision for Bento Picnic is choc full of delicious menus, approachable accounts of her intercultural coming-of-age experiences, and intimate details of what is was like to bootstrap a bento shop as a solopreneur.
More About Bento Picnic
“An experience unlike any other in town, offering deliciously nourishing and balanced meals, a culturally rich environment, and a drive to provide the community with healthy and refreshing meals without sacrificing flavor.” -Forbes Magazine
Providing farm-to-table fare with Japanese flair, Bento Picnic was a truly unique Austin experience born out of Valenti’s love for Washoku and a dedication to supporting local farmers. Specializing in healthy Japanese bento boxes and scratch gluten-free pastries, Valenti’s creations were distinctly delicious, beautiful, and consciously-created with high-quality ingredients and seasonal produce.
Bento Picnic’s mission statement, as it was co-written by the entire team, was “To connect customers with memorable experiences. Whether sharing the harmony of Washoku with a nourishing bento box unique to Central Texas, or creating access to high-quality wines, sake, and non-alcoholic options that are hard to find elsewhere, we endeavored to make a warm & lasting impression by being one-of-a-kind destination, welcoming and memorable.”
Steeped in the rituals of Japanese home cooking, Bento Picnic put extra care into every aspect of their menu. Even the miso soup was made from scratch daily; Soaking kombu to make a vegan dashi broth, whisking in organic white miso, and ladling the broth over wakame, tofu, and scallion once tepid (but before it simmers) to keep the probiotics in the miso alive. A foundational element of her philosophy, Valenti’s menus are intentionally designed to preserve the health benefits of each thoughtfully-sourced ingredient.
A bootstrapped neighborhood spot acclaimed for having old Austin vibes, Bento Picnic was the kind of place that attracted regular customers who often visited daily and ordered the same thing each time.
Valenti recounts, “Like clockwork, Coleman would come in for the House Salad with Braised Brisket and Extra Avocado, Elaine would get the Noodle Bento with Broiled Salmon (but she would sometimes order extra kale instead of the noodles 😋), and Paul almost always got the Rice Bento with Chicken Tsukune and extra Firecracker Sauce. Laura couldn’t swing by the shop without picking up two (or six!) Mochi Butter Buns, and whenever Elle came in with her team, we knew we were going to need to put more Miso Chocolate Chip Cookies in the oven.”
Valenti was also the owner of Saba San’s bottle shop and wine club tucked just behind the counter-service bento shop. Saba San’s offered a curated selection of artisanal sake, craft beer, and low-intervention wine that paired beautifully with the menu at Bento Picnic.
After 8 years of running Bento Picnic as a sole proprietor, Leanne decided in 2023 to sublease her restaurant space to another concept and entered into a sabbatical. It is rare for someone in the restaurant industry to be able to take a sabbatical, and the circumstances for how this opportunity came about for Valenti is quite the story in and of itself.
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During COVID, Valenti started subleasing the private dining room of her restaurant to a 10-seat sushi concept to make up for lost catering revenue. In an unexpected turn of events, her subtenant’s waitlist grew overnight to 20,000 people after Joe Rogan tweeted it was “the best sushi he has ever had.” So Valenti extended their sublease, and they proceeded to run their swanky sushi speakeasy under the same roof as her bento shop for 2+ years.
As the years went on, reservations were still in such high demand for their sushi. They consistently held the #3 spot in the nation on Tock for how quickly seats sold out, and it became increasingly clear that the most strategic business move would be to turn Valenti’s entire space over to her subtenant.
The space itself, a 1920’s craftsman bungalow just shy of 1800 square feet, was ultimately a much better fit for their high-end sushi omakase than it had ever been for Valenti’s bento operation. The size and layout had always presented challenges to Valenti and her team for the volume of bento boxes that they endeavored to make on a daily basis.
Even though it made strong financial sense to turn her space over, it was still not an easy decision. She had poured so much love into it and established a loyal following over the course of 8 years. Ultimately, the allure of adventure and the unknown won out, and Valenti is now embracing her newfound freedom and experiencing a joyous upsurge in her creative energies.
In the time that has elapsed, she has returned to Japan, journeyed through India, and penned this cookbook proposal. She also continues to offer select catering events and private dinner parties. In the next iteration of her business, she envisions Bento Picnic as an aspirational lifestyle brand providing design inspo, recipes, and access to resources that empower cooks around the world to integrate Washoku into their day-to-day.
Bento Picnic supports a loyal, engaged following with monthly newsletters, regular Instagram activity, media appearances, an active blog, private catering events, and ever-growing partnerships. It was named one of the most missed restaurants of 2023 by both the Austin Chronicle and Eater.
MONICA SAMUELS is one of the country’s most accomplished sake professionals - including being named “Top 40 Under 40” by Wine Enthusiast Magazine and holding the prestigious title of Sake Samurai awarded by the Sake Samurai Association in Japan. Monica has been in the sake business for over fifteen years and currently oversees the strategy, marketing, sales, and education of the Japanese sake and spirits portfolio at Vine Connections and Kome Collective. Monica’s education in sake includes studying under John Gauntner and his Sake Education Council, where she received both Certified and Advanced Sake Professional distinctions; she is also a WSET certified Educator for the Level 3 Award in Sake. She is currently a Senior Judge for the International Wine Challenge sake category, and a judge for the US National Sake Appraisal. Her expertise has been featured in a regular column for Serious Eats, Sotheby’s “A Drink With” series, The Chicago Tribune, The Aspen Times, Feast Magazine, Eater (97k views), among many other publications.
Monica was born in Los Angeles and spent summers in Tokyo at her grandmother’s house growing up. As a bilingual individual with a unique perspective on two very different cultures, she has been particularly successful in demystifying sake for the US audience. Her years in the hospitality business and ingrained passion for the restaurant industry have given her an exceptional understanding of pairing sake with food, particularly outside of the traditional Japanese setting.