50 Great Ideas

Bending the bento

The bento box: It’s not just for Japanese restaurants. This traditional lacquered, compartmentalized lunch box also makes a beautiful presentation for samplers of all kinds, as Think Tank has discovered.

The “globally influenced bistroteque” in Cambridge, Massachusetts, opened in 2010 as a music venue that would also serve serious cocktails and food with an Asian slant. The robust selection of small plates includes such selections as steamed edamame with ginger-soy dipping sauce, wings with sriracha or Asian barbecue sauce and sticky hoisin-glazed wings. The real draw, however, are the samplers, served in Japanese bento boxes and priced around $20. On any given night, they could include the likes of calamari, Peking egg rolls, yakitori-style chicken kabobs, salt and pepper shrimp and other fusion-style nibbles.

#50 | Using your noodle

#49 | Eat a pita, feed a kid

#48 | Ask the staff chaplain

#47 | I’ll be calling you

#46 | Rolling in dough

#45 | Fried chicken flies the coop

#44 | A penny for your calories

#43 | Better than a lobster bib

#42 | Bending the bento

#41 | Billboard redux

#40 | Dining at the fountain of youth

#39 | Building a better box

#38 | Roll out the barrel

#37 | Mochi Madness

#36 | A toast to Belgium

#35 | Screening employees on the screen

#34 | An Olive Garden customer sat here

#33 | Setting the e-table

#32 | The buck strolls here

#31 | Gin game

#30 | Childhood revisited

#29 | Moveable feast

#28 | Certified gluten free

#27 | Buy a car, eat a meal

#26 | Locating the best Happy Hour

#25 | Local broadcast

#24 | Tabletop taps

#23 | Double the pleasure

#22 | The three Bs

#21 | Cocktails to amuse

#20 | Fans of the grape

#19 | Whole animal accessorizing

#18 | Translucent menus

#17 | Have oven will cater

#16 | Allergic interaction

#15 | Greener produce

#14 | Competing to win at weight loss

#13 | Space saver

#12 | Test kitchen=test market

#11 | Be my guest

#10 | Plug in and eat up

#9 | Rx for pilferers

#8 | Hands free—and clean

#7 | Some like it too hot

#6 | Chicken fried steak gets its day

#5 | The staff that reads together…

#4 | Twinkle toast

#3 | Stick with this

#2 | Stamp of approval

#1 | From seed to fork

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Bending the bento

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