For the homebody or the agoraphobe or anyone else who, quite sanely, abhors the idea of standing shoulder to shoulder with thousands of drunken strangers to watch some ball drop, Peko Peko, an Oakland-based Japanese catering company, offers an elegant alternative: a luxurious Japanese New Year’s bento box you can enjoy in the peace and quiet of your own home, with or without a nice bottle of sake, in the company of a few friends and loved ones.
Priced at $300 for each handmade, three-layer cedar box that holds about fifteen different dishes (enough food to feed four or five people), the bento is, without question, a splurge — but an appealing one for Japanese food aficionados who who want all the joyous extravagance of a fancy New Year’s Eve dinner without any of the hassle.
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