About Us

Who we are.

Také ("Tah-kay") - Deli Bento Executive chef

Chef Také was born and raised in Osaka, Japan (where all good food is from...). When he was 19 years old, he crossed the ocean and came to the United States to achieve his dream to become an artist. After he graduated with a degree in fine arts from the University of New Orleans, he decided to move this artistic passion over to the food industry.

Since he had been cooking and working for Japanese restaurants for a long time, it was pretty simple: He picked knives and pans instead of painting brushes. Chef Také has honed his skills and learned authentic-to-creative food cultures by working for several fine restaurants in both the U.S. and Japan.

Kayo ("Kai-yo") - Deli Bento Owner and Chef

Kayo was born and raised in Kobe, Japan (where Kobe beef comes from...) Her parents owned a local bar, and at the same time her father worked as an executive manager for major restaurant chain, and her mother worked as an interior designer. From this experience, Kayo learned business management skills and the toughness it takes to be a business owner. Because her parents were very busy, Kayo was always fed by her grandma, and from her learned the traditional Japanese family recipes.

After Kayo finished her sophomore year at college, she decided to come to Austin. Soon thereafter, she met Také, the man who would become her future husband. Kayo studied Fine Arts as well -- she always loved to make things, anything! When she was in school, she also worked for Japanese restaurants as a waitress, kitchen chef and even sushi chef.

How Deli Bento was born.

After their marriage, Také was working as a Sushi Chef, and Kayo was raising two kids. One day, Kayo joined her daughter for lunch at the school's cafeteria, and found out that many kids don't get enough nutrition from one meal. Kayo thought she had to make a bunch of different kinds of food for her daughter's dinner. Then, Kayo realized, "Bento" would be a great meal not only for her daughter, but for anyone. Combining Také's professional cooking skills with Kayo's homestyle recipes, they came up with their wonderful own recipes and styles.

A "Bento" is basically a boxed meal that consists of a main entrée, several side dishes and rice in one box. Without cooking different dishes, or spending a lot of money to get different plates at restaurants, people can get a rich amount of nutrition from one box. Even more important: they're really tasty!

Now, as Deli Bento, we are not only serving bento boxes, but we have many kinds of great deli items, and even sushi, that are available at local Austin farmer's markets and catering. Recently, we have taken our passion to the next level to educate people: we have just started to offer sushi-cooking classes.

So Také and Kayo, as food creators, create nutritional, well-balanced and enjoyable meals for our customers and their kids. We think food is all about balance and it is something that gives people happiness and smiles.

Contact us by:

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Phone:
512.300.4111

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