🍽️ The Kitchen Table is set! Help us choose what's next.


You Helped Name it… Now Help Us Shape It! 🍳

Hello Reader,It's Yukari!

We're officially setting the table, and YOU get first dibs.

Since pausing the blog, things have heated up behind the scenes (and not just because Ka-En, our fiery kitten sous-chef, nearly tripped us weaving figure-8s between our feet! (True story! 🤣).


The Kitchen Table with Aric & Yukari is officially here!

It's all about easy, smart, simple cooking, cultural flavors with stories, and a community at the heart.

And here's the best part: You're co-creating it with us.

So, here it is, another drum roll, please!

Introducing Our Brand-New Instagram!

We've launched a fresh Instagram space specifically for The Kitchen Table community:

  • Sneak peeks of new cooking challenges (remember January's $100 challenge?)
  • Weekly practical chef tips (because you voted!)
  • Community cooking wins, batch-meal genius, and kitchen hacks from YOU, and to share!

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Drop a comment to say hi! We'd love to feature your kitchen questions and clever hacks! 🥳


You Voted. Here's What's Coming:

These three topics topped our recent poll, and we're already prepping them for you:

  • Simple Chef Tips (how to make any veggie sing 🎶)
  • Weekly Meal Ideas (no overthinking needed!)
  • Smart Batch Cooking (that doesn't feel like leftovers)

Expect practical guides, our favorite tools, and easy one-pan recipes soon. But first, we need your input again…


The Table Is Growing, and You're at the Center

More friends will join soon, but YOU are a founding member. We genuinely mean that. 💛

As always, hit reply to say hi or share your latest cooking win. (or loss) We love hearing from you and may feature your tips or questions in upcoming emails and Instagram posts!

Here's to smart, simple, soulful cooking and a community that nourishes more than just plates.🥂


🎄P.S. Holiday Bookings for Private Dinner Parties and In-Home Cooking Classes private dinners and in-home cooking classes are filling up quickly! (Colorado folks, we see you!) If you want to reserve your spot, now’s a great time to lock in your date! (Currently, our weekly meal prep service has a waitlist.)
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Psst... one more thing!
We're working on a fresh new logo for The Kitchen Table, and we'd love your input soon. We're thinking cozy, real-life kitchen vibes… and a splash of orange (inspired by our ginger cat, of course 🐾🧡).

Keep an eye out, we'll be sharing a few ideas in our next email!

Thanks for being part of our Kitchen Table, and Happy Cooking!

With Love and flavor (and BBQ sauce around our mouths),


—Yukari & Aric, (and Senna the snack ninja and Ka-En the Firecracker)

Yukari Bianchi

Hi, I’m Yukari! My husband, Aric, a talented chef, and I are on a mission to bring people together through the magic of cooking. We want to build a virtual cooking community where we share budget-friendly meal prep tips, host fun challenges, and teach classes beyond recipes—we tell stories of love, life, and even the lessons we learn from our fur babies. Yes, our Bernese Mountain Dog, Senna, the Dish Pit Pup, and our Ginger cat, Ka-En, the Sous Chef Kitten, are part of the journey too! We believe food is more than just fuel—it’s about connection, culture, and creativity. If you enjoy heartwarming stories, engaging Q&As, and cooking made simple, we’d love to have you in our community.🔪🍲 Join us to cook, laugh, and share the love—one meal at a time.

Read more from Yukari Bianchi
The Classic Japanese Potato Salad with ham, cucumber, onion, and boiled eggs

Salt, Hands, and a Japanese Potato Salad Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Salt and your hands can change everything you cook.(Stick around for Aric’s 1-minute chef’s tip!👨🏻🍳) But first, I want to take you back to a little Japanese kitchen, where I learned the real magic of cooking… “The Potato Salad That Changed My Perspective” I visited Terumi and enjoyed her warm "Omotenashi" until I moved to the US. I still call it "Terumi's Potato Salad" 💖 One evening, she made classic Japanese potato salad. I...

A logo of Personal Chef in the center with line art vegetables on both sides

One Spoon, Big Change Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Today I’m thinking about the tiniest tool in the kitchen... a spoon, and how one taste can change everything you cook and share. It’s the thread that ties generosity to good food, the first nudge toward real hospitality. (Stick around for Aric’s chef tip at the end! 👨🏻🍳) But first… come with me to the kitchen where “Taste this” became the lesson I didn’t know I needed. “Taste This” Remember the Chawanmushi incident? That’s how I met Terumi, the...

two woman and a man smiling at a photo, there are beautiful cherry blossom behind them, and the top of Osaka castle peaking over the cherry blossom

A Whisper That Changed My Cooking. Plus Our $100 Grocery Challenge. Hello Reader, It's Yukari! Today, I want to rediscover what happened when Aric and I did $100 Grocery Challenge back in January 2025. (Remember? 🤣) Aric and I had fun doing it, and we learned some lessons along the way. I saved many things Aric talked about cooking during the time, and I can't wait to share his wisdom, too. But first... let me take you back to the kitchen that woke me up, kicked me out of bed, and taught me...