Japanese Bento Box with Chef Wilma

Tired of sandwiches for lunch? Here’s a class that can jazz up your lunch bags and dining table. The Japanese Bento Box has remained the quintessential meal of convenience and creativity. Learn how to prepare a complete meal that’s simple, colorful and delicious. 

• Chicken Katsu with Sauce
• Spinach Goma-ae
• Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing

Wilma B. Consul is the director of culinary, outreach and media at ECO City Farms in Prince George’s County, MD. Her kitchen experience includes Susan Gage Caterers, Centrolina’s Mercato and J. Chocolatier in Washington, DC and Purple Yam in Brooklyn, NY. To maintain her culinary proficiency, she often stages at kitchens she admires: Alice Waters’s Chez Panisse and Sean Sherman’s Indigena by Owamni this year and, in the past, Rick Bayless’s Frontera and Alan Wong’s in Hawai’i. She received her cooking and pastry certificates from L’Academie de Cuisine and Carlos Rosario Charter School for adults, where she later taught in its culinary arts program that included ServSafe certification.  In 2023, she received her master’s in World Food Cultures and Mobility from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy. Besides the Hill Center, she also teaches team-building cooking classes for Sidewalk Food Tours. Every fall, she plans and cooks the Breakfast of Hope, the fundraiser of St. Augustine’s homeless ministry. For five yaers, she served as executive chef at Fly by Light, an urban youth retreat where she served vegetarian and vegan meals. Last year, she was the featured chef at APIA Vote’s Taste of Democracy.