We are grateful to LAist for sharing Naoko's story in "The joy of donabe, the Japanese clay cooking pot, at our next Cookbook Live", written by Gab Chabrán.
The article follows Naoko from the donabe meals of her childhood in Tokyo to starting TOIRO in 2008 and opening our West Hollywood shop in 2017. It also shares her late mother's advice: "Just let the donabe do the work for you."
Naoko will join Gab at Cookbook Live, presented by LAist in partnership with the James Beard Foundation, where she will cook a chicken and lemon hot pot from Simply Donabe:
- Thursday, October 8, 2026, 7:00–8:15 PM
- The Crawford, 474 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA 91105
For event details and tickets, please see our Cookbook Live post.
Thank you to Gab and LAist for such a thoughtful feature!
