In about two weeks time, I will have reached my annual puff pastry saturation level, a point I get to after attending the first of many holiday parties. Soon after will come blue cheese canapé fatigue, followed by miniature crab cake malaise. For no matter how different a holiday party might be, the food is almost always the same. Here is my public service announcement: Break out of the mold!

How? Visit eatpekopeko.com, a brand-new Japanese catering company founded by Sylvan Brackett, who worked for seven years at Chez Panisse, first as Alice Waters’ assistant and later as the restaurant's first creative director. At Oakland-based Peko Peko he creates elaborate izakaya-style Japanese food—for birthdays and weddings, holiday parties and, in his words, “boisterous dinners.” We love boisterous dinners! We love simple, elegant Japanese food, like chicken yakitori, tofu and ginger croquettes and elegant albacore-stuffed rice balls. Who needs a cheese platter when you can dazzle your friends with croquettes and homemade pork gyoza?

Visit eatpekopeko.com now. Spare your friends from holiday palate fatigue.