Long before Mikuni Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar existed, co-owner Taro Arai was an 11-year-old paperboy with big dreams. He saved $6,000 over five years to move his family from Japan to the United States. Arai wrote and published his first book, “Abundance: Finding the American Dream in a Japanese Kitchen,” in hopes that he will inspire other Japanese youths. The book is set to be released Wednesday and combines his family’s history with recipes for some of Mikuni's customers’ favorite dishes. “It’s not just a recipe book,” Arai said. “It has my life story in it.” The book’s 12 chapters tell different stages of Arai’s life and include recipes named to coincide with their themes.

Joanne Neft is on a mission to change the poor eating habits common in many households today. "We're eating really inappropriately," she explained to dinner guests at her home this past week. She pinpoints Americans' "inappropriate" eating habits to the cause of many problems. "We eat subsidized food because it's cheap, forgetting the huge price we pay for the resulting obesity, diabetes, cancer, and coronary problems. Americans pay a high price for cheap food." She is currently self-employed and owns a couple of commercial properties but these days she is putting most of her energy and passion into a crusade against poor eating habits found in the form of a cookbook. Neft and her clos