Everyone hankers after a little luxury in their life and in food-fixated Japan the latest in retail therapy is splashing out on fancy imported snacks or take-home dishes prepared by expert chefs.

For Tokyo's legions of busy office ladies shopping at a smart delicatessen is a more affordable luxury than eating out and opening a prettily packaged meal is an attractive alternative to cooking for one or grabbing a synthetic snack from the convenience store. The flagging sales of department store chains have received a much needed boost from basement food courts that now account for up to 25 percent of sales, while several high-end delicatessen chains are proving to be roaring successes.

With its latest outlet having recently opened in the food court of Shibuya's Tokyu department store, trendy Manhattan deli Dean & Deluca has carved a special niche for itself at the top of the high-end food business. With a store in Marunouchi and another in the newly revamped Shinagawa Station building, the all-American chain is proving to be a firm favorite with Tokyo gastrophiles (gourmets). New York staples like doughnuts and bagels are freshly baked using additive-free traditional recipes while a selection of French bread and pastries is also laid out in sumptuous style.

For those hankering after a luxurious meal on the go, this is the place to get crusty sandwiches, sophisticated salads and a quality coffee in one of those ubiquitous portable paper cups. Dean & Deluca's freshly prepared food works the finest Japanese ingredients into a multicultural mishmash of Italian, Mexican and Jewish cooking to produce some eye-opening combinations that beg to be sampled.

But Dean & Deluca's assault on Japan is about more than yummy tidbits; it also aspires to establish itself as a luxury brand and its huge array of merchandise bearing the store's logo is its biggest money-spinner. Herbs, spices, teas, cookbooks, aprons, T-shirts, tote bags and much more all come with the world-famous deli's name printed in understated capitals.

An assortment of Christmas goods has just been rolled out to tempt Tokyoites into giving their celebrations a trendy twist from the Big Apple. The seasonal offerings include a chicken, Christmas cake and tote bag gift set for 10,000 yen, a mini Turkey imported from France (4,800 yen) and a Buche de Noel (Christmas Log), made especially by Tokyo patisserie La Precieuse, for 4,500 yen.

Another firm capitalizing on Japan's newfound obsession with imported foodstuffs is neighborhood delicatessen Kaldi Coffee Farm.

Expanding at a rate of a dozen stores a year, the chain now has 57 outlets nationwide, 46 of them in the Kanto region. While Dean & Deluca targets busy office ladies, Kaldi concentrates on well-to-do moms with a taste for the exotic. Ground coffee is the store's specialty -- customers are offered a complimentary coffee in a paper cup at the door -- but there are plenty of goodies on offer besides the wicked black beans. Breakfast cereals, jams and preserves, cookies, chocolates, cheeses and wines all imported from Europe and the United States are stacked up to the ceiling at every store.

Kaldi is also eager to seize upon seasonal festivities as juicy marketing opportunities, and a large selection of Christmas goods is now on offer to give yuletide celebrations an international twist.

Teas specially blended for a Christmas flavor are on offer from British merchants Janat (980 yen) and Brodies (1,400 yen) while those looking for a more potent beverage might be tempted by mini bubbly bottles, that at 399 yen a pop make a great stocking filler.