Hello Y'all!

Wow! I can't believe it's almost been a year since the last blog entry! Time sure is passing quickly. I must be either getting old or having lots of fun.

Since my last entry, we've just been working, working, working and working with a little bit of sleep. We'll sleep when we're dead, is my motto. Anyhow, September 30th was the restaurants 1st year anniversary. We had a week long celebration with a large discount for our customers. Most the the customers that came in that week were our loyal customers. It's strange since we have customers that come in twice or three times a week for a month or two, then totally disappear... even those customers came in.

Oh yeah, last Spring two kaiten sushi bars opened up within 2 miles of us.... that makes 26 sushi restaurants within 2 miles. You can say that is quite a few! Their grand opening week, we lost a huge amount of customers since the people around here mostly want cheap and edible food. I thought our menu was fairly reasonable but there's no way we can compete with such low prices. Especially when we have better quality ingredients. Both of those restaurants are owned by huge corporations that plan on opening 50 more each within the next 2 years. Yes, SoCal will be saturated with cheap, fast food sushi - which people around here like.

My crew continues to work hard. The turn-over rate for employees is very high. It's unbelievable! But at least Dad and I can rely on each other and there some really great employees that we have on staff. There have been several times that I was the kitchen cook, dish washer, bus boy AND the waitress, all while dad was busy with the sushi bar. If Dad were not here working, I think we totally would not have lasted this long! Miraculously, we've made it over a year now! We'll see what's in store for this new fiscal year!

Dad also celebrated his 71st birthday... his second birthday here in SoCal. I'm not sure if the SoCal life is enjoyable for him or not. We work 7 days a week 14-18 hour days, so there's not much free time for anything.

Happy Holidays

It's that time of year again. 2011 has passed by in a whirlwind yet we still have 2 weeks left to enjoy before the new year - new beginnings, new expectations, new goals and new dreams. The restaurant is still open and we're trying to advertise more to bring in customers. Some days the restaurant is really busy and other days, not at all. We closed the store for Thanksgiving but that one day was so busy cooking and going to temple, it didn't even feel like a day off. We're going to close for Christmas too for a few days so that will be - I hope - a nice break.

What I really want is to go on a roadtrip. A long motorcycle roadtrip. I miss riding my bike.

Happy Feet 2

There's a new movie coming out soon called Happy Feet 2. While at work, there were some penguins promoting the movie. We got them to come over and take a pic with us and with Sushi Shack.

Grand Opening

November 12th, 2011

We had our official Grand Opening ceremony. The Chamber of Commerce as well as a city councilman showed up to show their support and we had a ribbon cutting ceremony. We've been going on 6 weeks and are starting to get regular customers, which is quite nice. We've been advertising in various magazines, newspapers and even grocery store receipts! Of course, social media such as Facebook and Twitter have brought in a few people also.



Dad, Me, Mom, Councilman Ron, Chamber of Commerce President Wanda



Ribbon cutting ceremony - my parents are in the front. My mom came down for a few weeks to help out in the restaurant.





Several people from the community and Chamber of Commerce members also showed up to support us.



Sushi Shack, located in Gardena, CA

 It's been a long time coming but my dream of owning/ operating my own restaurant has finally come. My Mother came over to help out for a few weeks in the restaurant. My Father is the Sushi Chef and I am in the back cooking the hot foods. This definately could not have been done without my parents support and with the help of my best friend.

1 week down

Sushi Shack has been open for going on 9 days now. So far, the going is alright and just as expected.

This our ad for a local coupon book that came out this month.  

Cherry blossom roll

Laura roll

Manila clams with lavosh

Sashimi Deluxe special

Baby octopus appetizer



Monster X roll - this is our challenge roll. 5# roll to be eaten in 1 hour or less.



Tiger roll

It's been crazy trying to figure out when it's going to be busy. Some days we think it'll be slow then right before closing a starving rush of people will come in, or it will be steady all day, or other times, it's completely slow all day.

Our opening day Friday, September 30th was extremely busy. A lot of friends stopped by to eat and we were so packed there were people waiting in line out the door. We gave away a lot of free food as tasters that night. We were literally 2 hours behind in tickets. So that weekend we hired 2 people - one sushi helper and one kitchen helper.

We're still playing with the menu and perfecting it before the Grand Opening, which is still at an undetermined date. But I think it will be in November.

Sushi Shack

It's been a grueling past few months. Actually, I'd like to say it was grueling but it wasn't. It was more of a sit, hurry up then wait type thing. We've come extremely close to not opening at all due to having to spend more than we planned. We invested too much to back out and not much left to keep going forward, which left us anxious and losing hope. Luckily, this past week we finally passed our plan check, got all the appropriate stamps, signatures and approvals. Thank Buddha and lots of prayers!

Our opening is planned for Friday, September 30, 2011! We are truly looking forward to this date. When I say we, most of you already know I hired my Father as my Sushi Chef and are opening this venture together. Yes, we are both Sushi Chefs but I figured I can do all the hot food cooking in the back and have him be in the front. This will be really neat since I also hired my best friend as my waitstaff. We haven't worked together in quite a while - actually I haven't seen her in a while so it will be good to catch up.




Our sign on the building. We are located in a strip mall in a large plaza. Hey, out here in SoCal most all the best sushi places are in strip malls.

It's a good thing I know a variety of people! I hired several friends of mine - for the store website and designing the store logo, artwork, consulting, blueprints, etc. And some friends even volunteered to come help me out and let me borrow their tools - ladders, paint brushes/ rollers, wrenches, etc. What a great bunch of friends! 

This 3 panel sakura (cherry) tree artwork is actually purchased from an out of state artist. I really liked his work but the original was a 4 panel piece. When I called him, he was extremely nice and willing to convert his painting into a 3 panel show piece.



Here is where the sushi-making will be happening!



Kintaro and the Koi is a popular Japanese folk hero, based on a real person. He is linked to the annual celebration of Boy's Day, which celebrates their strength and health.

 So if any of you are in the area, please stop by! We've also got delivery and take-out. Sushi Shack is located at 1546 W. Redondo Beach Blvd, Gardena, CA 90247.

Angeles Crest Highway

Angeles Crest Highway has been closed for a while so when I heard the news that it re-opened, I was estatic! I finally had the chance to go last Sunday - 59 miles of scenic beauty! It was amazing - some of the areas were still dark and charred from the fire, some parts of the road were stained with mud from the mudslides and some parts of the road were brand new. The whole drive, I kept thinking it looked familiar - and it look almost like driving through Yellowstone when I went there a few years back. It was mountains, trees, charred trees and awesome views. The highest part was about 7,300 ft above sea level - at least that's what the sign said.

Me in Angeles Crest - great view!



Dad overlooking Angeles Crest



It was an all day drive - with all the curves and slow speeds, the entire loop took about 6 hours.