The desire to popularize poke bowls
Recently, poke specialty restaurants have been increasing in the Los Angeles area. Poke originated in Hawaii, and is made by tossing raw tuna with seaweed and onion in sesame oil and soy sauce. It is a familiar food here in California, where many Japanese people from Hawaii live. As of December 2015, Pokinometry, which has stores in Anaheim and Hollywood in Orange County, a suburb of Los Angeles, serves poke that is, so to speak, an evolved form of poke. You can choose fish such as tuna, salmon, yellowtail, and abacoa, as well as toppings, rice base, and sauce to create your own poke bowl.
The idea for this "Make Your Own Poke Bowl" was conceived by the restaurant's owner, Julian Fukuei, 24, a second-generation Japanese-American.
Julian's parents ran a sushi restaurant called Tommy Sushi in Tustin, Orange County, since the 1980s. When Julian was 17, his parents divorced. When his father, who had been making sushi until then, left the restaurant, he started working at Tommy Sushi at the age of 18. After working his way up the ranks, he began making sushi himself, and later took over management as president.
While working there, he wanted to spread the popularity of the poke bowl, a popular menu item at Tommy Sushi, not only to regular customers but also to people who had not yet heard of it. He came up with the current "pokinometry" style, where customers choose their favorite ingredients at the counter, and opened his first store in Anaheim in 2014.
Without any advertising, the restaurant gained popularity through word of mouth alone and was quickly featured in many media outlets. The Anaheim store now sells as many as 1,500 poke bowls a day.
Looking back, he says that he only had four months to prepare and managed to open the restaurant with momentum, but his momentum only accelerated. In 2015, he opened a second restaurant in Hollywood and Highland, a shopping mall that is home to the Dolby Theater, where the Academy Awards ceremony is held. It didn't take long for this restaurant to become popular, with people from nearby businessmen to tourists lining up for poke bowls at lunchtime.
Pride as a sushi chef
The secret to its popularity lies not only in its ideas and ease of preparation, but also in its deliciousness. Currently, Julien is busy working at the two Pokinometry stores and Tommy Sushi, and is also active as a sushi chef. His pride as a craftsman means he does not compromise on the selection of ingredients.
"We often use fish from Japan, such as yellowtail from Shizuoka. We also use food suppliers from Japan who understand Japanese food. It's a commitment as a sushi restaurant." Apparently, the cost rate is close to 60%. "Even so, I only want to use good ingredients that I'm satisfied with. I want to do things that I'm satisfied with and that I find fun to do."
His pursuit of fun is also reflected in his selection of employees. He doesn't require experience for staff to work at his store. He hires highly motivated people, and says he wants them to gain experience at his store and then make a leap forward.
"If you work at our restaurant, you can handle fish and other ingredients even if you don't have experience as a chef. I hope that people will take advantage of this opportunity."
With such a busy schedule that involves touring all three restaurants as mentioned above, does he have the time to inspect competing poke restaurants? To this question, Julian replied, "No, I don't need to eat at other restaurants because I have absolute confidence in the taste of my own restaurant. I might go around to American restaurants to get ideas for fast food style poke restaurants, but I don't go to poke restaurants."
A new generation of Japanese restaurant managers
While working at the restaurant, he is also considering where to open his third store. "Are there a lot of Japanese restaurants in Texas or Northern California? No, in my case, I don't feel at ease unless I can keep an eye on it, so I'm not thinking far away," he said.
When asked if he could imagine himself in 10 years' time...
"I have no idea. Since I started Pokekinometry about a year and a half ago, my days have been hectic, so I can't really think ahead. But maybe in 10 years I'll be doing something different from poke and sushi. But I don't think I'll ever stray from Japanese cuisine."
We also asked Julian what advice his mother, who still runs Tommy Sushi with him, gave him about starting Pokinometry. "It wasn't really advice, but my mother told me that if I was going to fail, it was better to do it while I was young, and to just give it a try."
Julien is steadily putting his ideas into practice, starting a casual-style restaurant with the desire to share his popular sushi menu with as many people as possible, and even opening a restaurant in Hollywood, which attracts people from all over the world. With the skills of a new generation like him, there is no doubt that Japanese food will continue to attract more and more fans in the future.
© 2015 Keiko Fukuda
