When
you open the front door, the long sushi counter at Sachiko Sushi fills
your eyes. There are rows of fresh fish enclosed a glass showcase- tuna,
salmon, shrimp, hamachi and dozens more. Each looks so good and delicious!
Behind the counter you are dazzled by the sushi chef's precision and performances
as they prepare fresh sushi.
'Sachiko' is the name of Tomio (Tom) Ishii's daughter. Tom is the owner
and chef of Sachiko Sushi in Tucson, Arizona. 'Sachi' is the Japanese word
for happy.
Tom can always been seen smiling and busy at work in his corner at the
sushi bar. In 1982 he came to the United States from Yokohama, Japan and
made sushi in Los Angeles. After that, he became a sushi instructor and
general manager of the franchise at the head office. In 1991, he came to
Tucson and worked at Japanese Kitchen for 6 months.
Tom
opened his own restaurant, Sachiko Sushi, in March 1994. In the beginning
his restaurant was a comfortable size of 1,500 square feet. But his sushi
was so good and his customers kept coming back for more. Five months later,
he expanded to twice the size at 3,000 square feet.
Since Tom opened his restaurant, it has been recognized among "America's
Top Restaurant; excellent" by ZAGAT from 1997 through 1999, "Best
of Tucson" by Arizona Daily Star in 1994, and "Arizona's 100
Top of Restaurants" by Tucson Citizen in 1998.
Tom feels very strongly about his restaurant quality, "No MSG,"
he says, "There is one reasonable restaurant in Los Angeles. Our prices
are same as that restaurant. You can eat tuna, salmon, shrimp and hamachi
at $2.30 for two pieces. Now, that restaurant raised their prices to $2.80-2.90.
So, my restaurant becomes the first or second most inexpensive restaurant
in the United States."
"If you look for restaurants, you may find another cheaper one,"
Tom remarks, "but according to a sushi trader, our restaurant is the
first or second most inexpensive restaurant in the United States. 'Sell
high quality sushi inexpensively.' This is our motto. For example, our
rice is 'Tamaki-Mai,' the highest quality and most expensive in the United
States. We don't use cheap fish. We select high quality seafood. We also
have a good reputation for our Udon which is delicious. I am going to keep
our prices as long as possible."
1999. Sachiko Sushi EMOL.org