For 15 years, Fuji Yama Asian Bistro has been changing and evolving its approach to sushi and hibachi on the East Beltline.
Co-owner Dongwu Wang says it started with all-you-can-eat sushi, appealing to quantity over quality, but has shifted to an all-out effort to maximize freshness and excellence. Wang and his brother, Dong Wen, opened the eatery with his cousin, Shun Chen, who encouraged them to leave their chef jobs in Boise, Idaho and come start Fuji Yama. They’ve been at it ever since, and have expanded to manage Ginza Sushi & Ramen Bar as well.
The Asian Bistro has become beloved for its quality sushi and hibachi experiences, retaining regulars as well as staff, many of whom have been with the eatery for five to 10 years. Wang says they never stop pushing to improve, whether it’s new menus, new interiors or even fun additions like a singing robot that delivers birthday cakes (that one’s still in the works).
We sat down with Wang to discuss how Fuji Yama continues to deliver quality consistently all these years later.
What do you attribute your success to?
First of all, for Hibachi, the sauce is very important. Our Yum Yum Sauce is killer. And second of all, you have to keep the food fresh. So, we require the chef, every day, to mark the date and time on whatever they make, and put those in order. Then, first thing every morning, that’s the first thing I have to do, check and make sure everything looks great. If it doesn’t look good, we throw it out. For at least 12 years, we’ve had no issues with food quality. And then for Hibachi, you have to hire good chefs with good personalities to make a great show for our customers.
Also, we’ve been running this place for 15 years and it’s nothing like before. We have a brand new bar, brand new furniture, tables, even floors. There is always something you have to improve. This is the way we run the business.
It seems like your sushi game has elevated.
At first, we tried doing all-you-can-eat style. It seemed like people were looking for quantity, not quality. But we’ve switched to keep the food more fresh and retain the quality. There are so many ways we’ve improved how we store the fish. Freshness is the most important thing for sushi. I ask the chef, don’t make anything more than you need. I’d rather you prep twice a day than prep enough for two days.
And you’ve brought in a new sushi chef?
His name is Lin, and he was working in New York City for almost 10 years. He has more experience and it’s valuable, because as the owner, I don’t have time to go all over the place to check on the new sushi trends. But Lin, he knows. So, we have new menus coming out this summer with new sushi and appetizers.
You’ve been doing this for 15 years. What drives you?
Me and my brother, we took this job as a career, but eventually it turned into a passion. When you have passion for something, you always care about it. You don’t want to see any mistakes. When you create new dishes, when people try it and love it, you feel satisfied. I’ve been doing this almost half my life. To be honest, at the beginning, I didn’t like it. “It’s just a job.” But I fell in love with it. Eventually, it turns into your passion, your love, everything in your life.
What’s the story of Ginza?
Our cousin has a lot of connections in real estate, so he found a good spot and asked if we were interested in a new concept. There’s so many young people living around there, we tried doing more modern style, with ramen and sushi. The head chef there is also from New York City, and this guy knows how to make ramen. He has almost 40 years of kitchen experience, starting in Hong Kong. He was the head chef of a noodle restaurant in New York’s Chinatown, and Asian people, they’re picky.
Sounds like you’ve hired people you can rely on.
Running a restaurant, you need somebody who you can trust. Because even one mistake, it can cause you serious problems. I’ve seen so many cases, so many local restaurants, they didn’t watch their kitchen well, and they got in huge trouble. Like, a couple years ago, there was a restaurant that forgot to put a case of chicken back in the refrigerator overnight, and it made like 120 people sick. One thing happens, no matter how hard you worked the past 15, 20 years, you’ll ruin it in just one night. We are really concerned about our food safety and freshness.
What do you want to tell our readers?
First of all, I’m very thankful to be in this location. I’ve always been grateful for what I have and what I’m doing. I always thank our loyal customers who always give us so much support to make us more successful, to keep us busy, growing every year. I mean, we continue to put hard work into it, continue to improve our menus and maintain the high quality of our food. This is our duty. I’m just loving what I’m doing
