Hollister
– Souriya Hoang will be sworn in as an American citizen in less
than two weeks.
Hollister – Souriya Hoang will be sworn in as an American citizen in less than two weeks.
It’s been a long journey.
Hoang, whom many Hollister residents affectionately know as “Eddie,” has been the head sushi chef and owner of Miyako, a Japanese restaurant on San Felipe Road in Hollister, for more than nine years. But beyond being Hollister’s original Itamae-san, or sushi chef, the 46-year-old Hoang has lived a life few of his customers and neighbors could imagine.
“I escaped from Laos as a refugee to Thailand,” Hoang said. “And I stayed in Thailand for seven to eight months in a refugee camp.”
Hoang spoke of leaving Laos in 1979, four years after communist Pathet Lao, backed by the Soviet Union and North Vietnamese Army, took over his country of origin. Hoang was only 18 years old, alone, but not scared. He knew there would be no opportunity for him if he stayed.
“I was too young,” Hoang said. “So you don’t care. If you stay in Laos, you’re going to die. I was trying to look for a future.”
Hoang grew up in northern Laos and was forced to leave to the south as a 9-year-old, displaced by the fighting between the Royal Lao Army, backed by the United States, and the North Vietnamese Army.
He said he marched with his family, wearing a backpack, up to 20 miles a day. He said they would cook their rice and dry it to take along the way. He saw people dying.
“Just like you see in a movie,” Hoang said. “I passed it, I did it.”
In late 1979, a friend helped Hoang get to Japan. It was there that Hoang finished high school and began to learn the art of sushi. But life did not immediately become easier for the teenage Hoang.
“I struggled a lot,” he said. “I had no money when I got to Japan. I didn’t know a single word.”
A loan from a friend and an industrious attitude in the restaurants of Tokyo lifted Hoang to his feet. He worked his way up from the bottom, starting as a dish washer, then a prep chef and eventually ascending to the highly lauded Itamae-san.
And then his life took another interesting turn. In 1984, he learned that a mutual friend, a girl he knew from his school days in Laos, had come to Tokyo to visit a friend. She had ended up in Hawaii and although she had tried, could not connect with Hoang on her short visit to Japan.
Her name was Lani. And after two years of writing letters back and forth, and several visits, they were married. Hoang loved Japan, but after he visited Lani, he knew he wanted to come to America.
“When I came here everything was better,” Hoang said. “Big land, more opportunity.”
By the time Hoang came to the United States in 1986, his parents and five siblings were already living in America, he said.
Hoang eventually began to make us of his multilingual abilities, which include Laotian, Japanese, Chinese, Thai and English, at a Japanese company in San Jose called Mitsui High-Tech USA Inc. He became a manager and worked for 12 years before deciding to pursue his dream of owning his own restaurant.
Hoang opened his restaurant and eventually moved his family, which includes Lani and his 16-year-old and 6-year-old sons Christopher and Aaron, to Hollister.
He has been making friends and customers ever since.
Alec Griffin, a 27-year-old Hollister resident, said he has personally known Hoang for two years. But he been a fan of Hoang’s food for much longer.
“I’ve actually been going to the restaurant since just after it opened in 1997,” Griffin said.
Griffin called Hoang down-to-Earth and honest. He said Hoang’s personality is a draw and brings life to Hollister.
Griffin even helped play a role in Hoang’s gain of citizenship.
“I helped him study for it and he worked his butt off,” Griffin said. “And I think it means a lot to him. It’s the American Dream, if there is such a thing.”
Jeremy Schmidt, vice president of County Property Exchange, helped develop the San Felipe Office Park, giving Hoang the opportunity to own his business space. Schmidt said the purchase gave Hoang the ability to lay down more permanent roots in the community. He said Hoang’s gain of citizenship could not be bestowed upon a more deserving individual.
“I think he’s very creative, a very hard worker,” Schmidt said. “He’s a gracious host when you are in his restaurant.”
Hoang has developed his own personalized sushi rolls for his restaurant and continues to add a personal touch to the food he creates. Hoang has been making sushi for more than 20 years. He said once he learned the basics, it was easy, but it is an ongoing process.
“I’m still learning because there are always new things from Japan,” Hoang said.
For Hoang, 2006 has been a special year. He now owns his restaurant’s floor space and he gained American citizenship. His restaurant has been remodeled and he has even introduced karaoke, an ode to his love of music.
He admits there have been struggles in coming to America.
“A lot of stuff I don’t know, language-wise,” Hoang said.
But he acknowledges the dream he is living.
“I’m fortunate,” Hoang said. “I have a lot of good friends, good customers.”
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or
mv*********@fr***********.com
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