If you think you don’t like sushi, Eddy Chin, owner and chef of
the recently-opened AJ Sushi Restaurant in downtown Hollister,
knows he can change your mind.
If you think you don’t like sushi, Eddy Chin, owner and chef of the recently-opened AJ Sushi Restaurant in downtown Hollister, knows he can change your mind.
“If you say, ‘I’m ready to be educated on how to eat sushi,’ I guarantee you that you’re going to like sushi,” Chin said.
Late last year, Chin, 45, remodeled the building that was previously home to the Earthquake Pub and opened the AJ Sushi Restaurant on Jan. 26. Since then, he and his staff have been hard at work trying to make a trip to the sushi bar an enjoyable, and comfortable, experience.
“It’s my job. I’m a salesman. I sell you my knowledge, I sell you my experience,” Chin said. “I have to make you love sushi.”
The AJ Sushi Restaurant offers an array of options, including traditional Japanese sushi, sashimi and cooked options like chicken and beef teriyaki and tempura. Chin also has an innovation of his own on the menu – the sushi pizza, which is a thin crust topped with rice and either raw tuna, salmon, yellow tail and avocado, cooked eel and avocado, or shrimp and avocado.
Brenda Weatherly, executive director of the Hollister Downtown Association, said that she is happy to see that Chin chose to open his restaurant on San Benito Street, saying that it is good to have different dining options to draw people to downtown.
“I think it’s great,” she said. “The more places we have like that, the better. It helps downtown become more of a destination.”
Councilman Brad Pike agreed.
“That’s what we’re looking for,” he said. “Having a sushi bar here provides different types of food for people to try.”
Despite local officials’ delight at getting Hollister’s downtown diversified, Chin simply wants people to try his Japanese fare, which he has spent 20 years perfecting.
Born in Laos, Chin and his family moved to France when he was 16 years old. In his early 20s, Chin began working in a sushi bar as an apprentice to a master sushi chef from Japan. After two years of doing grunt work and learning the basics, such as how to cook rice perfectly, the master chef finally let Chin get his hands on some fish. A few years later, Chin opened a sushi restaurant of his own in Paris.
In 1995, Chin immigrated to the United States and came to Hollister to man the sushi bar at the Miyako Japanese Restaurant, which his brother owned for a time, for about eight years.
When it comes to preparing Japanese food, spending the time to learn and master the basics is essential, Chin said.
“If you have a strong foundation, you can build a house and go higher,” he said.
After two decades behind the sushi bar, Chin says that he can make a sushi lover out of anybody – as long as you follow his three rules.
1 Get your mind out of the ocean.
2 Taste it before you ask what it is.
3 Don’t look at the tab, just pay it.
Since opening last month, Chin said business at AJ Sushi Restaurant has been up and down. The restaurant is especially bust on Friday nights, he said.
“Like all kinds of businesses, some days are busy, some days are slower,” he said. “But it’s like they say, you can always expect better.”
Chin made sure to put something on the menu for those on a budget or who just got paid, with items priced at just under $3 to nearly $15. Lunch is served Monday through Friday from 11am to 2pm, and dinner spans from 4pm to 8:30pm Monday through Thursday and on Sundays. Friday and Saturday nights the shop is open until 9pm to accommodate late eaters.
And with the emphasis that he says he puts on cleanliness, quality and service at his restaurant, Chin said he remains optimistic and anticipates a good future in downtown Hollister.
“If you can handle those three things, you will never run out of business,” he said.
Luke Roney covers local government and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
