My favorite sushi restaurant is a perfect example of how you can work in an industry, gain experience, and then open your own small business.

The restaurant is owned by a married couple; the husband, who is Japanese, does all the cooking, and the wife, who is actually Thai, greets people, takes orders, and serves the food. As a result, we’ve only ever met the wife, but she is an absolute sweetheart and we just adore her.

The two of them actually started out working at a very popular sushi restaurant in town. The husband worked as a chef there too, and the wife worked as either a hostess or wait staff (I can’t remember which). Although the husband already knew how to make sushi, working at the restaurant was a good way for him to learn how sushi has been Americanized.

For instance, the wife has told me before that the Japanese don’t eat ginger with sashimi (which is just raw fish, no rice), but I love ginger with sashimi, and so do many Americans. Also, there is a sushi roll called a Philadelphia roll, or a Philly roll, with salmon and cream cheese in the middle — obviously not a traditional Japanese recipe (or name)!

Anyway, working in this restaurant enabled the husband to hone his skills without getting a culinary education, allowed them to see what the sushi restaurant business is like in our city, and gave them a way to save up money and start their own business.

Technorati Tags: culinary education, small business, sushi