By: Audra Theroux
Posted In: Entertainment
Photo credit: Erica Johnson
One of Sumo´s sushi chefs creates a salad that can truly be called art.
Photo credit: Erica Johnson
The sushi bar at Sumo Sushi on Thames Street.
Photo credit: Erica Johnson
Steve Lee, owner of Sumo Sushi, and fellow chef await a customer´s order.
“With any other restaurant, the cooking takes place behind closed doors, this way people are able to watch their meals being cooked in front of them,” says Steve Lee, owner of Sumo Sushi. “They trust me with their meals and enjoy watching them be prepared. That keeps them coming back to my restaurant instead of going somewhere else.”
Behind the sushi bar fresh tuna, squid, eel, salmon, fluke and spotted quail eggs are arranged on small platters the size of an opened hand. Lee artistically places strips of eel on a bed of sticky white rice as he briefly glances up to give his customers, who have their faces close to the glass, a gentle smile. As Lee steps out from behind the sushi bar, he orders his giggling son Andy to sit down. He washes his dry hands of the fish smell and tucks in his black Sumo Sushi t-shirt to his blue jeans. Lee rests his large hands under his chin and searches for his words. Born in Korea, Lee grew up and worked in his family’s sushi restaurant, until deciding to go for professional training. In 1980, he moved across the world to California and attended the California Sushi Academy. After graduating Lee opened a chain of Japanese and Korean restaurants. One called “The Best Place” in Orange County, Ca. and “Si Yeon” in L.A., which at the time grew to be the biggest sushi restaurant in California. In 1995, Lee found himself unhappy living in Manhattan. Some of his friends introduced him to the relaxed city of Newport and he decided to make the move. “I pretty much fell in love with it here,” said Lee. “I enjoy the fresh air, the people are nice and I became married to my business.” Lee named his Newport restaurant Sumo Sushi, because it brings a good sense of character to the place and is easy an easy name for people to remember, so they come back he says. Every morning at 10 o’clock, Steve cleans and cuts the fresh fish needed for the day. Then he sets up the fish on display in the cooler behind the window that separates the cooking area from the customers’ seats. While most restaurants kitchens are located out of the customer’s view, this sushi chef allows his customers to observe their food being prepared. Lee placed a thin sheet of nori, a dark olive green vegetable that has been pressed into sheets onto a square bamboo roller. He evenly distributes the sticky white rice over the sheet of nori as if he were a painter preparing a canvas. In a way Lee thinks of sushi preparation as an art form because of his customer interaction. “I like talking with my customers about being a sushi chef, different kinds of foods, and about sports. It is important that I know a lot about sushi because customers are always asking questions,” said Lee. “If you don’t talk and answer their questions about what you are doing, they won’t come back to talk to me again. I lose business that way.” Ignoring his laughing son and scattered yellow trucks over the floor, Steve keeps his dark eyes focused on the creation in front of him. He puts the sushi together with grace and ease. “I find that customers would rather talk and ask questions to my husband while he is cooking then talk to me their waitress,” jokes Hannah. “But I guess it just comes with him being the sushi chef.”
