Issaquah Highlands
Seattle Weekly
Mercer Island reporter
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Ricenroll: fresh-roled sushi with a difference
- Islander opens a second `Asian fusion' sushi shop
2002-11-14
by Linda Rorem
Special to the Reporter
When Joana Chong was growing up in Seoul, Korea, it was clear that she was bright, especially in mathematics. Her parents expected her to become a doctor or an engineer. Instead, Chong was interested in dentistry and architecture, but ended up attending nursing school and working as an ER nurse before moving to San Francisco for marriage and motherhood.
Those who don't know Chong well might be surprised, then, that seven months ago the Mercer Island resident opened a successful sushi takeout restaurant in downtown Seattle, called ricenroll. A second location began operating in Bellevue Square last week.
But her husband and business partner Taek Chong, an investment banker, says Joana's path and success make perfect sense.
``Joana always had talent, but never had a reason to use it,'' he said. ``Other people are surprised that this housewife has a good business sense, but I always believed she could accomplish whatever she wanted.''
Ricenroll opened its doors on Madison Avenue, between Second and Third avenues in Seattle, in March, and has been building a steady clientele from the first day, despite the region's depressed economy. As a restaurant reviewer wrote last month, ricenroll has ``made sushi a weekly lunchtime addiction rather than an occasional indulgence for downtown workers.''
Chong established ricenroll to fill a void in downtown lunch fare: it offers fresh-rolled sushi made with healthy ingredients, in a clean, professional environment at an affordable price.
A base of rice and seaweed and ``rolls'' it with freshly prepared ingredients such as cucumber, spicy tuna and avocado only when each customer places an order.
Chong points out that rice rolls are readily available in many supermarkets and delis, but ``you find them in the refrigerated section, and the fridge kills the flavor of the rice and dries it out.''
Ricenroll's current best-sellers are California rolls and two combination platters. The menu also boasts some seafood-based offerings and several rolls with meat such as marinated beef and breaded pork.
As Taek Chong explained, ``This is not meant to be traditional Japanese food, which we found that not all Westerners like.''
Instead, Chong calls her food ``Asian fusion,'' drawn from her culinary experiences growing up in Korea, and later living as an expatriate in Tokyo and Hong Kong. Chong's mother was a good cook, but Chong and her three sisters spent little time with their mom in the kitchen. It was not until after she got married that she learned to cook and started trying to replicate her mother's recipes.
``Living in Asia as expatriates, we entertained a lot,'' said Chong. ``I found I liked to cook different foods, plan menus and entertain.''
While in Japan, Chong devoted her attention to her family, which soon included three young boys who are now 15, 13 and 10. In Hong Kong, however, Chong noticed that many women worked outside the home.
``They were very independent and entrepreneurial. I knew many ex-pat wives who were opening their own businesses, so I got into the spirit.'' she said.
Through some part-time marketing jobs she learned she had a knack for business, and loved the creative elements of running her own company.
When her husband was transferred to Seattle in 1999, Chong dreamed of opening an ``Asian-influenced upscale restaurant like ones she saw in Hong Kong, something that would mix Asian and Western food and furniture,'' she said.
Three years later, a friend told her about a potential restaurant space -- a former hot dog joint -- in an office building downtown. It was tiny, but Chong thought she could take the risk since it was in the midst of several high-rise office buildings. So she created a sample menu and walked into the building's management office. The manager accepted the idea right away, and two months later ricenroll was open.
Chong learned how to open and run a restaurant from books, the Internet, equipment suppliers and other restaurant owners. She designed the menu and store, ordered the equipment and supplies, oversaw the construction and financed the first restaraunt with her family's savings.
``I thought about how I could differentiate myself from others,'' said Chong.
She decided that her niche would be to run an efficient business very professionally -- to avoid the appearance of a Mom and Pop shop. From the start, one of her main emphases with her employees was to keep ricenroll as clean as possible throughout.
``I was very nervous at the beginning because I didn't have any restaurant experience at all,'' she admited.
``I didn't even know what to do when a customer walked in. But we had found an experienced cashier, and the sushi chef was great. On the first day, about 70 people came in, which was amazing,'' Chong recalled. ``People kept saying, `We're so glad you're here!'''
News of the shop spread quickly through nearby offices.
``It filled a huge void because near our building (at Fourth and Madison); our lunch choices were limited,'' said Robert Moline, a partner with Price Waterhouse Coopers. ``Coming from the L.A. area, I used to eat sushi all the time, and I really missed it,'' he said. ``Now I go to ricenroll about once a week. The quality of the food is a lot higher than one would expect from a fast-food place.''
With loyal customers like Moline, the downtown store was soon serving a capacity crowd. During most weekday lunch times, lines of hungry people streamed out the door, waiting to order, while the restaurant's three seats were in hot demand. Chong couldn't think of much more to do at the location, which measures just 350 square feet and is open just 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
Chong soon had her sights on expansion, and started looking for space at Bellevue Square.
``The management company was taken by our idea, so they visited the downtown store,'' said Chong. ``They thought it was unique and wanted us to come into the mall right away.''
``For the past 24 to 36 months, people have been leaving requests at the information booth for that type of food,'' said Kevin Schreck, vice president of leasing and development for Kemper Development Co. ``We saw what (Chong)did downtown, and thought that ricenroll had incredible quality in a ritual format. We thought that it would be great for Bellevue Square.''
The new ricenroll store is located on the mall's second and is twice as large as the original downtown location. It will be open significantly longer hours, from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
After two months of construction work, the new ricenroll opened last week and Chong's supporters have no doubt that she'll succeed at Bellevue Square as she has in every other venture she has attempted.
``If she later on finds out that this is not what she wants to do, she'll try something different,'' said Taek Chong. ``But I know that this is what she wants to do right now.''
Copyright © 2002 Horvitz Newspapers, Inc.
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