Hi, my name is Jun. I live in Vancouver, Canada, where there are more Japanese restaurants than any other kind. A friend of mine who works as a sushi chef said that it would be a waste of time and money for me to go to LA and do sushi study when I told him about my plan. “Why not work and make money and learn instead of paying?” I didn’t really need to argue because I knew this would make a huge difference between him and me.
Here is my simple question; what are the odds of being able to get a good sushi job and an opportunity to learn and do the right things at your work considering there seems to be a whole bunch of bastardized versions of “Japanese restaurants” here and there in the US and Canada? I had already known the answer and Chef Andy guided me through the world of DOING THE RIGHT THINGS for the entire eight weeks at school. Well, here is another simple question; have you ever been lucky enough to have a chance to talk to any more experienced and knowledgable sushi chef than Chef Andy? If you have, go ask them to train you. You probably haven’t. But you’re still lucky to be reading this!
SCI basically welcomes everyone. Even those that have no kitchen experience or don’t cook at home. Grown up in Japan, I must admit that I had some advantage in the Japanese cooking over non-Japanese students. However, this school enables us to pursue our own individual goals at quite different levels. In other words, if you are better than the others, there is always more to learn and do. If you are a little behind, there is always Chef Andy and Nick willing to help you. Remember they are watching your attitude and commitment rather than your skills. Plus, my biggest advice to the future students would be stay after school and keep on practicing every single day with your friends.
Lastly, I’d like to express my gratitude to every one of my classmates and, of course, Chef Andy. But more than anyone, thanks Nick for being helpful. I didn’t just get sushi skills for the money I spent but much more than that!
