LIHU‘E — The first “long-distance” Genki Sushi location was blessed Monday morning before a handful of guests and staff. The sixth restaurant to open in 11 years, the Kukui Grove Center shop represents the first Neighbor Island outlet for the eatery.
Long before the formal blessing officiated by Lady Ipo Kahaunaele took place yesterday, though, there were inquiries about the opening of the sushi restaurant popular with visitors and residents and having multiple O‘ahu locations.
The Kukui Grove Center location is on the mall’s interior, adjacent to Starbucks and Jamba Juice.
Restaurant General Manager Shawn Tateno was grilled by cashiers at Longs Drug Stores whenever he was in the store, and on Sunday, when most of the mall’s stores were closed for Easter, occasional shoppers would stop to query as the final signage was being applied to the restaurant’s doors.
On Saturday, an informal test run was conducted by Genki Sushi, with patrons being selected from shoppers on the mall who had an opportunity to tastetest the products as the staff familiarized themselves with the equipment.
“This is the most automated restaurant of the six that are in operation,” noted Tami Orozco, Genki Sushi’s director of sales and marketing.
David LeDee, Genki Sushi’s kitchen manager, pointed out the automated dishwasher, an automatic rice washer, and an automatic rice mixer that correctly mixes the rice and vinegar mixture that is the root of sushi.
Additionally, the restaurant kitchen has an automatic roller as well as an automatic cutter, ensuring that all servings are equal.
Closer to the customer seating, a pair of sushi-makers anchor the pit encircled by customer seating, and LeDee noted that another is just inside the kitchen, to take care of take-out orders which are available from the time the restaurant opens at 11 a.m.
Servings are done by customers selecting sushi that circles on a conveyor belt on color coded plates, each color designating a price point.
Though mechanized to a point, the newest Hawai‘i Genki Sushi location still needed several live bodies to work there. Even with today’s low island unemployment rate and tight job market, Genki Sushi managers managed to find 35 employees to join the staff.
Orozco noted that the Kukui Grove location is their first “long-distance” shop, the other five being located on O‘ahu. Starting with the original location in Kapahulu, there are now Genki Sushi shops in Kapolei, Pearl City, Ala Moana, and Kane‘ohe. Orozco, who doubles as the director of development for Genki Sushi, said plans are to reach a total of 10 stores by 2007, with the next locations being eyed for Maui or the Big Island.
The Kaua‘i store is the most modern in the chain in Hawai‘i, but, Orozco noted, pales in high-technology sophistication compared to the 206 stores located in Japan.
She said that the stores in Japan are so advanced in automation and modern technology that when workers arrive to work, they are greeted in the back by conveyor belts that are already moving supplies to appropriate areas.
Utilizing a system of sensors and computers, the parcels are transported to the work areas via conveyor belts. She added that the central conveyor belt that circles the dining area is even more automated in Japan, where sensors are placed on the bottoms of the sushi plates and computers detect when those dishes have “expired.” A special system “whacks” it out of the serving lineup.
“It’s beyond your wildest dreams,” she said.
Although she has yet to experience this level of automation and technology, Orozco said that chefs are occasionally treated to a trip to the main shops in Utsunomiya, Japan, so they have an idea of the type of automation the firm is striving to achieve.
When Genki Sushi opens its doors to the public starting tomorrow, Wednesday, March 30 at 11 a.m., customers may visit the restaurant seven days a week, with eat-in and take-out options available during all hours of operation.
Sunday-through-Thursday hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday hours are from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Takeouts may be ordered in advance by calling 632-2450.
- Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
