Japanese cuisine has become extremely popular on Long Island in recent years. The history and reason for its rise to prominence can be traced back to one gregarious and innovative individual, Hiro Ishikawa. Hiro opened Long Island’s first Japanese restaurant with a dedicated sushi bar, Taiko in 1979, and since that time his innovations and culinary leadership have helped usher in the sushi craze in the region that continues to this day. In addition to Taiko, in 2003 Hiro and his partners acquired Shiro of Japan, Long Island’s premier Japanese Hibachi steak house and sushi restaurant. This Long Island landmark continues to be one of the region’s most popular establishments.
Hiro immigrated to the United States from Japan in the early 1970s. He immediately became involved in the restaurant industry. He gravitated to this business because he enjoyed being with people and having the ability to share food and food preparation with them.
In 1976 he took over the operation of the restaurant where he had been working in New York City, and one year later he moved to Long Island. While living on Long Island, it became his vision and goal to bring sushi to the people living in the suburbs. At this time most people, other than those who worked in New York City, had little or no experience with Japanese cuisine, particularly sushi. After opening the restaurant he faced a number of challenges. Local consumers were reluctant to try this new and exotic cuisine leading to many slow nights. Hiro and his wife went so far as to live at the restaurant to help make ends meet.
However, after hard work and a favorable review and story in The New York Times, Hiro’s Taiko was on the map. The interest in sushi exploded at Taikio. The restaurant went from serving a few customers per night to a packed house every day for both lunch and dinner. The centerpiece of the operation was the sushi bar manned by Hiro himself. There was more to the restaurant and the sushi created by Hiro. The friendly “sushi bar tender,” who was entertaining and welcoming, made an impression on people that carries on to this very day. Hiro made many friends, and as a result people flocked to his establishment to spend time with him to enjoy his company and the high-quality sushi and traditional Japanese dishes.
Hiro has a strong following, and many of the chefs and restaurant staff members that he has trained and worked with have gone on to prestigious positions at many well-known Japanese restaurants, such as New York’s famed Nobu and Long Island’s Kodabuki.
Always looking for a way to bring sushi to more people, Hiro started his own seafood distributing company in 1980. With a keen eye for fine fish, Hiro started to provide the highest-quality sushi-grade fish to restaurants across the region. Today Ishikawa Seafood provides sushi-grade fish to the finest sushi and Japanese establishments on Long Island and in New York City. If you enjoy fine sushi on Long Island, it is more than likely that Hiro and his team selected the fish and provided it to the restaurant where you are eating. The quality of the seafood that Hiro uses is reflected in the selection that he offers his clientele. Rice plays an important part in the making of sushi. The chefs and others who have studied under Hiro have embraced his style of rice preparation, and many have passed his expertise on to others they have worked with.
Today as co-owner of Shiro of Japan, Hiro serves a wide array of clients. Most impressive is the fact that the restaurant’s clientele includes many top executives from leading Japanese corporations based on Long Island. These executives come to Shiro because of its high quality, authentic Japanese sushi and cuisine. It is not uncommon for the entire sushi bar and bar room to be filled with Japanese business executives enjoying lunch on any given day. Top executives, CEOs and international business leaders return time and time again to Shiro of Japan when they are in the United States.
Understanding the suburban desire to enjoy and try different types of fish, Hiro began to experiment. He is the creator of “Jake,” a mixture of chopped crabmeat and shrimp, commonly used in the creation of sushi rolls across the country. He is the creator of the Black Dragon roll which includes eel and avocado. Hiro selected eel because it was cooked and had an appealing taste. History has shown that he made the right choice: today the Back Dragon and many other sushi rolls made at restaurants across the country use eel. These rolls started to became very popular over 15 years ago and have played an important part in bringing sushi to an ever-growing number of patrons. Sushi rolls at Hiro’s restaurants continue to be trend setting and in high demand.
Hiro’s vision did not stop with sushi for the suburbs. Knowing that he had developed a following and that sushi was taking off in popularity, he began to provide it on weekends to patrons at the Hunter Mountain Ski Resort in upstate New York. This effort further helped to spread the popularity of sushi across the entire northeast. He also opened a Japanese grocery that operated for several years in the mid-1980s in Rockville Centre.
Hiro is a true pioneer who helped start the sushi craze in New York and has brought his style and innovation to Shiro of Japan in Carle Place and to the trendy Shops at Atlas Park in Glendale, Queens. Today as co-owner of Shiro of Japan, Hiro is introducing sushi and traditional Japanese dishes to even more people.
Shiro of Japan was founded in 1972 by Japan’s Takashima Corporation, making it Long Island’s first traditional hibachi steak house. An innovator and leader in Japanese hibachi cuisine, Shiro has developed and maintained a very strong following for over 30 years. The restaurant, known for its teppanyaki chefs and traditional Japanese cuisine became a landmark in the 1970s. By 2003 the restaurant continued to have a strong following, but was in need of an upgrade. Hiro, a member of Kokoro Partners, LLC, came to the table and purchased the restaurant. After extensive renovations in 2004, the new Shiro once again became one of Long Island’s top restaurants. With the addition of a new sushi bar and room, Manhattan-style bar, garden dining area and Tatami rooms, Shiro now offers five unique experiences all under one roof. Hiro’s flare for sushi and attention to detail have created a bastion for sushi lovers in central Nassau County. The successful renovation and rebirth of Shiro of Japan in Carle Place led to the opening of Queen’s most impressive Japanese restaurant Shiro of Japan at The Shops at Atlas Park. This 8,500 square foot venue includes a sushi lounge where patrons can enjoy sushi in a modern and open atmosphere and 18 hibachi tables for casual dining. Sushi offerings are diverse, and this imaginative restaurant which opened in 2006, is bringing Shiro’s authentic cuisine to a whole new audience in Queens.
Never satisfied, Hiro and his partners continue to seek to educate people about sushi and Japanese cuisine. Since 2005 more than 2,000 students from elementary schools in Queens and Long Island have come to the restaurants to enjoy a fun and educational program offered by Hiro and the Shiro of Japan staff about the traditions and history of Japanese cuisine including sushi. Students learn how to make sushi and can watch the hibachi chefs in action. These students often bring their parents back to Shiro to share in the experience. These classroom and field trip programs offered to schools by Hiro are introducing sushi to a whole new generation.
The passion that Hiro started more than 30 years ago continues to be part of his everyday life. Watching young people enjoy the food that he has helped bring to the Long Island and New York region continues to be a fulfilling and rewarding experience for him. Taiko and Shiro of Japan continue to have a strong, loyal and growing client base that other restaurants in the region seek to emulate every day. The trend that Hiro and Shiro of Japan helped start on Long Island in the 1970s is growing strong. Today there are dozens of sushi restaurants and hibachi steak houses seeking to copy the successful approaches created by Hiro, however, in most instances these establishments fall far short.