WINDS OF CHANGE
The Realist
TYLER FUSHIKOSHI, FUSHIPOKÉ, AGE 26 Tyler Fushikoshi had a quiet lifestyle growing up. Maui isn’t a big town, and most of the fun you have in Hawaii happens with your friends, roaming outdoors and staying out until the sun sets. Here in Florida, the water’s different, and so is Fushikoshi. The boy has become a driven, practical man. Starting on the back-of-house cookline as a teenager, Fushikoshi proved himself time and again, eventually becoming one of the Caraguilo brothers’ most trusted managers. When they encouraged him to move on and start his own business, he took the advice to heart. Now he’s got his own restaurant, with his own food concepts. He’s got a hard eye for what makes businesses work—and he made damn sure that there was a market for his Hawaiian-inspired poke bowls before pulling the trigger on his new idea. “I used to sit on a bench and watch who was eating what. I wanted to see what people were getting for lunch.” He saw an opening in the lunch market for innovative, healthy food that appealed to young professionals who work downtown. Fushikoshi has seen the business grow bigger, month by month. As Sarasota’s real estate development boom has pushed the downtown population to new heights, FushiPoké’s market has grown proportionally, putting the restaurant at the forefront of Sarasota’s rapidly developing young professional culture. But Fushikoshi’s poke bowls, full of raw seafood and crisp veggies, are just as fresh on the weekends as they are on a Tuesday lunch break—and the fresheyed restaurateur plans to be a part of Sarasota’s growing downtown scene for a long time to come. FushiPoke, 128 North Orange Ave., Sarasota, fushipoke.com, @fushipoke
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