from the kitchen
breaking
BARRIERS Fusion Wasabi’s Sonny Chu embraces challenges and adventures.
Names can be funny, especially restaurant names. Sometimes they’re a reflection of ownership. Others can indicate mood, or perhaps what a diner can expect to find on the menu. For Sonny Chu, Owner and Chef of Fusion Wasabi, embracing a name has provided one of the greatest challenges of his life. “I have no comfort zone, no standard dish I prefer to make,” said Sonny, standing behind the sushi bar at Fusion Wasabi, the restaurant that has featured Sonny’s creative and daring menu choices for almost six years now. “I think when you get comfortable, you allow yourself to become lazy and settle in. I want to constantly be breaking down the barriers put around me. (People) think I’m a subdued sushi chef? Watch me play with fire on the teppanyaki grill.” And the same is true in reverse. Sonny himself is a fusion of very different worlds—a creative sushi chef one moment, a dramatic teppanyaki showman the next. A white dry erase board behind the sushi bar features the latest sushi specials he’s created from daily experimentation. A Korean spicy sashimi combo here, a scallop covered Pearl Roll there, each just another few days of brainstorming.
In fact, the entire menu reflects Sonny’s adventurous side. The Orange Chicken, for instance, came simply from a late night craving. “I came home with food one night, and my wife and family agreed that they would’ve rather had orange chicken. The next day I came in and for a week straight I experimented with batter and sauces until I found the blend I liked.” It’s been on the menu ever since. This is the most obvious recurring pattern in Sonny’s life: identify a challenge, and then attack it relentlessly. As a young man he traveled a lot, spending years in California and Hawaii before moving to Tucson. He would arrive somewhere new, find someone who had mastered something he wanted to learn, and take in as much as he could. Food was always his favorite pursuit, but it definitely wasn’t the only one. Food just happened to be the one thing that kept sneaking back into his life. “I used to be a young, single guy, working a job or two just to stay busy, and I’d spend all my money eating at the best restaurants, trying crazy dishes and seeing what was out there. I tasted certain foods and decided I had to understand how to produce those flavors.” Sonny smiled fondly as he remembered the old days. “That was when I really fell in love with fish too.” The truth is he always enjoyed seafood, but it was the fresh fish of the Pacific that changed Sonny’s palate for good. To this day, his favorite food both to prepare and to eat is raw fish. White fish, such as halibut and sea bass, top Sonny’s personal menu. “White fish generally has a crisp, clean taste. The flavor is not so heavy that it drowns out the texture and freshness of the fish. That’s why I have to use fresh fish. It’s the difference between good sushi and all-you-can-eat sushi.” This is why Fusion Wasabi has fish flown in and then taken directly to Sonny, who along with his fellow chefs prepares and stores everything their own way. “I don’t like too many outside influences affecting my ingredients. I want the freshest cuts, the best vegetables, the perfect sears. It’s important to get all the pieces right, so the final product is perfect.” Sonny laughed at the thought of listing the responsibilities he takes on at Fusion Wasabi. His attention to detail, along with his