The Arbutus Club’s dedicated, in-house sushi program has expanded to become its own department to meet the demands of members.
The Arbutus Club in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, has no shortage of delicious dining options. But its sushi program, led by Senior Sous Chef Bobby Fan, is among the operation’s more unique aspects. The program began more than a decade ago, when the club surveyed members and discovered a strong desire for fresh sushi that was made in-house.
“To be honest, I had no idea how, or if, I could get a sushi program up and running,” says Executive Chef Michael Couzelis. “My kitchen is not very big, and I was concerned about storage space and where a sushi person would even be able to work.
“The one thing I knew,” Couzelis adds, “was that if we decided to do it, it needed to be good, and I needed to hire someone who was highly skilled and organized.”
Couzelis found Fan—who was working in the evenings at a local sushi restaurant—and hired him on a part-time basis. The two started small, offering composed sushi boxes for grab-and-go service in the club’s family-style Bistro.
THE GOAL: In response to member surveys requesting it on the menu, The Arbutus Club sought to establish a dedicated sushi program led by a highly trained culinarian.
THE PLAN: Bobby Fan, a local sushi chef, was originally hired on a part-time basis. But as demand for sushi grew, Fan was offered a full-time position as well as his own department. Eventually, a refrigerated base with counters and shelves were purchased. THE PAYOFF: Chef Fan and his team now produce sushi daily for the club’s Bistro and on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, they offer specialty rolls, sashimi and more. Sushi is also offered for grab-and-go and there are plans to add a dedicated sushi kitchen as part of an upcoming renovation. On a typical Friday night, The Arbutus Club will do more than $1,500 (Canadian) in sushi, with some members ordering $200 platters to go. |
As demand grew and Fan’s skillset proved to be a valuable addition to the line during lunch, Couzelis hired him full-time and gave him the opportunity to run his own sushi department—which has since been in constant growth mode and is now self-sustaining.
“[Fan] does all of his own ordering, organizing and menu-writing,” says Couzelis. “Many of his products cross over into [our] restaurants as well, so storage space isn’t as much of an issue.”
Over the years, Fan has expanded his department and trained a handful of cooks on how to make rolls for the Bistro. He now also has a part-time assistant who is learning more specific sushi tasks, like fish butchery.
Today, in addition to having sushi available daily in the Bistro for grab-and-go, The Arbutus Club also offers an expanded menu that is available on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights in the Dining Room and Sports Lounge. The menu includes more common rolls, including:
• California roll, made with Dungeness crab and avocado;
• spicy tuna roll, made with ahi tuna and sesame chili sauce;
• salmon and avocado roll; and
• dynamite roll, made with crispy prawns, avocado, radish sprouts and tobiko.
More complex rolls that are also on the menu include:
• negitoro roll, made with chopped scallions and albacore tuna belly;
• omega roll, made with wild sockeye salmon, avocado, cucumber, flax seed and yuzu mayo; and
• smoked salmon and chopped scallop roll, made with smoked wild sockeye, diced hokkaido scallop, tobiko, asparagus and Japanese mayo.
Sockeye salmon, ahi tuna, albacore tuna, chopped scallop and BBQ eel are all also available as Nigiri (a slice of raw fish over pressed vinegared rice) or sashimi (slices of very fresh fish served raw, often over a bed of shredded daikon radish).
“The menu reads like a fairly standard sushi menu,” says Couzelis. “You really have to see and taste [Fan’s] sushi to see what value it adds to the club.
“He uses the highest quality fish and he balances flavors precisely,” Couzelis explains. “He’s very particular about everything he produces, as well as his prep areas and storage. Members regularly purchase platters for $200 to $300 each on the nights we offer sushi.”
By hiring the right person, The Arbutus Club was able to eliminate a lot of initial and ongoing challenges. However, the menu’s popularity sometimes causes 45-minute waits.
“This can be a challenge with timing other food coming up on the pass, but server communication seems to be the most effective way to deal with this,” says Couzelis.
The club is planning a complete dining-room renovation that may prove to offer the ultimate solution.
“Once we’re finished [with the renovation—which will also add a small kitchen designed for sushi-making, with a dedicated raw bar], we hope to offer sushi every night,” Couzelis says.
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