In With the New

Hiroshi Sakurada at Sakura-Ya Welcome Gathering

... and out with the old. George's Delicatessen, which had been in business for a half-century or so in Honolulu, closed its doors a few years ago, and the Ueda family recently ended a long search for a successor food establishment.

Sakura-Ya, which specializes in Japanese bento, okazu and creative sushi, opened its doors for business on Friday, Nov. 11 (11/11/11), fulfilling a dream of owners Hiroshi and Keiko Sakurada to move from the East Coast to Hawaii.

Keiko cooks the okazu, and Hiro creates the sushi. We were honored to receive an invitation to a welcome gathering Sunday evening at the old George's location - 1317 S. Beretania St. - and were treated to some of their creations.

What a wonderful little dinner we had. Keiko couldn't stop talking about Hiro's success in creative sushi, showing me a story in the New Jersey Record about his prowess. And, I learned, Hiro once won a sushi competition. Visit them, and I'm sure Keiko or Hiro will tell you all about it.

Let me tell you, the sushi he made for us that night was delicious, guaranteed to delight his customers with a mix of local flavors and sophisticated unusual sushi. My favorite was the mackeral sushi. Absolutely "holy"! I can, with great enthusiasm, recommend that you try them out.

Sakura-Ya Bento, Okazu, Sushi ... 1317 S. Beretanis St., just ewa of Keeaumoku. (808) 597-8069.