São Paulo – The restaurant Sushi Hiroshi decided to open its menu for Arab ingredients and added dates to some recipes. Located at Santana in the north area of São Paulo, it offers a sushi and a drink made with dates from the United Arab Emirates. The recipes will be at the physical menu within a month, but clients may order them already.
The Date Sushi, an option of desert, includes strawberry, kiwi, cream cheese, and dates inside it. It’s wrapped in breaded seaweed, like a hot roll, and have a dash of date syrup. The desert comes in a plate with eight units. The Date Drink is made with rum, macerated dates, and date syrup.
The sushi recipe was created by the restaurant’s itamae Julio Ogawa, while the drink was created by the barman Neuton Araújo. Julio owns the restaurant with his brother Francisco Ogawa, who handles management. Francisco says the recipes have already been served to some clients and they liked it. “It’s good,” he says.
Including dates in the restaurant came from a suggestion from the businesswoman Julia de Biase, who distributes the products by Date Crown brand of the Emirati company Al Foah in the Brazilian market. Sushi Hiroshi operates since 1997 and Julia has been a client for 20 years, Francisco says.
“It was a perfect match, because it’s a desert sushi, which we didn’t have and many (Japanese) restaurants don’t have it either. It’s different. And it goes well with the drink,” Julio said. As soon as these products are in the menu, they can evaluate the demand and consider using dates for other recipes. The restaurant usually changes its menu from time to time.
“By opening a space in Sushi Hiroshi, which is an extremely well-respected, well-known restaurant, dates will reach the final consumer,” said Julia de Biase. The businesswoman has promoted dates in the Brazilian market, where their use is still not widespread. The goal is that, when they prove the fruit in dishes and drinks, people seek out dates in large supermarkets, eat them raw, and add them to dishes, deserts, cakes, bonbons, cocktails with or without alcohol, roasts, and other recipes.
Sushi Hiroshi serves traditional Japanese recipes but adds some innovations to the menu. Francisco says he has already added shark fins and an exotic imported seaweed called Hiyashi Wakame, among others. The restaurant also serves a recipe derived from an Arab dish. It’s kind of a Japanese raw kibbeh made with tuna or salmon. The restaurant receives many Arab-Brazilian clients, especially Lebanese, according to the owners.
Quick facts:
Sushi Hiroshi
Rua Capitão Manoel Novaes, 189
Santana – São Paulo – SP
Phone: +55 (11) 2979-6677
Webese here – Facebook here – Instagram here
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
