Hands-On Sushi Training

Shaan tells a story about learning to make sushi by being thrown into the deep end at a sushi restaurant in LA.

"My first business idea was to create the Chipotle for sushi. We found this sushi chef on Food Network who ran the largest sushi academy for training chefs. We googled his number, called him up, and ended up partnering with him.

First day at his restaurant, he had me watch him make sushi for an hour. Then suddenly, he goes 'alright Shaan, you're up' and moves out of the way. My first customer was Daryl from The Office. I'm standing there frozen, looking down at the bamboo, seaweed, and rice. The chef walks away, comes back, hands me a shot of sake and says 'drink the fucking shot and roll the fucking roll Shaan.'

I grab the rice and immediately know I've done something wrong because it's so sticky in my hand. As I try to put it on the seaweed, it won't leave my hand - I just rip the seaweed and my hand becomes like a rice glove. He's laughing and says 'You know, every time before I roll the roll, I dip my hand in water and clap. That clap isn't for show - it removes all the moisture so when you touch the rice, it won't stick to your hand.'

That same day, Hugo from Lost came in to order food too. It was crazy."