By Keiko Fukuda
An Okinawan restaurant, Habuya Okinawan Dining, was opened in December of 2010 in Tustin. Mere 3 months after the opening, it was featured as “The Best Hidden Japanese Restaurant” in the Los Angeles Times, which gave this restaurant a big boost. Mayumi Burgus from Okinawa, the owner of the restaurant, says, “Back then, people used to form a long line that went over the street corner.” Since then, this place has become a very popular restaurant known to many people, and no longer could be described as a hidden place.
Some of their regular customers I interviewed described the charms of this place as “good ambience” and “authentic Okinawan dishes”, followed by a fantastic comment, “everything they serve here is delicious!” I thought Mayumi was the chef here because she is from Okinawa. But, actually, it is her husband, Hiroki Kimura, who is from Yamagata prefecture, is in charge of cooking. He came to the US after working several years in Japan as a chef, and worked at a Japanese restaurant in Los Angeles. He met Mayumi around the time he was thinking about going back to Japan. She told him about her dream of opening an Okinawan restaurant in the US. Coincidentally, Hiroki grew up listening to his grandmother who used to tell him how his great uncle (the grandmother’s brother) survived during the war thanks to the kindness of Okinawan farmers who hid him from the enemy to protect him so he could go home alive. Hiroki, then, developed a sense of someday returning the favor to the people in Okinawa. He thinks back and believes that his becoming a chef, and meeting Mayumi in the US were meant to happen to connect the two points to form this line of events.
“However, 90% of the people I consulted with said, “Okinawan food is not a common everyday food, and succeeding in running an Okinawan restaurant here is unlikely, but I didn’t give up. I tried different things, which included researching for tastes that would be more easily accepted by people who are not Okinawan natives by using bonito or konbu-based dashi instead of tonkotsu, adding menu items other than Okinawan specialty dishes, etc.,” says Hiroki. The Ryukyu Gozen, which was served on my interview day was the Okinawa version of a gorgeous full course menu. It consisted of “Deep Fried Banana Fish”, “Okinawa Mozuku”, “Okinawa sea grapes and Sashimi”, “Stewed Pork Belly”, and “Okinawa soba”. It reminded me of the true local tastes I experienced in Naha. Especially, sea grapes, which should be very rare in the US, is one of hard-to-get precious ingredients. I heard that they try their best to get as much made-in-Okinawa ingredients as possible.
“Our desire to contribute to Okinawa is very strong. Therefore, we naturally promote Okinawa-made products, not only for the food ingredients, but also for sake brands in our drink menu,” says Hiroki. Mayumi continues, “We are the number one seller of the draft version of Orion beer”. Horoki further adds, “The more Okinawan food ingredients people consume in the US, the more Okinawa gets benefited. However, it won’t be meaningful unless this keeps going. Such flow of movement will die down if we fail our restaurant business and end up closing the restaurant. I realize that it is so important to keep up with the success in this business. This is my way of returning the favor to Okinawa for my family”.
The cooking part is relied on Hiroki’s hands, but servicing and marketing part is the responsibility of Mayumi. She came to the US when she was 21 years old.
She was commuting to the Japanese restaurant she worked for taking an hour and a half by bus. While she worked at the restaurant, she was also busy creating Okinawan-themed arts. She came to the US originally to get married, but later got divorced. She kept hanging on her dream of running an Okinawan restaurant while working hard as a single mother, and that dream became real when she met Hiroki. Mayumi’s talent as an artist is now well reflected upon Habuya’s interior space. Colorful Hand-written menus decorate the walls, and items bought in Okinawa, and brought to the restaurant by regular customers fill the place.
Mayumi says, “For customers who are anime fans often describe that his place makes them feel as if they have wondered into the world of “Spirited Away”. This restaurant, which has been increasing the number of customers with its comfortable ambience and delicious food, has welcomed its 8th anniversary in December of 2018.
和食の技効かせた沖縄料理の店
2010年12月にタスティンにオープンした沖縄料理の店、Habuya Okinawan Dining。その３カ月後にロサンゼルスタイムズに「Best Hidden Japanese Restaurant」として紹介されたことが店の大きな転機となった。沖縄出身のオーナー、真弓バーガスさんが言うには「角を曲がった先まで入店を待つ長蛇の列ができた」そうだ。それからは「Hidden」という修飾語が似つかわしくない、誰もが知る繁盛店へと成長した。
何がこの店の魅力かを周囲の常連客に聞くと「雰囲気がいい」「本格的な沖縄料理が食べられる」に続いて、「何を食べても美味しい」という絶賛のコメントが返ってきた。料理を手がけているのはウチナーンチュの真弓さんかと思いきや、実は山形県出身の夫、木村裕樹さん。裕樹さんは料理人として日本で数年の経験を積んだ後に渡米し、ロサンゼルス近郊の日本料理店に勤めた。帰国を控えた頃、真弓さんと知り合い、彼女から「アメリカで沖縄料理店を開けたい」という夢を聞く。裕樹さんは幼い頃から祖母に、大伯父（祖母の兄）が戦時中、沖縄の農家にかくまわれて無事に復員することができたことを聞かされて育った。「いつか沖縄の人に恩返しをしたい」と思うようになり、料理人になった自分がアメリカの地で真弓さんと出会ったことで「点と点が繋がって線になった」と振り返る。
「しかし、相談した人のうちの90％からは『沖縄料理なんて毎日食べるものではないから、店を開けても成功しない』と言われました。それでも諦めず、豚骨よりもかつおや昆布だしを使うなど沖縄の人以外にも食べやすい味を研究したり、また沖縄料理以外のメニューも揃えたりすることで工夫しました」と裕樹さん。
取材当日にいただいた琉球御膳は、グルクンの唐揚げ、もずくの酢の物、海ぶどうと刺身、ラフテー、さらに沖縄ソバとまるで満漢全席の沖縄バージョンのような豪華さ。那覇で食べた本場の味の記憶がよみがえる。特に海ぶどうはアメリカではほとんど口にできない貴重な食材のはず。これらの食材、同店では可能な限り、沖縄産を仕入れているそうだ。
「沖縄に貢献したいという思いが強いので、料理もそうですが、お酒も当然沖縄のものをプッシュしています」と裕樹さんが話すと、「オリオンビールの生ビールの売り上げはうちが全米ナンバーワンです」と真弓さんが続ける。さらに「沖縄産食材をアメリカで食べてもらえばもらうほど、沖縄にお金が行きます。しかし、これは続けなければ意味がありません。店を潰してしまえば、その流れは途絶えてしまう。だから、店を継続させることが非常に大切だと認識しています。このことは私の家族が沖縄から受けた恩返しです」と裕樹さん。
料理は裕樹さんの腕にかかっているが、接客や広報、マーケティングは真弓さんが担う。21歳で渡米した真弓さんは、最初の勤務先である日本食レストランまでバスで片道１時間半をかけて通った。レストランで働くかたわら、沖縄をテーマにしたアート作品製作にも精を出した。渡米の理由は結婚だったが、その後、離婚。シングルマザーとして奮闘しながら沖縄料理店経営の夢を抱き続け、裕樹さんとの出会いで夢は花開いた。そして、真弓さんのアーティストとしての才能が、今はHabuyaの内装にも反映されている。壁を賑やかな手書きメニューが飾り、常連が沖縄で買って持ち込んだというアイテムが所狭しと配置されている。
「アニメファンのお客さんは『千と千尋の神隠し』の世界に迷い込んだよう、と表現しますね」と真弓さん。その居心地の良さと美味なる料理で顧客を増やし続けた同店は、2018年12月、開店８周年を迎えた。
Habuya Okinawan Dining
14215 Red Hill Ave.,
Tustin, CA 92780
(714)832-3323
Mon.-Fri. 11:30am-2:00pm
5:30pm-11:00pm
Sunday Closed
