`I suppose there are really two strands to the restaurant business," says Yoichi Hoashi. "There are the themed, branded restaurants, which are aggressively marketed and are all about making a fast buck. And then there are those restaurants which bring an idea to the market, something new, something unique, places like the Ayumi-Ya or, let's say, the Da Tang Noodle House in Galway, and that is what we try to do, and what we have tried to do for the last 15 years."
The 15-year tenure of the Ayumi-Ya is a milestone for ethnic food in Ireland. At a time when we are all blase about new styles of ethnic food, it may be difficult to remember the importance of Akiko Hoashi's decision to open the original Ayumi-Ya in Blackrock, all those years ago. But without her brave decision - she was separated, with young children, living in a foreign country - to open and cook what was then wildly esoteric food, our education as appreciators of ethnic foods in Ireland would be significantly poorer. To mark the anniversary, Yoichi has produced a delightful, stylish booklet, which traces some of the Ayumi-Ya's history. Unfortunately, the story of the restaurant is intertwined with his mother's tragic death, in a car crash in New Zealand, only months after she handed over the running of the restaurants to her son and retired from the business.
The booklet is a moving tribute from a son to his mother: "After only a brief fact-finding visit to New Zealand, Akiko packed a few bags and, in April 1995, went to live there with her partner. They wished to combine a happy retirement with a long standing ambition to get back to basics and grow their own vegetables and speciality Japanese mushrooms. I think this typified my mother in that she was able to consider a new life so far away, and to actually have the courage to go and make it happen!" he writes. "On the 4th January 1996, my mother's partner called. He told me that my mother had been involved in a fatal car accident and had died instantly. Our lives were totally shattered. She had only been in New Zealand eight months or so. She was only 52." Yoichi is frank about the impact his mother's death had on him and the difficulties it caused him in deciding if he wished to keep running the Ayumi-Ya in Blackrock, as well as the newer Ayumi-Ya Japanese Steakhouse in Baggot Street.
He was helped through the period by the dedication of his staff, and also by the realisation that "I was now on my own to continue her legacy". Today, he writes: "Ayumi-Ya is continuing the philosophy of its founder, making Japanese food as available as possible, based on quality, authenticity and sincerity".
The key word here, I believe, is sincerity. I well remember attending a small party 10 years ago, to mark five years of the restaurant, and being astonished when Akiko thanked her bank manager in her speech. This evident sincerity has always been the keynote of this marvellous operation, a transparency which I find joyful, and which is frequently absent from the restaurant business. "Many people see the restaurant business as being all about the fast buck, and forget about tomorrow," says Yoichi. "But for us, we say that this is a small city and there is a huge amount of choice, and so we have to leave a mark on our customers. We know them by name, we know what they like, and we keep in touch.
"Thus we have many customers who knew Mum, and their children are now our customers." "Keeping in touch" involves regular newsletters, customer loyalty schemes and various offers, celebration menus and prize draws, but there is nothing slick or calculated about the Ayumi-Ya approach. Yoichi sees it all as part of the service, and he is constantly seeking new ways to improve the offer. He wants to find the right premises to open a new KaitenSushi bar, where the plates of sushi revolve on a conveyor belt, and it will also have a shop selling Japanese food-to-go. Their successful teaming with Bloomfield's and Tesco to sell sushi has shown Yoichi that there is a market for Japanese food in multifarious forms: "We hope to cater for all your Japanese food needs," he writes in the booklet, "whether you prefer to eat at home or dine out. "Sushi delivery will be a feature of the new business. We will also offer vacuum-packed and frozen Japanese food for cooking at your convenience. Japanese groceries will be sold alongside pre-packed Bento boxes and other speciality items.
"We have a lot to remember about where we are, and how we got here, and there are a lot of customers to thank," says Yoichi, as modest and reflective as ever. He is the embodiment of Akiko's mix of dedication to the task and devotion to the ideal, qualities which have steadily taken the Ayumi-Ya to the ever greater success it enjoys today. "Our mission has been to stay pure, and to slowly develop the market," he says. Mission accomplished.
Ayumi-Ya Japanese Restaurant, Newpark Centre, Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin. Tel: 01 283 1767. Ayumi-Ya Japanese Steakhouse, 132 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 01 662 0233