The best ingredients make for the best sushi. Everything that goes into our sushi—from the quality of our ingredients to the knowledge of our chefs-all adds up to bring you delicious rolls, bowls, and meals that are packed with fresh flavor. All of our Sushi is Food You Feel Good About, made with no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, and no gluten-containing ingredients.
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At Wegmans we only use smaller ginger root for its superior tenderness. Larger ginger can be woody and tough. Ours is always tender and flavorful.
The first ingredient in our Food You Feel Good About wasabi is real Japanese wasabi from the plant, not powder-based with horseradish or food coloring, giving it that potent kick you’d expect from authentic wasabi.
Another exclusive for Wegmans, this blend of sriracha sauce, hot sesame oil, and mayo takes any sushi item to another level.
We use a traditional Koshihikari short-grain rice that’s freshly milled for us in California each month.
Wegmans sources from the first harvest, called the “shin nori”, which is considered the finest of the year.
We worked with our supplier to create our own vinegar blend for sushi—it delivers the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and sour.
Our Sushi team has traveled the world to bring their passion for great-tasting sushi to Wegmans. They know the real difference in taste starts right with the source of our ingredients. Whether Raw, Cooked, or Veggie, Classic Favorites, or one of our unique, innovative creations, we have the sushi you’re craving.
Our premium, lean, wild-caught Bigeye Ahi Tuna has a vibrant red color, with a firm, meaty bite, and noticeably rich flavor.
Our delicious Black Tiger Shrimp is raised with no artificial colors, flavors or hormones on family-run farms in Vietnam’s sustainable mangrove forests. Larger than most shrimp, Black Tiger Shrimp grow naturally in mangrove forests, eating whatever nature supplies, giving it a distinctly rich flavor.
The fresh Alpine waters of New Zealand give our salmon a mild, buttery flavor with a velvety texture that’s perfect for sushi and our new Poke Bowls. Our sustainable Alpine King Salmon is harvested exclusively for Wegmans from some of the planet’s most pristine glacial waters.
Greens or grains?
If you want the fresh flavor or sushi in a bowl rather than a roll, try one of our Poke Bowls or new Poke Salads! These easy, on-the-go complete meals are packed with great taste and freshly made from our very best sushi ingredients – all Food You Feel Good About with no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. Perfect for lunch or a mini-meal any time you’re craving something fresh and healthy.
Vice President of Sushi/Asian
John Emerson’s passion for making sushi had its start at George Brown College in his hometown of Toronto, Canada—he wrote his main theory paper on sushi in 1988! He says he’s learned so much working with Wegmans sushi artisan Satoshi, and has also trained in Japan’s famous Tsukiji Market, restaurants, and Japanese retail operations.
After working as a chef at the Ritz-Carlton in 1994, serving sushi to many distinguished guests, he came to Wegmans in 1997 and helping create our sushi program. “Many people are afraid of sushi,” Emerson says. “Since sushi is actually rice combined with many different ingredients, I love showing people that there is a sushi for everyone. Sure there is raw fish sushi, but our Cooked Coconut Shrimp Roll or Buffalo Shrimp Sushi Roll are great examples. Vegetarian Sushi is also becoming more popular.”
Executive Chef Sushi
Chef Satoshi Yamaguchi, a graduate of Masuda Culinary School in Tokyo, is a master of traditional sushi and joined Wegmans in 2005. Today at Next Door, he excels in bringing together inventive mixtures of ingredients that appeal to contemporary tastes, and showing how the art of sushi is a tradition that’s alive and vibrant with new possibilities. Yamaguchi finds inspiration in the rare and fresh seasonal ingredients Next Door is able to source, allowing him to create crowd favorites such as a peach, truffle and yellowtail salad or a unique fish special with fresh-caught bonito.
In addition to his work at Next Door, Chef Yamaguchi develops products for Wegmans Sushi bars.
Sushi Chef Next Door Restaurant
Chef Pham, a Rochester native, has a passion for sushi—particularly when it comes to fusing American and Japanese cuisine. With 12 years of experience, he translates his love for sushi and fusion cuisine into unique dishes like our Tuna Salmon Poke bowl, Tuna Tartare and Red Dragon Roll.
Next Door patrons can observe Chef Pham’s expert skills up close and ask questions about the evening’s featured dishes at the Sushi Bar in the main dining room.
Corporate Sushi Chef Merchant
Takahiro Hachiya, a native of Gifu, Japan, learned to craft his amazing sushi creations from working as a sushi chef in the Ito-Yokado supermarket in Japan, a popular Japanese restaurant in London, UK., and some other high-profile American markets before he came to Wegmans. Sixty-five percent of the U.S. population has never tried sushi. It is Hachiya’s passion to create great tasting sushi that appeals to everyone while helping our customers live healthier, better lives through food.
He loves the opportunity to learn more about sushi from dreaming up innovative rolls to working side-by-side with the other sushi artisans at Wegmans.
Executive Chef Japanese Cuisine
Chef Tadao Mikami has been cooking since he began working in his family’s business in Tokyo at the age of 14. He completed college and culinary school in Tokyo, and later worked as a chef in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka before coming to New York City in 1975 and opening several of his own restaurants. In 2008, Chef David Bouley asked him to join his staff, and Mikami worked for Bouley for six years before joining the Next Door team in 2014.
Chef Mikami loves to share his knowledge of Japanese cuisine through teaching others. His signature “East Meets West” five-course dinners with wine pairings are held regularly at Next Door. These dinners feature the freshest sustainably sourced ingredients and discussion of the cooking techniques used.
In addition to his work at Next Door, Chef Mikami develops new products for Wegmans, including our popular line of ready-to-cook entrees & sides.
Regional Sushi Trainer & Chef
Taiwanese native Bryan Kuo studied sushi making with some amazing sushi chefs, including Zagara’s Harrison Tai, Kenny Yung at Princeton’s Ichiban restaurant, and from 1999 until now, Wegmans sushi team, including Win Tung, Andy Yea, and John Emerson.
“Sushi making has taught me an important life lesson: take pride in what you do,” says Bryan. His workstyle was forged after reading sushi master Satoshi Ozawa’s book. “Ozawa gave all his devotion and hard work to sushi making for his customers. His words completely changed my personal philosophy. I dedicated myself to serving my customers with the same pride and passion Ozawa gave his. Having worked with the art for more than two decades, I still desire to learn and improve my skills.”