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Jan. 28, 2014 By Michael Florio
Pink Nori, a new sushi restaurant, opened on 30th Avenue last week.
The Japanese restaurant located at 36-06 30th Ave offers an unusual twist: it encourages its customers to make their own sushi.
Jesse Tang, 22, the owner from Fresh Meadows, said he got the idea based on his own sushi dining experiences. He said that he doesn’t like shell fish–particularly shrimp– and often found himself swapping it for another ingredient.
He then thought that other people might want to create their own sushi.
The make-your-own sushi menu allows diners to select up to three types of fish items, and three types of vegetables fillings.
Tang, who finished Stony Brook University in December, then won a $10,000 prize for his business concept in a young entrepreneur contest. Tang, whose father is in the restaurant business, then used the funds to help start Pink Nori.
Tang said Pink Nori—a 50 seat restaurant– also provides diners with another ability to select a unique mix of items typically not found in a traditional sushi restaurants.
“We offer the new style sushi and sashimi with a variety of slices of fish combined with ingredients such as cherry tomato, yuzu jelly, taro chip, cream cheese, and more to create a marriage of flavors,” Tang said.
The restaurant also provides traditional Japanese food off the menu.
In the week the restaurant has been open, about 2/3s of guests have selected traditional Japanese items off the menu.
Along with sushi and sashimi, Pink Nori also serves a variety of hot dishes such as noodles.