The sushi at Samurai Japanese Fusion isn’t the only thing that involves a personal touch. The light fixtures hanging above the bar were handpicked by co-owner Aline Chen. The booths were designed by her husband, Chef Chen. Even the glassware was personally selected on a recent trip overseas. Everything here is done with intention. Opened in late 2023, Samurai Japanese Fusion takes deep, abiding pride in delivering its customers a satisfying experience. The decor is tastefully done with paper parasols hanging overhead in the dining room and the aforementioned fixtures situated above the bar in the adjacent room. The music on rotation is a pleasant assortment of acoustic covers; the latest pop anthem from Sabrina Carpenter isn’t going to be interrupting things here.

Their menu is a creative one with real surprises in store for those willing to trust the chefs behind the bar. Take the Dancing Jalapeno Roll: it sounds like a typical offering—tuna, avocado, yellowtail —but the unexpected addition of apple causes both the dish itself and dining here in general, to feel rather adventurous. Another option is the Old Money Roll: built upon a bed of vibrant purple rice, spicy tuna, scallop and finished off with black caviar gold flakes. It’s quite literally a mouthful, but without feeling overwhelming or insurmountable. The staff has a keen understanding of what constitutes a good dish and know just how far to push things so that they remain simultaneously innovative and accessible. Here’s a conversation with co-owner, Aline Chen, about the restaurant’s mission, its value for quality ingredients and the decision to add a third location to their portfolio of existing restaurants in Naples and  Port Charlotte.

What are some of your earliest memories involving food and hospitality? ALINE CHEN  While growing up, my parents owned and operated a little Chinese restaurant in New York. Hospitality started in my childhood and I knew I wanted to work in the industry because of how much I enjoy being involved in the lives of our customers. 

Sarasota is full of restaurants. How do you focus on your business without getting distracted by what others are doing? We only order ingredients from specific distributors because we want that consistency. It’s no secret: the food quality speaks for itself. We invest time in ensuring our ingredients are fresh. There are so many different cuts of chicken—breast, thigh, legs—and we pay more for better quality. Other local sushi restaurants import pre-sectioned tuna, but our supplies deliver the entire fish and our chefs are trained at cutting and piecing it out. This means we’re offering sections of tuna that other restaurants just don’t have access to—you can even see the difference in the gradient of the fish.

How is your menu structured? It’s an interesting combination of what customers are accustomed to seeing and items customers may not be familiar with quite yet. It’s quite large because we’re always gaining access to new fish that we can offer to the community. Our sushi chefs are always finding new ways to put these things together and experimenting with new textures and new flavor profiles. There’s also something to be said about the fact that the chefs are frequently meeting with the fish distributors, so we’re not set in our ways in regard to what we offer.