Today we’d like to introduce you to Yukari Odachi.
Hi Yukari, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My journey to becoming the owner of Poke Chef was anything but planned!
I was born and raised in Japan, but at 17, I came to the United States as an exchange student. Growing up, I often felt pressured to meet other people’s expectations, and I longed for the freedom to make my own choices. To me, America represented that freedom.
Although the exchange program was only for one year, I had already made up my mind that I wasn’t going back to Japan. Of course, my parents had no idea! (Laughs) I applied to colleges in the U.S., got accepted, and convinced my parents to let me stay.
After graduating from college, I moved to New York City and started my professional career at a travel agency. But I had always been fascinated by bartending, so I eventually left the travel industry and started working at a Japanese bar.
At the time, I was a single mother raising my two-year-old daughter, Salena.
And that’s where I met my husband, Hiro!
About ten years into our relationship, we took a trip to Mount Shasta, California, and I absolutely fell in love with the area. I decided I wanted to live there and asked Hiro, who was still my boyfriend at the time, if he would come with me.
Four months later, in July 2010, we made the move to Mount Shasta. We eventually got married, started running a bed and breakfast, and welcomed two sons into our family.
Ten years later, we moved to Reno, Nevada. Around that time, my daughter, Salena, who had graduated from college, also moved to Reno with her boyfriend. For the first time in a while, our family was living close to one another, and life felt lively and full.
One day, Salena suggested that we all move to the Central Coast, where her boyfriend, who later became her fiancé, was from, and start a business together.
I had always wanted to work with my daughter, and I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to support her as well. So we decided to put our sake bar plans aside and make the move.
In August 2024, Hiro, our two sons, and I relocated to the Central Coast. Salena’s fiancé also returned to the area around the same time, while Salena decided to stay in Reno a little longer for work, planning to join us by the end of the year.
While preparing for our move, we had started looking for an existing business to purchase. We considered a café in Avila Beach and Poke Chef in San Luis Obispo. Given our background in Japanese food and hospitality, Poke Chef seemed like a better fit.
And here’s the funny part: neither Hiro nor I had ever eaten poke before buying a poke restaurant!
Hiro had years of experience as a sushi chef, so we felt we could bring our knowledge of Japanese cuisine to the business. After taking over, he completely recreated the sauce recipes and improved the quality and handling of the fish.
But life had another surprise waiting for us.
Just two months after we moved, Salena and her fiancé broke up. Suddenly, we found ourselves wondering, “Wait, what exactly did we move here for???”
Honestly, I wanted to return to Reno, especially because Salena was still living there. I had really enjoyed having our family close together.
But we had already started running Poke Chef, and our two sons had fallen in love with their schools, friends, and the environment here. They didn’t want to move again, and that was a real comfort to me.
Today, Hiro and I continue to run Poke Chef together. Running a business comes with challenges involving staff, finances, and time, but it has also become another chapter in our unexpected journey.
Looking back, I’ve realized that life doesn’t always go according to plan. Sometimes, the most unexpected turns take you somewhere you never imagined.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t always been a smooth road!
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in running both our bed and breakfast in Mount Shasta and Poke Chef in San Luis Obispo has been getting people to know we exist.
When we were running our B&B, I tried everything I could think of. I posted constantly on Facebook, paid for newspaper advertisements, and offered special promotions. Unfortunately, none of those efforts brought the results I had hoped for.
In the end, it was word of mouth that gradually brought us more guests. It worked, but it took a long time.
Interestingly, I faced a very similar challenge with Poke Chef.
I spent quite a bit of money hiring a marketing company, running advertisements, and trying different ways to promote the business. But again, the results were disappointing.
Then something completely unexpected happened.
An influencer was kind enough to feature Poke Chef, and literally overnight, our sales more than doubled!
After spending so much money trying to get noticed, it was someone’s genuine support that made such a difference.
That experience reminded me that no matter how much money you spend on advertising, you can’t always predict what will truly connect with people.
I’ve learned that building a business takes patience, and sometimes the most powerful promotion isn’t something you pay for — it’s someone who genuinely wants to share your business with others.
We’ve been impressed with POKE CHEF, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Poke Chef is a casual poke restaurant located in San Luis Obispo, California, where customers can create their own poke bowls and burritos with a variety of proteins, fresh vegetables, toppings, and sauces.
My husband, Hiro, and I took over the business in September 2024. Although neither of us had ever tried poke before purchasing the restaurant (which still makes us laugh!), we brought years of experience in Japanese cuisine and hospitality.
Hiro has a background as a professional sushi chef, so the quality and handling of our fish are especially important to us.
One of the first things he did after taking over was review the ingredients and preparation methods. He also completely recreated all of our sauce recipes from scratch, bringing his own experience and attention to flavor into the kitchen.
What makes Poke Chef special is the combination of the customizable, casual nature of poke with the care and attention to detail that Hiro developed through his years as a sushi chef.
And here’s what I’m most proud of: I genuinely believe our poke is the best I’ve ever tasted!
I know that’s a bold statement, especially coming from someone who had never even tried poke before buying a poke restaurant! (Laughs) But today, I have complete confidence in the food we serve.
We want our customers to enjoy fresh, flavorful food that they can customize to their own tastes, whether they’re longtime poke lovers or trying it for the first time.
Above all, we want Poke Chef to be a place where people can enjoy a satisfying meal and feel good about coming back.
And here’s something funny: Not only had we never tried poke before buying Poke Chef, but I’ve actually never eaten poke anywhere else to this day! (Laughs)
So I can’t honestly say ours is better than everyone else’s. But here’s what I can say with absolute confidence: I eat our poke at least six days a week, and I still think it’s absolutely delicious every single time!
And apparently, I’m not the only one who feels that way!
Many of our regular customers have told us, “I could eat your poke every single day, for every meal!”
And my response? I couldn’t agree more!
To me, that’s the greatest compliment we could receive. Knowing that our customers genuinely love our food as much as we do is what makes me most proud of Poke Chef.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
To be honest, I’ve never really had a mentor in the traditional sense.
I’ve always been the type of person who figures things out on my own through trial and error. I also place a lot of importance on intuition and inspiration.
Many of the biggest decisions in my life weren’t necessarily part of a carefully planned strategy. Sometimes, something simply inspired me, and I felt strongly that it was the right direction to take.
Of course, not every decision has worked out the way I expected, and I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way. But I believe those experiences have been some of my greatest teachers.
As for networking, I’ve learned through running my businesses that genuine human connections can be incredibly powerful. Both with our bed and breakfast and Poke Chef, word of mouth and the kindness of others made a bigger difference than many of our paid advertising efforts.
So if I were to offer any advice, it would be to stay open to meeting people, value genuine relationships, and don’t be afraid to trust your instincts.
You don’t always need to have everything figured out before taking the next step. Sometimes, you learn the most simply by doing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://poke-chef.square.site/#most-popular
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pokechefslo?psln=MXMzcjY4dnBraHBubA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
