- Miya's
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Coordinates: 41°18′35″N 72°56′07″W / 41.3098°N 72.9354°W
Miya's Sushi is a sushi restaurant located in the Chapel West neighborhood of downtown New Haven, Connecticut in the United States.
Contents
History
The restaurant was opened in 1982 by Yoshiko Lai, a Japanese nutritionist and surgeon's wife.[1] She currently operates the restaurant with her son, Bun Lai, who is the creator of the current cuisine. The restaurant's original location was at 1217 Chapel Street, and in 1990 was relocated to its current location around the corner on Howe Street.
Cuisine
Miya's "The Best Sushi South of the Mason Dixon Line," an Americana sushi roll inspired by Southern cuisine and its Native American, African and European roots.
Miya's serves all original recipes from a sixty page menu. The restaurant is the first sustainable sushi restaurant in the world. Bun Lai began "removing seafood from the menu at Miya's that was farmed or caught in a way that was not good for the environment in 2004. "I started with the least popular items that I knew would create the least protest from our guest such as Maine sea urchin and octopus. When I removed freshwater eel the following year, guests often walked out, fuming." [2] Miya's also has the largest vegetarian sushi menu in the world. In 1995 Bun Lai created the ubiquitous sweet potato roll that is served in every sushi restaurant in America and beyond.[2] Central to the seafood portion of the Miya's menu are culturally and commercially unpopular types of seafood that are abundantly locally available such as silver sides (which are considered bait fish), sea robins (which are considered "junk fish"), wild seaweeds (invasive dead man's fingers/codium fragile) and fouling organisms such as tunicates. Miya's also offers the world's only invasive species menu, featuring dishes made of foraged ingredients that are threatening to the region's indigenous species.[3] Miya's serves a number of unique sake infusions, which feature ingredients such as hand-picked pine cones, wild sumac, dandelion blooms and chili peppers.[4][5] The recipes at Miya's draw from a wide range of influences, including: history, literature and genetics.[6]
Bun Lai
Bun Lai (born 1971) is an Asian American chef, environmentalist and social activist who is passionate about climate change and rethinking the way "life should be lived and business should be done." He is the owner and chef of Miya's. He is an avid diver and fisherman who supplies his own restaurant with hyper local sustainable seafood from his own hundred acres of shell-fishing grounds off of the Thimble Islands in Connecticut. He is the owner of two fishing boats which serve as laboratories for sustainable seafood production.
He is the host of prestigious Miya's Idea Dinners where his goal is to connect an interdisciplinary group of people whose passion it is to make a positive change in the world.
He was born in Hong Kong, the son of Yoshiko Lai, a Japanese nutritionist and restaurateur, and Dr. Yin Lok Lai, a Chinese surgeon and Cambridge University educated professor.[7]
In New Haven, he attended the Foote School and Hamden Hall Country Day School.
He majored in International Relations at Ursinus College, where he wrestled. In 2008, he cornered Sally Roberts to the finals of the National tournament and the Olympic trials.[8] He has coached numerous state and New England Champions as the head coach of Hamden Hall Wrestling.[5]
In 2010 he was a keynote speaker at the Foote School graduation ceremony along with Google's Nathan Tyler. In 2011 he became one of the first five people to ever receive the Hamden Hall Country Day School Alumni Excellence Award.
In 2001, he was featured in a commercial for Carlsberg Beer.[8] Bun has delivered food for Meals on Wheels and has, also, cooked and served in soup kitchens. He has, also, worked for the Leap and numerous nonprofit children and family programs.[9]
Bun Lai is the 2010 recipient of the Elm Ivy Award, the key to the city of New Haven, bestowed by the city and Yale University to individuals and organizations that have enhanced the many partnerships and collaborative endeavors between the university and its host city.[10] [11] [12]
Bun Lai is the recipient of the prestigious 2011 Seafood Ambassador Award from Monterey Bay Aquarium for his leadership in the Sustainable Seafood movement.[13]
On October 25, 2010 Bun Lai was honored as "Greatest Person of the Day” by the Huffington Post for being an "exceptional individual who is confronting the country's economic and political crises with creativity, generosity, and passion".[13][14]
On November 4, 2010 Ecosalon named Bun Lai as one of their "11 Eco-Chefs Who Are Changing The Way We Think About Food".[15]
On June of 2011 Brendan Smith of Thimble Island Oyster Company and Bun Lai launched Connecticut's first Community Supported Fishery. NPR’s Nancy Cohen reports on the state’s first community supported fishing venture.[16] Bun Lai is a sought after speaker. He has spoken at Google, Department of Agriculture, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Yale University, Wesleyan University, New York University, Peabody Museum and The Museum of the City of New York.
In 2011 Bun Lai has also been featured on Food Network; Food and Wine Magazine; Saveur Magazine; Prevention Magazine and The New York Times.
In September of 2011 he was the keynote speaker at the largest fisheries event in the world, The 141st Annual American Fisheries Meeting, where he spoke about food as it relates to climate change and social justice.
Chef Bun Lai in 2010Accolades
Casson Trenor, one of Time magazine's "Heroes of the Environment (2009)," has repeatedly praised Miya's for having the East Coast's only sustainable sushi menu.[1][17]
Miya's was ranked by Fish2Fork, the sustainability rating site founded by Charles Clover, author of The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat, as one of the 3 most sustainable restaurants in the U.S. [18]
Anthropologist and activist David Graeber acknowledges Miya's in his newest book Direct Action: an Ethnography, the first detailed ethnographic study of the Global Justice Movement.
Awards
- Best Of New England - Editor's Selection - Yankee Magazine 2009
- Best Of New England - Tourist Guide - Boston Magazine 2009
- Best Sushi Statewide - Connecticut Magazine - 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 [19]
- Best Sake Statewide - Connecticut Magazine - 2010, 2011 [20]
- Huffington Post's Greatest Person Of The Day
- Key To The City Of New Haven 2010
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Sustainable Seafood Award 2011
References
- ^ a b Baruzzi, Cara. "On a roll: Miya’s changing the way we eat, think about sushi (video)- The New Haven Register - Serving New Haven, Connecticut". Nhregister.com. http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/02/09/business/c1-_sushi9.txt. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
- ^ a b Granata, Elise (2010-01-18). ""Sustainable Sushi" Gets A Toehold". New Haven Independent. http://newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/sustainable_sushi_gets_a_toehold1/. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
- ^ By Gregory B. Hladky02/17/2010 (2010-02-17). "News - Just Eat It". New Haven Advocate. http://www.newhavenadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=16860. Retrieved 2010-02-24.[dead link]
- ^ By Kathleen Cei01/27/2010 (2008-02-13). "Dining - V-Day Viands". New Haven Advocate. http://www.newhavenadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=5867. Retrieved 2010-02-24.[dead link]
- ^ a b Contributor(s): Lori Mack Cameron Henning. "FMS: The Food Schmooze! | Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network". Cpbn.org. http://www.cpbn.org/program/faith-middleton-show/episode/fms-food-schmooze-12. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- ^ "Sushi-Preneurship. What can tech learn from sushi?". Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 2010-03-02. http://mediasite.itops.rpi.edu/Mediasite5/Viewer/?peid=d44e81c08207474db201ce0c02764190. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
- ^ "Experimental Eye Research : The development of the sphincter muscle in the iris of the albino rat". ScienceDirect. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WFD-4BJW4KX-4N&_user=10&_coverDate=11%2F30%2F1972&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1219775207&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=b08883dffa60ea2b0c5efe23f1c607c4. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
- ^ a b "E*NTREPRENEURSHIP at Rensselaer". Eship.rpi.edu. http://www.eship.rpi.edu/bunlai_bio.html. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
- ^ Griffin, Leeanne. "Miya's Sushi Gives Back To Children This Weekend - A La Carte Dining Blog". Weblogs.ctnow.com. http://weblogs.ctnow.com/entertainment/dining/a-la-carte/2010/02/miyas-sushi-gives-back-to-chil.html. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
- ^ "Awards honor Yalies, city residents". Yale Daily News. 2010-04-15. http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/city-news/2010/04/15/awards-honor-yalies-city-residents/. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
- ^ "Yale and New Haven Honor Outstanding Community Leaders". Yale University office of public Affairs. 2010-04-14. http://opa.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=7470. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
- ^ "City, Yale leaders honored with Elm and Ivy Awards". New Haven Register. 2010-04-14. http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/04/14/news/aa3_neelmivy041410.txt. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
- ^ a b "Greatest Person of the Day: Bun Lai, Chef and Sustainable Sushi Guru". Huffington Post. 2010-10-25. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/25/greatest-person-of-the-da_n_773584.html#s164787. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ "Bun Lai is a "Great" Person"". Yale Daily News. 2010-10-27. http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2010/oct/27/bun-lai-great-person/. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ "11 Eco-Chefs Who Are Changing The Way We Think About Food". Ecosalon. 2010-11-04. http://ecosalon.com/11-influential-eco-chefs/. Retrieved 2010-11-19.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Sustainable Sushi and End of the Line Screening". Jacquelinechurch.com. 2010-02-01. http://jacquelinechurch.com/pig-tales-a-fish-friends/1873-sustainable-sushi-and-end-of-the-line-screening. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
- ^ "Miya's Sushi". Fish2fork.com. http://fish2fork.com/apps/index.php/reviews/view/315. Retrieved 2010-06-07.[dead link]
- ^ Connecticut-Magazine/January-2010/Readers-039-Choice-Restaurant-Awards-2010/index.php?cparticle=5&siarticle=4#artanc. "Readers' Choice Restaurant Awards 2010". Connecticut Magazine. 2010-01. http://www.connecticutmag.com/Connecticut-Magazine/January-2010/Readers-039-Choice-Restaurant-Awards-2010/index.php?cparticle=5&siarticle=4#artanc.. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
- ^ "Best of Connecticut 2010". Connecticut Magazine. 2010. http://www.connecticutmag.com/Connecticut-Magazine/September-2010/Best-of-Connecticut-2010-Food-and-Drink/index.php?cparticle=8&siarticle=7. Retrieved 2010-11-19.
External links
Categories:- Restaurants in Connecticut
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