Among the signature rolls at Ocean Reef Club’s The Islander Fish House & Sushi Bar is the Florida Keys roll (pictured), featuring lobster tempura, snow crab, avocado, cucumber, artisan lettuce, masago, sweet soy, spicy aioli, mojo aioli, and tempura flakes.
Sushi plays a vital role in Ocean Reef Club’s $45 million culinary operation. The Islander Fish House & Sushi Bar, one of the Key Largo, Fla.-based club’s 22 dining outlets, features a 30-seat sushi bar and 15 dedicated sushi chefs, led by Executive Sushi Chef Eric Andreu.
While Andreu has spent more than 30 years making sushi, he considers his own style a marriage of old- and new-school technique.
“I came from the old school,” he explains, “but I have to keep up with the trends.”
At Ocean Reef—where Andreu’s spent the past decade—he’s afforded the resources to continuously hone his craft, which benefits himself, his team and, in turn, the membership.
“If I ever want to go to a restaurant and try it out, [Ocean Reef] sends me to that restaurant,” he says. “If I want to study under a chef, they’ll send me to that chef. If I want to go to Japan, they’ll send me to Japan.”
Andreu recently visited the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Masa in New York City and worked with Chef Masa Takayama.
Andreu’s own career began at Shibui, one of Miami’s first sushi restaurants, where he worked his way up from busboy before he was invited to make sushi in 1991.
“From there, I started following other chefs to learn more,” he says. “Then I finally made it to school; I got a degree at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Then I lived in Russia for six years—opened two restaurants. I lived in Thailand for three months, and I worked at a restaurant in Japan for six months.”
The Islander Fish House & Sushi Bar, one of Ocean Reef Club’s 22 dining outlets, features a 30-seat sushi bar and 15 dedicated sushi chefs, led by Executive Sushi Chef Eric Andreu.
Now, at Ocean Reef, he’s working with Chef Shinji Sakamoto, one of his first teachers and mentors.
“I’ve had a lot of mentors, but he was one who stuck with me through whatever I did,” Andreu says. “He’d always come and visit me to see how I was doing, how the restaurants I was running were doing. … His wife passed away, and she’d told him to come see me, that I would take care of him. So he came to see me, and I said, ‘Why don’t you come work with me?’”
“I love it,” Andreu adds. “The way we talk, it’s different from talking to the people I’m teaching.”
He and Sakamoto are currently working on an unagi sauce for Ocean Reef, and eventually, Andreu aims to make his own soy sauce.
“I’ve never tried it, but I’ve been studying it,” he says. “It takes a year to make, and then you’ll find out if it’s good or bad. I’m hoping to go to Japan this year and visit some soy breweries. That’s my next step.”
Lerry Wijaya (pictured), Garde Manger Chef and Head Sushi Chef of Palm Beach CC, describes his culinary style as modern while still honoring sushi’s roots.
A Global Phenomenon
Lerry Wijaya, Garde Manger Chef and Head Sushi Chef of Palm Beach (Fla.) Country Club, says the problem facing most clubs and resorts now is a lack of trained sushi chefs.
“It may be time to consider adding sushi to the curriculum of culinary arts schools,” he says, “or creating a sushi chef community that provides training for chefs or cooks at clubs and resorts during the off-season.”
Wijaya sees sushi as a particularly creative segment of culinary.
“Sushi is an art that transforms into a dish,” he says. “Most sushi chefs have an artistic sense that influences the sushi’s quality, presentation, and deliciousness. Deliciousness originates from presentation. The presentation of a dish has the power to stimulate the appetite.”
Wijaya got his start in sushi at a friend’s restaurant in New York.
“I was very interested in sushi, so he gave me an opportunity to learn,” Wijaya says. “[Sushi] is [a good] fit for me because of my personality; I’m a creative person. I like to be in the kitchen, to move around, to create.”
Prior to joining Palm Beach CC, he spent some time as a private sushi chef in Europe and the Middle East, where he had the opportunity, like Andreu, to work on a tasting menu with Chef Masa Takayama.
These days, Wijaya hones his skills and keeps pace with trends by visiting restaurants and by viewing social media or YouTube for plating inspiration. He also plans to visit Japan next year.
Wijaya considers his culinary style primarily modern, with respect for tradition. Sushi, he says, has unlimited flavor combinations.
“I’m inspired me to incorporate elements from different cuisines into sushi,” he notes. “I enjoy incorporating a modern twist while still honoring its traditional roots. This enhances the flavor of sushi without creating confusion.”
His Surf and Turf roll features tempura lobster, avocado and cucumber, topped with Japanese wagyu filet mignon tataki, masago, crispy shallot and spicy hollandaise sauce; his Hamachi Jalapeño features hamachi, sliced jalapeño, cilantro oil, pickled sweet pepper, jalapeño and yuzu pearls and kaffir lime ponzu sauce; and his Tofu Wahoo Tataki combines crispy tofu, togarashi-seared Wahoo and mango rujak salsa.
While Palm Beach CC doesn’t have a dedicated sushi bar, Wijaya believes it has immense staying power in clubs.
“The demand for this cuisine is remarkably high—it has become a global phenomenon,” he says. “Members seek out healthy meal options, including sushi made with fish, avocado, vegetables, and even substituting sushi rice with brown or black rice.”
Keeping Up With Demand
Hideaway Beach Club in Marco Island, Fla., has one dedicated sushi chef and another currently in training.
“I also train all of my staff in sushi because it has been such a high-demand item in the club, it has rolled into our banquets, events and wedding packets as well,” says Executive Chef Timothy Smith.
Hideaway Beach Club has three restaurants nearly $4 million in annual food and beverage. Seafood accounts for nearly 50% of total F&B sales, Smith says.
Hideaway Beach Club has one dedicated sushi chef, Estuardo Rodriguez (right), and a sushi chef in training, Giovanni Senteno (left). However, Executive Chef Tim Smith (not pictured) says all culinary staff are trained in sushi due to growing demand in both a la carte and banquets.
The club’s sushi program officially launched in 2020 due to growing member demand.
“A lot of our members were going out for sushi when they left the property,” Smith says. “I spent a lot of time talking to members, getting their feedback one on one, and sushi was the one thing that kept coming up.”
Today, the menu at Hideaway’s Sunset Lounge changes every three weeks in-season and about every four weeks during the summer.
“Our spicy tuna roll is always going to be the best-seller, but we try to think outside of the box when doing sushi features and new items,” Smith says. “We try not to have the same sushi that you can run right down the street and get at a regular restaurant.”
Menu standouts include a blue crab roll with smoked Japanese mayonnaise and asparagus, topped with fried calamari. “That was a huge seller,” notes Smith. “We’ve done a [roll with] seared tuna and green apple; we’ve done a coconut shrimp roll with local mangoes.”
Some of Hideaway Beach Club’s product comes directly from Japan; other items are local.
“The first thing I would recommend is that the chef knows what they’re doing before jumping into it,” advises Hideaway Beach Club Executive Chef Tim Smith. “If a chef’s not comfortable with sushi, they’re never going to be able to get the staff comfortable with it.”
“Top quality is always the first priority. We want to make sure we’re able to serve the best product at the best price to our members,” Smith says. “It’s nice having quite a few seafood companies to choose from [in this region].”
Smith honed his own sushi skills when he worked for Marriot. Today, to maintain his staff’s skills, he hosts a regular sushi bootcamp of sorts. He’s also planning to host a traditional Japanese sushi chef to provide additional education for his team.
Sushi can be a daunting segment of foodservice, particularly for club chefs without specific training. Whether or not a club has a sushi bar, or the budget for a dedicated sushi chef (or 15), an executive club chef must first familiarize themselves with the craft.
“The first thing I would recommend is that the chef knows what they’re doing before jumping into it,” advises Smith. “If a chef’s not comfortable with sushi, they’re never going to be able to get the staff comfortable with it.”
A Sense of Urgency
At Ocean Reef, Andreu sources fresh fish daily, some from local waters and others directly from Japan.
The Islander’s menu is updated about three times a year. The most popular roll, named Melanie, predates Andreu and features tempura shrimp, spicy tuna, avocado, sweet soy, spicy aioli and tempura flakes.
The most popular sushi roll at Ocean Reef Club’s The Islander Fish House & Sushi Bar is the Melanie roll (pictured), which features tempura shrimp, spicy tuna, avocado, sweet soy, spicy aioli and tempura flakes.
“It has been here forever; it’s the No. 1 seller,” says Andreu. “And that’s the roll I did for Tiger Woods [at the Masters Club Dinner at Augusta National Golf Club in 2020].”
Other Islander signature rolls include the Florida Keys roll (pictured at the top of the page), featuring lobster tempura, snow crab, avocado, cucumber, artisan lettuce, masago, sweet soy, spicy aioli, mojo aioli, and tempura flakes. Another favorite is the Gaucho, with tempura shrimp, filet mignon, asparagus, avocado, baby heirloom tomatoes, and Japanese chimichurri.
This summer, Andreu introduced seven different rolls named after club members, featured as ‘Member Favorites’ on the menu. There’s also a section called “Chef Eric’s Creations.” Past dishes include the Wahoo Crudo, with Wahoo, scallions, jalapeño, crispy shallots, white truffle soy, orange, and yuzu. Another standout is the Japanese Chirashi, featuring bluefin tuna, toro, uni, masago, ikura, and fresh wasabi.
No matter the menu, Andreu believes a sense of urgency, precision, and commitment to the craft are keys to successful sushi.
“If you’ve seen the documentary ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi,’ [Jiro Ono] has been doing sushi for 75 years, and he says he still hasn’t perfected it—so I’m trying to reach a goal that might be impossible,” Andreu says. Still, it’s the driving force behind Ocean Reef’s sushi program. “You have to have passion,” he adds. “If you don’t have passion, it’s not for you.”
