@mysgv_podcast: Yamato Miura built something the SGV didn't know it needed. A Japanese pub where you drink, eat small plates, and let the night get loud. 🍻 But keeping it alive? That took something else entirely. Yamato moved to the United States alone as a teenager, competed in kickboxing, and trained in performance and action work before he ever thought about opening a restaurant. What he did have was a foundation. His family owns a kaiseki restaurant in Japan, one of the most traditional and refined forms of Japanese dining. He was in their kitchen by age 10 or 11, learning without realizing he was learning. He even brought his own knives when he came to America. His first job in food? Dishwasher at Sushi Gen in Little Tokyo. Minimum wage. $6.25 an hour. He showed up with brief training from Japan, a set of his own knives, and the discipline of someone who had already been knocked down in a ring and got back up. They told him a lot of things. He adapted. That dishwasher became the founder of Bun Geiz Corporation, a hospitality group that includes DTLA Ramen, Izakaya Tonchinkan, Sushi Kisen, Kaiseki Motoishi, Miura Beverly Hills, Sushidokoro Miyama, and Sumibi Yakitori Kidori. But in year two of Izakaya Tonchinkan, the pandemic hit. A loud, packed Japanese pub is the last place that survives a lockdown. He pivoted, leaned on his team, and kept the doors open. This one's for anyone who ever started at the bottom, got hit with the unexpected, and found a way through anyway. Have you been to Izakaya Tonchinkan? What did you order? 👇 #mysgv #arcadia #izakaya #japanesefood #sgveats MySGV Food Passports at: www.mysgvfoodpassport.com Presented by @scottwarmuthlaw Injured or in an accident? DM or call 626-362-1114

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Tuesday 25 August 2026 16:33:02 GMT