Su Shin Izakaya

Chika and Yasuko Abe established the first traditional and authentic Japanese restaurant, Su-Shin, in Miami in 1977. Having had experience cooking macrobiotic food at the Kushi Center in Boston, they incorporated those influences at Su-Shin merging Japanese cuisine with the philosophies of macrobiotic cooking, which espouses health and vitality through a clean and highly restricted diet with no dairy, refined sugars, processed foods, or meat. Initially, the restaurant was located in Coconut Grove, where Mayfair now sits, but moved in 1979 to North Miami right off of the 79th Street causeway. The restaurant was located at the foot of the first bridge leading to the islands and was filled with mostly handmade furniture and décor. We eliminated most of the macrobiotic elements from the menu and focused on traditional items including teriyaki, tempura, sukiyaki, sushi, and sashimi. Raw fish at the time was novel and exotic with most people never having tasted it. All of the fish was caught locally, purchased right off the downtown pier (where Bayside now looms) or delivered by fisherman on their way home. The restaurant was a success and we opened locations in Kendall, North Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale. We also established the first Asian specialty market a couple miles away from the original Su-Shin in a strip mall across from the channel seven station.