Sky Zheng brings tastes of Japan to Bay Village

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fore. I came for my kids’ future. Boston has a lot of prestigious schools.

Do you like Boston so far?

Very much. It’s very clean here, and I feel safe here. Most people are very nice here; they’re friendly. It’s quiet, and there’s more space than in Brooklyn.

Let’s talk about sushi and food. Why did you become a chef?

It started out as a coincidence. I used to be a waiter in a sushi restaurant in Eatontown, N.J., called Kanji. An opportunity came when one of the chefs was sick, so he had to quit. I had to sub in for a day, just as a helper. I fell in love with the concept. It fit me better than being a waiter. This was 17 years ago. I always wanted the opportunity to learn a skillset for long-term.

What brought you to the United States?

I was 15 or 16 when I came here in 1999 from Fujian, China. In the beginning, my family was in New York. It was very hard. I couldn’t speak any English at the time. I couldn’t communicate with any Americans. It was very hard to find a job. Also, I was very afraid to go to school.

How did you get more comfortable?

I started with a Chinese restaurant job, because it was easier to communicate. I learned English, little by little, just interacting with customers. I learned the language from the customers, from American movies, and newspapers.

What movies helped you?

Double-oh seven! James Bond.

Why did you choose to work in restaurants and not some other field?

I had no background, no English. The default is either going into construction or going into restaurants.

And you came to work at such a renowned sushi restaurant in New York. How did you get hired there?

There was a ceiling, a limit at Kanji because it was just a normal sushi restaurant. I wanted to learn to become an authentic Japanese chef. I moved to New York and started working with Haru, which is a national chain. I worked at Kappo Masa, one of the Masa restaurants. Then, I was looking for a job … Sushi Nakazawa was hiring. I applied. I went there for interviews, and they gave me the opportunity to start training. In the interviews, I did a lot of stuff. I cut the fish; I cleaned the fish. I cooked for a few hours, almost half the interview.

What is it about sushi that you really enjoy?

It’s simple and elegant.

What does it take to earn a Michelin star? That must’ve been very exciting and pretty intense.

For Michelin, it’s the whole team. The whole restaurant needs to be working together, even the front of the house with service and interacting with customers. In the back of the house, as head chef, I have to control the quality and the ingredients. You have to keep up those standards in your normal daily routine, because you never know when the inspectors are coming.

How’s working in Boston different from working in Manhattan, and how is it similar?

At Nakazawa, there was already a system in place. At the beginning, I just followed the recipe. Obviously, at a later stage, as head chef, I created my own. But most of the time there was already a system in place. I did what needed to be done. Here, nothing is in place. I did everything from the start to create a system, and it has more creativity in it. I can do more of my own style.

What is your style? What can customers expect?

Simple. Just pure: the original flavor of the fish instead of adding too many toppings and covering the taste. I use different seasonal ingredients based on the time of the year. It’s a tasting menu, basically.

We import most fish from Japan — and most ingredients, even the salt, sugars, vinegars. I try to make the sushi taste as close to Japan [as possible].

What’s your favorite fish to work with?

I enjoy mackerel; the fattiness. It takes skill to marinate it.

Here in Boston, do you talk to the guests as you’re making the food? What do they ask you?

I’m right in front of the customer as I prepare the fish. Most people ask me: Why come to Boston?

And what do you say?

I chose Boston because everything is good for me. Boston customers have good taste in seafood. And Boston has good seafood: beautiful bluefin tuna and scallops. I get most ingredients from Japan, but I try to use some local ingredients as well, like Pangea Shellfish. I get wild tuna sometimes, and I have a local fisherman who goes out in the Gulf of Maine and all the way down to North Carolina.

What restaurants do you love around Boston? Where have you eaten so far?

I don’t really go out too much for now because I’m here almost every day in the restaurant, but I went to Giulia in Cambridge for Italian food, which was amazing. And I go to Pho So 1 for Vietnamese in Randolph.

‘Boston people enjoy seafood, so it’s easy to enjoy sushi, too. I think they have a good taste.’

SKY ZHENG, executive chef at Wa Shin

Do your kids eat sushi?

They only eat regular sushi rolls. I make traditional Chinese food at home: steamed fish, steamed crab.

Where do you shop for ingredients?

There are a couple of Chinese supermarkets, mostly in Quincy. There’s an H Mart and Kam Man, which has been there for a long time, and Good Fortune Supermarket.

What’s your favorite snack?

I don’t eat that many snacks. I drink a lot of coffee!