We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jay Huang a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jay , thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

We hope to build a restaurant that is both environmentally and socially sustainable.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

When you feed someone you can brighten their day, comfort them, transport them to another country, or gross them out. Since I was in grade school, I remember using food to connect with my friends. Whether is was introducing them to my Taiwanese heritage through dumplings and pickled kombu, or just hanging out around a take out pizza, I loved having friends over for snacks.

Throughout college, I would have dinner parties and potlucks every month. When I was close to graduating, I had an offer to apprentice with a Master sushi chef and jumped at the opportunity. This is where my culinary career started. I worked and staged at a number of great restaurants around the country, including: Uchi, Uchiko, French Laundry, L20, Bluehill, and the W Hotel. Then, in 2012, we started Lucky Robot.

However, the biggest pivot in my career came in 2017. After reading Third Plate by Dan Barber, I was inspired to become a fully sustainable sushi bar. Using Monterrey Bay Aquariums Seafood Watch list as a guide, I soon realized we were going to have to make some major adjustment to the menu. May common sushi bar staples, like hamachi (yellowtail), unagi (freshwater eel), sake (salmon), honmaguro (bluefin tuna) were all on the avoid list. It took over a year of research and lining up new purveyors before we made the switch. But the switch did not come without consequences. A good number of our guests were very upset we no longer had they favorite items on the menu. We even got some very scathing review on Yelp. But, we had to stand the course. We then joined the James Beard Foundations Smart Catch Program. This program required you submit bi-annual audits. After two audits, we were awarded the status of Smart Catch Leaders and the first in Texas!

We continue to push the boundaries of sustainability through our support of domestic fisherman. Domestic seafood has been long thought to be inferior to Japanese seafood. However, our purveyors at Minamoto Seachange have started educating local fisherman about Ikejime techinque and how this will increase the quality and appeal of their product to sushi chefs.

Lastly, we continue to innovate in our field and in 2020 started dry aging all our fish. The process of dry aging fish allows the natural, nuanced flavors to come to the forefront. It also allows for better preservation of the fish.

As a company, we not only believe in environmental sustainable but social sustainability. We have created a work environment in which EVERYONE has 2 or 3 days off, including management! People are happier coming to work and more productive when they can enjoy time with their family and friends. We have experienced very few periods where we were not full staffed through most of the last 2 years.

Any advice for managing a team?

For us at Lucky Robot, the first step to managing a good team is to hire good people who fit within our culture. We are very upfront with our interviewees about what we stand for and what we believe. Following the interview, we have ALL positions, do a stage (working interview). Stages are like test driving a car. We then ask for feedback from the interviewee and the person they staged with. We have worked very hard to create the inclusive, collaborative culture at Lucky and also work had at protecting it. Hiring the right fit is the first line of defense.

To maintain high morale, we have a policy where every employee need to greet their teammates when they come to work and say goodbye when they leave. This lets everyone know, ‘Hi, I’m here and here to help’, and when they leave,’Thank you for a great shift. I’ll see you later’. This sets the tone for the day. You can’t just sneak in and try to hide, you have to be an active participate in the day. If you aren’t feeling it that day, please leave it at the door or don’t come to work.

As a management team, we actively listen. We constantly ask for feedback about the food, drinks, guest reactions, new policies, etc. and make adjustments after we discuss. Through this action, our employees know we are listening and their voice matters.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Lucky Robot started on a shoestring budget. We did not start at the prettiest restaurant on the block. The food we wanted to make and the decor didn’t match. As a chef, I had to create a menu that matched the decor and guest expectation. Slowly, I started to elevate the food. Sometimes, I would draw too far outside the lines and it would not be well received and I would have to throttle back. But, year-by-year, our revenue grew and slowly we were able to renovate the interior and exterior of the building. Today, I am very proud of how far we have come as a restaurant and company. We came from humble beginnings and are now considered one of the top restaurants in Austin.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.luckyrobotatx.com/
• Instagram: chef_jayhuang
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-huang-361b2425/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvEVvy0atuTJkToj6aAHRTQ
• Other: Personal website https://www.chefjayhuang.com/

Image Credits
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