We were lucky to catch up with Blaise Aki recently and have shared our conversation below.

Blaise, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?

In the Hawaiian Culture you may hear the words “Aloha Spirit” and Ohana. This is synonymies with the people that are from the Hawaiian island chain. When people come to our restaurant they are generally greeted with a hug or at least a verbal Aloha. We try to treat everyone as if they are family “Ohana” and give them a sense that they are wanted. That the time they choose to spend with us was well worth it and they would love to come back again. Alot of the people that come to Pacific Rim always tell me when they leave “This felt like I was eating dinner at your home, not a restaurant.” Being able to make authentic food from the islands is awesome to watch people enjoy it, but sharing a little time and conversation with someone, showing them the love from our heart and our Aloha Spirit feels so good to Kanani and me, but I can see it on the faces of people as they leave and I can’t wait for them to return.

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

As the oldest of seven children, I started cooking at a very young age. Growing up in Hawaii I had to work at least 2 jobs to make ends meet. So, cooking or working in a restaurant was generally one of my jobs. After my service in the United States Marine Corps, I used my GI bill to go to culinary school in Portland Oregon. after which I stayed in the culinary field since then, working as a chef for various company’s and hotels in Oregon, Hawaii and Arizona. Just before Covid hit my wife and I decided to sell our house and purchase a food truck. The food truck industry is not easy, but we learned it the hard way like everyone else. After a few successful years we were able to get into a brick and mortar which we just started a few months ago. During my time on the food truck, I was able to perfect the island foods that I remember eating when I was a younger man. I am proud of the food that I serve, and I am proud of the culture that I came from. I am very happy to be doing both, bringing the true food and culture from Hawaii to Arizona where I reside.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Feb 27th, 1994, after a semi-pro football game on the island of Kauai. The players would congregate outside the stadium and socialize with each other. I was a player on this team. I was ready to head home to get ready for the after party when I see this beautiful Hawaiian girl heading for one of the tents, I just had to meet her. When I went to the tent, I knew most of the people there except for a handful of people, including her. So, I introduced myself to all the people I didn’t know except her. I looked at her a few times but didn’t go over to her, said my goodbyes and left. I knew most of the people at that tent would be at the after party and I really hoped she would be there. My gamble paid off, when I went to the after party she was there. This time I beelined it straight to her and introduced myself. She has the warmest smile, when she talks to me, I feel like I am the only person in the room, and she loves to dance. Back in the early 90’s the song “Informer” was a top hit and so we started dancing right there at the party, I didn’t care what anyone thought I kept dancing with her. I asked her if she wanted to go to the Niteclub to dance some more, she said yes. We danced till the club closed. The sun was going to rise in an hour and a half, so I asked her if she wanted to watch the sun rise then I would take her home and she agreed. As we sat at the scenic point, we talked for what only seemed like a few minutes and the sunrise came. It was beautiful, but not as beautiful as the person sitting right next to me. At that point I opened the car door for her and took her back to her hotel room and gave her a kiss goodnight and left. I was so wiped out tired from playing football the day before, then dancing all night, I forgot to ask her for her phone number. It took me almost 2 weeks to get her number from my friends, then another day to get the courage to call her. When I called her, I remember asking if she remembered me and it sounded like the phone dropped to the ground. She lived on a different island then me, so we had to make arrangements to see each other two weeks later, and we have been together ever since. I married her 2 days short of a year from the very first time I met her Feb 25th, 1995.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Building your reputation is a big part of sustaining long term business and customer base. This should be the forefront of every business plan. Once you start executing your business plan, start focusing on certain parts of your business so you can build that reputation as being good at least that part of the business then, start working on other parts till you consistently do well at all parts you feel necessary to be the best at. Trying to be the best at everything may be overwhelming. As you build a reputation at certain parts of your business you will need to protect it. As mistakes are made, own it and reassure people it is fixed or won’t happen again. But every battle doesn’t need to be delt with, especially “Cancel Culture”. these are battles you want to stay out of. There are people out there that are very negative and like to hear themselves talk. Most people know who these people are and generally don’t pay attention to them. So, getting into it with these people have a tendency to hurt your reputation as well.
Being that I’m from Hawaii I concentrated on being authentic. Having Authentic Hawaii food and being true to my culture helped us to build a very good reputation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pacificrimandsushi.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076740018014