~ Reviews

Chef brings French touch to area Japanese restaurant

By Roald Haase
Kane County Chronicle; February 8, 2007

ST. CHARLES – Isamu Yong Qi grew up in China, learned the chef’s trade in Japan, and earned his master’s in business administration from the University of Illinois. He went on to marry a Chinese-American woman and moved to Batavia.

But his journey didn’t end there.

Qi turned a venturesome spirit to business, buying a Japanese-themed restaurant in St. Charles called Mr. Samurai Steak & Sushi – one to which he now has applied a French touch. He took charge three months ago.

Qi said he hoped to introduce Americans to Japanese food done the French way. It’s a form of cooking he said he learned while working at a large French restaurant called F.L.O. when he studied at the University of Tokyo.

Qi, 32, emphasized that Mr. Samurai also prepared traditional Japanese sushi dishes, but in addition offered menu items that might be more aligned to the contemporary American palate.

As an example, Qi pointed to a seafood appetizer of tuna and vegetables, with the tuna lightly browned on the edges.

Asked why he was doing some dishes in the French manner, Qi said that “Japan has a lot of French restaurants.” Qi said use of the Habachi grill in Japanese cooking is something that is particularly well-adapted for French dishes.

“We will change the main menu every couple of months,” Qi said.

Qi’s restaurant along Randall Road gained its start about three years ago as Mr. Miyaki; its name changed a little more than a year ago to Mr. Samurai when another restaurateur bought it. Qi said he bought the business from the second owner late last year.

Qi’s career also included part-time work in a restaurant in the Champaign-Urbana area, while studying for his master’s degree. He has lived in the United States for five years.

“I saw this country as a free country,” Qi said. “If you work hard, you always get it back.”

Qi’s interests are varied. In addition to his business, he also is devoted to bicycle racing, as a member of the Athletes by Design team based in DuPage County and headquartered at Winfield’s Prairie Path Cycles.

Prairie Path Cycles manager MaryLee Geraghty said she recently ate at Mr. Samurai.

“We ended up having a fabulous time,” Geraghty said. “With the atmosphere, the laughter, what a pleasant surprise that was.”

St. Charles gradually has been gaining restaurants with an ethnic flare. Patty Thayer, director of marketing and promotions at the St. Charles Convention & Visitors Bureau, said that helped her agency promote St. Charles as a tourist destination.

“Every destination has restaurants, but what makes St. Charles unique is that we have so many, if you will, family-owned, or individual restaurants,” Thayer said. “In other words, the nonchain, non-national restaurants.”

Among the cultures represented are Chinese, Danish, Italian, Japanese, Mediterranean, Mexican, Polish and Thai, Thayer said. Today, the bureau’s Web site lists restaurants by category, Thayer said. In the Asian category alone, there are 11 listings.

“What we don’t have yet is a French restaurant,” Thayer said. “We are thinking that would round out our world of fine dining.”

Mr. Samurai Sushi & Steak Japanese Restaurant

Where: 546 S. Randall Road, St. Charles.

Hours: Lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; and dinner, 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 3:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and 3:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Phone: (630) 762-8500.

Web site: www.mrsamurairestaurant.com