Co-owners Shinae Kim and Doune Inthavong had never made sushi before moving to Birch Bay. SKAI Sushi is now known around Whatcom County for the gourmet rolls made in the back of Beachwood General Grocery Store.
“We had three months to figure out how we’re going to make sushi because we had no experience,” Kim said of opening their previous restaurant, Nami. “I make things happen.”
They had to teach themselves how to roll sushi by watching the chefs they hired for Nami, the couple’s former restaurant in Lynden, and picking up tips from books and YouTube.
“I just watched over his shoulder,” Inthavong said. “You get an idea of how it’s done, and you can perfect it in your own way.”
The hard work paid off. In 2024, SKAI Sushi was voted a gold winner for best sushi by CommunityVotes Bellingham.
Kim and Inthavong moved to Birch Bay in 1997 to work at the family business, Birch Bay Teriyaki & Chinese Cafe. In 2011, they sold the Birch Bay restaurant and purchased U-MI Asian Bistro in Lynden, renaming it Nami.
Kim and Inthavong sold Nami in 2019 to manage the Beachwood General Grocery Store near Birch Bay State Park. The couple carved out space in the store for SKAI Sushi, featuring specialty rolls, nigiri, sashimi, a poke bowl, gyoza and miso.
For a while Kim, Inthavong and their son Antonie worked the counter, but Antonie left to open Baywood Coffee last year in the building of their former Birch Bay Teriyaki restaurant.
To meet high demand, the couple recently began using a sushi-making machine to roll their sushi instead of doing it by hand.
“That’s the employee of the month and the year,” Inthavong said, with Kim adding that it didn’t take away from the quality.
Kim credits her entrepreneurial mindset and her husband’s natural talent to why they have been successful owning restaurants in the area.
Being takeout-only allows the owners to cut staffing and overall lower the cost to run a restaurant. However, the owners said it comes with some downsides.
“It’s hard to stop and talk to the customer,” Kim said. “We don’t really get that personable experience because it’s just too chaotic.”
Kim and Inthavong have focused their restaurant on presentation and taste. Taste comes with time, and SKAI Sushi is not a fast food restaurant, they said.
“It’s not something that you can throw together really quickly,” Inthavong said. “We never downgrade. We always make it good.”
Restaurant recommendation: Kim and Inthavong recommend readers try the chef special, the Birch Bay roll (shrimp tempura roll topped with fresh salmon, spicy mayo, unagi sauce, masago, green onions and lemon) or the Skai roll (shrimp tempura roll topped with spicy tuna, avocado, crunch powder, spicy mayo, unagi sauce and wasabi mayo).
This article is part of a series in The Northern Light highlighting Blaine and Birch Bay restaurants.
Correction: This article was updated January 31 to correct that the Birch Bay Teriyaki building was not repurchased when Baywood Coffee opened. We regret the error.
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