Haruki Sushi House opens in Vacvaille

© Provided by The Reporter (Vacaville) Sonny Xia, owner, and chef at Haruki Sushi is set to open the doors today of his new restaurant in the Golden Hills Shopping Center in Vacaville. (Joel Rosenbaum / The Reporter)

Love Japanese food and in search of a new haunt?

Haruki Sushi House in Vacaville may be just your thing.

The eatery, in The Shops at Golden Hills off Alamo Drive between Happy Donut and Jack in the Box, officially opens at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Chef Sonny Xia welcomes the community to try out his newest restaurant, which will feature Japanese favorites as well as sushi, ramen and an array of sake.

Haruki is the latest of Xia’s endeavors.

More than 20 years ago, the Beijing native sat down to a meal in Los Angeles and fell in love with sushi — the simplicity, the freshness, the art of presenting it tastefully. He sampled various types of sushi at myriad restaurants and had a hankering to learn to make it himself.

Enter a veteran sushi chef who took a liking to the 20-something and posed an important, life-changing query.

“He asked if I wanted to make sushi,” Xia recalled. “I said yes!”

He would spend the next few decades honing his craft, including learning to tell the freshest fish, improving on his filleting techniques, the ins and outs of carving each type of fish.

Xia worked in Los Angeles, San Jose, Davis, Fairfield and Vacaville. Sometimes, he worked for others. Other times, he opened eateries with partners. Prior to Haruki he helmed Hinata in Fairfield and, for 15 years, Sushi Nobu in Davis.

These days, the Fairfield man is happy to have found a spot closer to home and continue to do what he loves best — making others happy through food.

“I always loved cooking,” he emphasized, adding that he’s proficient in Japanese and Chinese dishes.

Haruki will feature sushi, about 30 kinds of rolls; nigiri; sashimi; tempura; teriyaki; yakitori; bento boxes; kobe beef; and more.

Sashimi choices, he explained, will include bluefin tuna, hamachi, salmon, scallop, halibut and aji, a Japanese jack mackerel. Saba is not on the menu.

Ramen will include a tonkatsu with black garlic oil as well as miso- and shoyu-based broths.

There will also be a happy hour from 2:30-5:30 p.m. featuring beer, other drinks, sushi rolls and more at a discount.

Xia said he hopes Haruki will become a gathering place of friends. That is, it seems, what he’s known for.

“Customers like to talk to me. I like to talk to them,” he shared. “Regulars are like friends.”

Operating hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

For more information, visit https://harukisushihouse.com/.