Osaka
Taiwanese Success Story for a Classic Japanese Restaurant
by Mary Leonard

From left to right: Jassica, James, Marco and Joy Liu.

It’s like the typical early twentieth-century immigrant story from our social studies classes—the father comes to the United Sates, finds work in a big city, then sends for the family—only here, it’s the late half of the twentieth century and small-town Kingston. James Liu, the owner of Osaka Restaurant in Tivoli, came to the United States from Taiwan in the 1980s to find work in New York City. He did, but eventually found his way upstate to a job at the Golden Duck in Kingston. His wife, Joy, had already joined him but the two children Jassica and Brian were left with relatives in Taiwan and only sent for in the nineties.

James and Joy were a young and ambitious couple, married at ages 21 and 19, but not ready to settle in Taiwan. Although James had started working as a sous chef, learning the craft of making noodles and dumplings, he and his wife were hooked on the American dream. The children were left in the home country with grandparents and relatives while James and Joy worked hard and saved money.

Jassica, the present owner of Osaka in Rhinebeck, says that life in Taiwan without her parents was difficult. She and Brian missed the emotional connection with their parents. Also, school was long and hard: from 7:30 until 4 pm six days a week, with the children taking care of all janitorial duties, and the teachers strict and not very encouraging.

She and her brother were happy to join their parents in Kingston. Schools here were academically engaging, the teachers inspiring. And beyond school, Jassica learned from her parents the following lesson: hard works pays off but one must also be patient and persistent.

To this day, the family philosophy is: Do your best; what is good for you will be good for everyone. In comparison to her parents, Jassica said she sometimes feels like the slacker. Patient and persistent would be better adjectives for Jassica. After graduating from Kingston High School and SUNY Albany, where she majored in business, economics and Japanese, she worked in New York city as a currency broker and in the world of fashion. But she was not satisfied with her life in the Big Apple. Meanwhile, her father was trying to juggle two restaurants and a real estate career. He offered Osaka/Rhinebeck to keep the business in the family. However, the father passed down his wisdom by telling Jassica, “Nothing is free, but if you work hard there will be rewards.”

Osaka has received rave reviews from the Poughkeepsie Journal and the CIA has named it a destination restaurant. What makes it so popular? First are the friendliness of the owners and staff and their expertise. The head sushi chef has been with Osaka for ten years. Jassica said, “Those with sophisticated palates know our fish is fresh and precisely handled.” Osaka makes sure they keep quality control over their orders by keeping the menu to classic Japanese.

While I was in talking to Jassica at her Rhinebeck restaurant, I asked one lunch customer, Jennifer Donovan of Kingston, “What keeps you coming back so often?” Her reply: “The sushi is super fresh, the cleanest in the area. It always tastes like they bought the fish this morning.”

Jassica mentioned that Osaka has a regular clientele from as far away as Phoenicia and Albany. Besides the regulars, some famous customers have been: Brooke Shields, Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, John Sebastian, and even Simon Baker, the Mentalist.

Besides the sushi, customers love the tempura, beef and scallions, the Osaka calamari and the vegetable yaki udon. My personal favorite is the Osaka sushi dinner. My husband, not a sushi fan, loves the salmon teriyaki.

I wanted advice about the right way to eat sushi since I’d like to get past my guilty habit of bathing my sushi pieces in soy and wasabi. Jassica suggested putting a dab of wasabi on the sushi and then putting the sushi fish side down quickly in some soy. “Don’t let the rice absorb the soy,” she said. Jassica does not use ginger, but mentioned that it was supposed to cleanse the palate, and that many customers like the taste.

She believes that the quality of Osaka’s offerings comes not only from their freshness, but from the Taiwanese obsession with good food. “If you visit Taiwan, you see so many fresh markets, you know that even eating from the street carts will be an exceptional experience.”

Jassica says that the food and service are the same in both Osaka Rhinebeck and Tivoli, but “Tivoli is roomier, with an Asian flair.” Her uncle Marco is the head sushi chef at her parents’ restaurant, and Tivoli has its own regulars, including many Bard students.

The prices at Osaka, Rhinebeck and Tivoli, are reasonable. Sushi ranges from $3.75 for a cucumber roll to $10.95 for a spider roll. Dinners are all served with soup and salad and range from $12.95 for the maki combo to $25.95 for the sushi and sashimi combination. And of course the daily lunch special is always offered.

For additional information, check out the website or call. www.osakasushi.net, 845-876-7338 and 876-7278 (Rhinebeck) and 845-757-5055 and 757-5056 (Tivoli).