You might say Kevin Sun is back where he started. Where he’s spent much of his career, anyway.
Sun worked for his parents, who owned a Chinese takeout restaurant in Stutson Bridge Plaza on Pattonwood Drive in Irondequoit. He also was a server at Irondequoit’s onetime China Buffet, located for a time in the former Ponderosa steakhouse on East Ridge Road.
Now Sun, whose heritage is Chinese, has transformed that latter location into a Japanese-style steakhouse — Shogun Palace Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar — that draws “oohs” and “aahs” as much for the food as for the decor, complete with a koi fish pond and Asian antiques.
“I wanted to give the neighborhood someplace to go to, but also someplace a little high-end, where they could relax and enjoy,” Sun said. “It’s very calming here.”
Owning his own restaurant, he added, “is almost a dream come true for me.”
The centerpiece of the restaurant is a back room that has six hibachi-style tables where chefs — there are three, each with a different style — provide a kind of show as they prepare the meal, including grilling steaks and seafood, in front of diners.
“It’s a different experience (dining out) when you get to see a show,” Sun said.
The sushi is prepared on the premises, Sun said, using fish shipped directly here from Japan 48 hours after it is caught.
“People don’t realize what you have to go through to get it (fresh fish for sushi) here,” Sun said.
Sun, 27, owns the new restaurant but learned the business from his future father-in-law, Peter Sun, who owns the Sakura Home restaurant on Monroe Avenue in Pittsford and the Sunrise Steakhouse on Jefferson Road in Henrietta.
“I tell people I’m not here to be a billionaire, but to do what I can to serve the community, of course make some money, and also have a great time ... I love to see my customers leave with smiles on their faces — and they are.”
