Billy Kong

Sushi Chef Owner

About

Billy Kong is a highly skilled sushi chef and restaurateur dedicated to craftsmanship and excellence in Japanese cuisine. With years of experience, including time at the renowned Sushi Sam, he has honed his expertise in sushi-making. He operates Saru Sushi and Ken and Saru Handroll Bar, where traditional techniques meet modern innovation. Billy’s work showcases his passion for authenticity and elevating the sushi experience.

Biography

The Beginning

Billy Kong was born in Hong Kong, the son of a master cabinet maker, and spent 5 years on the island of Guam, before eventually arriving in the Bay Area. Though expected to follow in his father’s footsteps, he worked instead in the food industry—initially in a bakery and then in food delivery— before finding his calling in sushi and Japanese food. Despite not becoming a cabinet maker, he shares a dedication to craftsmanship with his father, and it is the hallmark of his career.

Adventure in Japan

Kong worked at a variety of sushi bars for seven years before landing at San Mateo’s venerable Sushi Sam where he was the only non-Japanese chef, and the intensity of the job propelled him in new ways. He describes the experience as if “starting from the beginning” and says the year and a half there felt more like 10 years.

Sushi Chef

Striving for perfection when it comes to sushi, will be familiar to anyone who has seen Jiro Dreams of Sushi but that kind of attention to detail is rare outside of Japan. Kong has brought a much higher level of dedication to each of his restaurants.

Present

Currently Kong continues to run Saru Sushi as well as Ken and Saru Handroll Bar, in the former Kinjo space. The modern handroll concept is innovative, but also feels truly Japanese.

Hitoshi Hokamura