{"id":312517,"date":"2026-06-19T01:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T01:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/312517\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T01:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T01:20:12","slug":"national-sushi-day-spotlights-family-tradition-and-fresh-flavors-at-maks-asian-kitchen-sushi-wink-stop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/312517\/","title":{"rendered":"National Sushi Day spotlights family tradition and fresh flavors at Mak&#8217;s Asian Kitchen &#038; Sushi | WINK Stop"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>FORT MYERS, FL (WINK) &#8211; Sushi lovers have the perfect excuse to grab their favorite roll on June 18 as National Sushi Day celebrates one of the world&#8217;s most popular dishes.<\/p>\n<p>At <a href=\"https:\/\/maksfl.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mak&#8217;s Asian Kitchen &amp; Sushi<\/a> in Fort Myers, the holiday is about more than just sushi. It&#8217;s a chance to showcase the family tradition, dedication and craftsmanship that have helped make the restaurant a local favorite for the past seven years.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Good sushi starts with fresh, simple ingredients,&#8221; said co-owner Billy Mak. &#8220;That means high-quality fish and good rice. You don&#8217;t need to overcomplicate it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The family-owned restaurant has built a loyal following in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winknews.com\/news\/southwest_florida\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Southwest Florida<\/a> with a menu featuring everything from classic rolls to specialty creations like the popular Crunchy Tiger Roll. Guests can also enjoy fresh nigiri, sashimi and a variety of cooked dishes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A big misconception is that all sushi is raw,&#8221; Billy Mak said. &#8220;We have plenty of options that are cooked. We also have plenty of items from our kitchen like Mongolian beef, fried rice and so much more.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Behind the sushi bar is years of experience. Co-owner Kevin Mak has spent decades mastering the craft and even trained his younger brother Billy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s almost like basketball,&#8221; Kevin Mak said. &#8220;You might make it on the first two tries and then none after that. It&#8217;s constantly practicing. You also really need to love what you do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That passion for the craft is reflected in the restaurant&#8217;s diverse team of sushi chefs. While sushi chefs have historically been Japanese men who traveled the world perfecting their skills, Kevin Mak says Mak&#8217;s embraces talent from many different backgrounds.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have sushi chefs from all around the world,&#8221; Kevin Mak said. &#8220;We also have a female sushi chef from South Korea.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"Table Full of Sushi\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full default\" width=\"1662\" height=\"1247\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>The restaurant prides itself on serving high-quality fish sourced from Japan while creating an environment where both experienced sushi lovers and first-time diners feel comfortable exploring the menu.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nationaldaycalendar.com\/celebrations\/international-sushi-day-june-18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">National Sushi Day<\/a> gives customers the opportunity to try a new roll, enjoy a longtime favorite or learn more about the artistry behind one of the world&#8217;s most beloved cuisines. For the Mak family, it&#8217;s also a chance to celebrate the community that has supported their restaurant since it opened seven years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you&#8217;re a longtime sushi enthusiast or trying your first roll, National Sushi Day serves as a reminder of how a traditional Japanese dish has become a favorite around the world and right here in Southwest Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS, FL (WINK) &#8211; Sushi lovers have the perfect excuse to grab their favorite roll on June&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,325,115,66796],"class_list":["post-312517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-lee","tag-news","tag-wink_stop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}