Chef Shinya Sunada says the bakery starts its day at 5:30 a.m. Throughout the day dozens of kitchen staff will be busy making baked goods, donburi, bento, and more.
Spicy curry pork siopao is the brain child of Chef Shinya Sunada. He will be experimenting with new recipes, but he said Himawari will continue to make the products the island has come to love and embrace.
The strawberry mille feuille, left, has custard cream and sliced strawberries while the chocolate mille feuille features chocolate and walnuts. Both fillings come with a crispy pastry and are delicious.
Chef Sunada keeps himself busy in the kitchen and bakery of Himawari.
CHEF Shinya Sunada said deep within the busy kitchen and bakery of Himawari, he’s striking a balance between its much loved products that made the Japanese eatery successful, and its brand new baked goods that keep customers coming back for more.
Sunada arrived on Saipan in 2022 to work for the Garapan-based Japanese bakery and restaurant, and since then has been busy finding goods that are “very sellable.”
To that end, Sunada has caught lightning in a bottle a few times, mixing his ingenuity with an eye for the food items local customers already enjoy. He mentions spicy curry pork siopao as one such product that customers have been purchasing with fervor.
Sunada said customers on Saipan generally want something a little more pika, and sometimes either a little more sweet or a little more salty than what Japanese customers would enjoy.
As for soups like ramen, Sunada said local restaurant patrons want a broth that is thicker than what is traditionally prepared, and with “stronger flavors.”
Although he understands how to make a dish like katsudon or kaarage the way customers would want to eat it in Japan, Sunada said on Saipan, he gives the people what they want.
“I think we have to adjust to local taste. That’s important,” Sunada said.
On the day Variety visited him, he was experimenting with a panna cotta, which is popular in Europe. A typical panna cotta has a mousse-like consistency and could be flavored with coffee or vanilla.
Sunada is no stranger to European food, having worked at sushi restaurants in Holland, France, Italy, and Germany for years, encountering their authentic cultural flavors first-hand.
Sunada kept his local version of panna cotta under wraps, however, because he wants to see how the community reacts before including it among the dozens of delicious food items offered by Himawari.
He showed Variety another dessert he picked up while in Europe — the mille-feuille. At Himawari, it comes in two varieties: chocolate and strawberry. Both versions are delicious and stacked on crispy puff pastry. The strawberry mille-feuille is filled with layers of strawberry slices and custard cream, while the chocolate version has chocolate sauce and walnuts.
Although Sunada is clearly enthusiastic about new baked goods, he said Himawari is going to continue to offer all the products customers love. The blueberry cream cheese pan is definitely not going anywhere.
Sunada is aware that people throughout the Marianas love Himawari’s bakery items. He said many of their baked goods get sent off-island.
Their cakes — which when ordered online at himawari.saipan.com receive a 5% discount — are often reserved well in advance for on-island parties and gatherings.
When the lunch hour strikes, Himawari is usually filled with people clamoring for bento or donburi. And of course, the blueberry cream cheese pan is legendary. Sunada said it is a bestseller.
At the recently concluded Island Music Festival, Guam musical act StraightUpJED mentioned how much he loved Himawari’s blueberry cream cheese pan, live on stage.
After the interview with Variety, Sunada went right back to work in the bakery, where he had been since 5:30 a.m.
Himawari’s bakery is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Its restaurant is open for lunch Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and for dinner from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. On Sunday, the restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
