Imam Nawawi has been perfecting the craft of making sushi for close to 20 years, and all that hard work has paid off.

Soon, Nawawi will be serving sushi from his own sushi bar inside The Association at Storm King Distillery.

Most locally know him from his sushi trailer he wheels around town, cleverly named Sushi on the Roll. He will keep that name, and he will keep the quality of the sushi. But now he will have a display and a bar where you can watch him work.

But his story started long before he opened his sushi trailer in 2020.

Local sushi chef Imam Nawawi inside his sushi trailer.
(Provided photo)

He started making sushi when he got tired of his job working as a nurse in Oklahoma. A friend of his had a Japanese restaurant and offered to teach him how to make sushi.

His first wife, who he came to the United States with from Indonesia, died of cancer, and he wanted a change of scenery.

He then moved to Glenwood Springs. The two reasons, he said, were to work on his craft making sushi at a different restaurant, and to snowboard.

He moved around quite a bit more after that. He worked making sushi in Panama City and in Destin.

He even helped a friend open a restaurant in New Orleans.

Then finally, he found a job that brought him to Montrose. He got a job for the company that, at the time, contracted with City Market to make sushi, so he began working at the City Market sushi bar.

His final sushi job, before he ventured out on his own, was working under Nobu Matsuhisa at a high-end establishment in Aspen.

Hearing Nawawi talk about making sushi, it’s clear he has a passion for it. He says when he serves his sushi, he’s selfish about how he makes it because the product he puts out is a reflection on him as a sushi chef.

In Aspen, he worked on his craft even more. A lot of the time, he was driving between Montrose and Aspen because he met his current wife in Montrose.

In 2017, he bought the trailer after a venture to open a Montrose sushi restaurant fell through. He worked three jobs to try to support himself and his family.

When he finally made the leap to open his trailer, Sushi on the Roll, in 2020, he was nervous.

Some of Nawawi’s work. (Provided photo)

“I was scared,” he said. “I was leaving benefits, but luckily my wife had benefits.”

But he dove in. He quit his job at Starbucks and his night stocking job at City Market.

“The first time, it’s hard because you have to build your reputation and build your customers,” he said.

But he’s got a customer base now, much of which came from parking his trailer at Storm King Distillery.

Now, he’s just moving the operation inside. He is selling the trailer, and he will open the new operation soon.

Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.