Japanese restaurant rolls into Bayview Corner

A skilled sushi chef and her sommelier husband have brought the tastes and cuisine of another island to South Whidbey.

Earlier this month, Joan Samson and Ed Hodson opened Japonica Diner in the former Whidbey Doughnuts space at Bayview Corner. Japonica is the couple’s fifth restaurant and their second operation on Whidbey; Mommafish opened in downtown Langley in 2023.

The opening of Japonica happens to coincide with the season two premiere of “Morimoto’s Sushi Master,” a reality TV cooking competition that Samson was lucky enough to get cast for. She was one of eight sushi chefs from around the nation who competed in various challenges to be deemed the very best by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.

Samson lept at the chance to open her Japanese restaurant when she heard of the hole in the community left behind by the beloved doughnut shop, which closed last year due to septic issues with the historic building.

Fortunately, Japonica’s menu will have a lower impact on the septic system; nothing will be baked or fried in the kitchen.

“We’re trying to provide a healthier, more body-friendly kind of cuisine where you’re not absorbing trans fats in your food,” Samson said.

Hodson likes to joke that South Whidbey is one big sandwich shop. In an area where you can have a sandwich for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Japonica is a breath of fresh air, with sushi rolls, poké bowls and bento boxes on the menu.

“Like with Mommafish, we’re really picky about the ingredients,” Hodson said. “We’re using non-GMO rice, there’s no canola oil in our food, all the ingredients are the best we can get.”

And it seems to be what the people crave. On Mommafish’s first day of operation, the line snaked 30 yards down the block to the Star Store. The little shop, which has since closed, focused on providing to-go orders, a concept born during the COVID-19 pandemic era. With Japonica, the couple can focus more on hospitality and the dining experience.

“The food is just one facet of the jewel, if you will,” Hodson said. “It’s also the setting, it’s also the beverages and how they go with the food and it’s also the Japanese concept of welcoming people.”

“We want people to feel our gratitude for them choosing to spend their evening with us,” Samson said.

Samson attended Japanese Culinary School in Los Angeles in 2003, an intensive experience that helped sharpen her knife skills and fueled her desire to open a sushi restaurant. Her first three restaurants in California did not have Japanese cuisine, so it wasn’t possible until after she and Hodson moved to Whidbey in 2019 to raise their young son.

The intention for Japonica, she explained, is comfort food filtered through Japanese flavor profiles and techniques. The new restaurant has also appealed greatly to Whidbey’s underserved population of vegetarians and vegans. Almost everything on the menu is gluten-free; food is cooked with tamari instead of soy sauce.

One unique aspect of Japonica is the sommelier’s table, where Hodson joins a special group of diners to taste a selection of rare wines, champagnes and sakés.

“The idea around that table is to do food pairings for these special unicorn wines that only appear once in a generation,” Samson said.

This elevates the restaurant’s back room, which can also be reserved for private parties.

Hodson can also be found behind the restaurant’s newly constructed bar.

“We’re big bubble heads here,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of great champagne.”

He hopes to offer the island’s best selection of sakés.

Japonica recently held a lively watch party for “Morimoto’s Sushi Master,” which has received rave reviews online. The show is available for free on the Roku Channel; roku means “six” in Japanese.

This is not Samson’s first time on TV. One of her former restaurants in Long Beach, California, Starling Diner, appeared on the Food Network show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” in 2014.

Samson said her latest experience on screen was a psychological and physical gauntlet. Contestants had to report to the studio by 6 a.m. every day, which felt more like 3 a.m. since filming took place in the state of Georgia.

Chefs thrive on having their own workplace set up, a concept known as mise en place. Samson explained that it was difficult to maintain this in an unfamiliar space.

Though the competitors may look fierce, Samson set out to make friends with everyone and to build community.

“I hope to bring some honor to Whidbey just because Whidbey is special and it allowed me to open my Japanese concept,” she said.

The couple have never visited Japan, but it’s in the plans for someday. Though not Japanese herself, Samson’s daughter-in-law and grandson are. Hodson is a Japanese whiskey fan and a reiki master, and both he and Samson adore the cuisine.

Japonica is off to a busy start, with 400 reservations on the books for the first six weeks. The restaurant is 90% booked out through May and into June, though a limited number of walk-ins are still being accepted. Currently, hours are 3:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

“The easiest way to sneak in is to pop your head in around 3:30 or 4,” Hodson advised. There are a few seats at the bar that will be up for grabs.

Guests will notice many changes to the space, from the refinished historic floors to new murals, furnishings and fixtures to the life-sized cardboard cutout of Morimoto that greets them at the entrance.

Art from Hank Nelson’s Cloudstone Sculpture Park decorates the front yard, which is reminiscent of a Japanese garden.

“Now the locals are calling it Joanhenge,” Hodson said.

Though doughnuts are no longer a feature of the joint, customers can celebrate their loved ones by ordering a dessert boat, a display of decadence that includes cake, cookies and fruit.

“Joan very much likes the aesthetic of completely embarrassing the birthday guest,” Hodson said.

Samson added, “Birthdays are a big deal here, and we like the whole restaurant to participate.”

This summer, boba tea will be available for those looking to get their fix. When hours expand to include lunch, customers will be able to purchase pre-made items at the counter and enjoy them out on the patio.

Later this year, the couple is hoping to bring out the Mommafish brand – which has been absorbed into Japonica – with grab-and-go items in local grocery stores.

For more information, visit japonicadiner.com.