Jay Wang at Wasabi West Des Moines

11/4/2026

Jay Wang is the owner of Wasabi and its seven restaurants in central Iowa. Because Wasabi recently celebrated its 15th anniversary, we asked him to lunch, and he chose the Wasabi at 50th and Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines. Three days before our meeting, his house burned to ruin. Yet, he did not want to cancel or postpone. 

Over a bottle of lemongrass-infused Oregon saki, tuna sashimi salads, toasted yellowtail, a New York roll, and salmon toro sashimi, we talked about his journey from China to Iowa, Japanese aesthetics, trauma and Iowa Nice. 

How does one show up for an interview two days after surviving a fire that totaled his home? 

“I needed a break. It’s been two days of police reports, fire reports, insurance agents, shopping for new clothes and realtors. The good thing is we are all safe. Plus, I have several places where we can eat for free. It’s also easier for me than most people because I am a 9-11 survivor.”

What? I have known Jay 15 years and he never mentioned that before.

“It isn’t part of my identity. I was in school that morning two blocks from the World Trade Center towers. I witnessed everything. My parents thought I had been killed. I was traumatized and became depressed. I thought America was my safe place before that day. I spent a few years seeing psychologists. Now, it’s finally useful as an experience. I am writing a memoir for my kids — ‘Wild Village Architect.’ Fire is one chapter now.”

How is his family adjusting?

“If you ever doubt the quality of your life, spend a couple nights with your family in a room at a Garden Inn. That’s an attitude adjustment. When I moved to Iowa, I heard about ‘Iowa Nice,’ this week, we are experiencing it in full. I am overwhelmed by the kindness of neighbors. They all want to help, bringing clothes in my daughter’s size, food, offering places to sleep. It seems my neighbors include a lot of real estate agents; I got 10 realtors’ business cards already.

“My wife and I know now that our focus going forward is not to disrupt Skyla’s life. She’s 10 and knows every dog in the neighborhood by name — and their owners, too. She loves her school and sports. Ryan is at (University of) Iowa, so it’s now about keeping Skyla in her neighborhood.”

Fifteen years is an era in the restaurant business. What were the biggest changes?

“Wasabi started with seven employees. Now we have over 300. In the early years, 50% of our orders were for chicken, 30% fish, 10% steaks and 10% everything else. Now it’s 50% fish. Customers took a while to warm up to sushi, but they did. When we opened the first Wasabi, on Douglas, there were only three sushi places in town. Miyabi9 was easily the best. It was hard to sell special dinners. Now they sell out immediately. Originally, more people wanted fish fried than raw. Now they have adapted to the healthy aspect of fish and seafood. Customers today want amberjack, hamachi cheeks, salmon eggs, and sea urchin.

“COVID changed other plans. It became too hard to hire staff after that. I gave up my dream of franchising, and I sold my Teriyaki Boys and Aura. I closed my Papaya Asian Street Food café, but I still think it’s a great concept.”

Wasabis are known amongst my friends for their ambiance — lighting, furniture, art, bars, et cetera. All that is mostly Jay’s doing. 

“I love that aspect of my job. I originally went to architectural school in Japan. I designed our logo in Japanese calligraphy, after drinking lots of saki. Brushstroke is my Zen place. It calms me. Wasabi’s logo characters translate as ‘drunk,’ ‘life,’ ‘dream’ and ‘death.’ The paintings on the windows are salmon and no, there are no blue salmon in nature, just in art. I was inspired to build the lamps in Kyoto in springtime. They are upside down cherry blossoms. I designed them and had the glass blown in Seattle. 

“The table tops and the bar are Ecuadorean walnut. I decided to use that because you can order huge, single pieces. The entire bar top is a single piece of wood. (Feng shui and good luck thrive on wholeness.) I decided on mosaic for the walls because it represents arrangement and order. Even our saki is served in specially designed bamboo bottle carriers. All this stuff calms me, and I hope my customers find it calming, too.”

How did he happen to move to Iowa?

“My family moved to New York City early in the century. I was 18. In China, Japan, New York and Philadelphia, I had always lived in big cities. I visited Des Moines for a cousin’s wedding. My wife and I wanted to have a second child at the time, but we couldn’t afford to. That first weekend in Iowa, we realized that we could do that here. Public schools were good, real estate was relatively inexpensive. It seemed like the perfect move for us. I became a citizen here in 2013.”

Jay sold a lot of other young east coast Chinese people on Des Moines, too.

“It was easy for the same reasons my wife and I moved here. At my 15th anniversary, a golf buddy said, ‘Jay, you are building your own village.’ I didn’t know what he meant at the time. Now I realize there are over 200 new Asians in Iowa now because of Wasabi.”

What kinds of food do his kids prefer?

“Ryan is a foodie like me. He eats anything. We took a father-son trip for his high school graduation present — Hawaii, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong. He liked blowfish, eyeballs, stinky fish, raw chicken, there is a safe way to eat that in Taiwan. Skyla is like her mother who won’t eat anything she can’t spell. She has super white girl taste.” 

What are this restaurateur’s favorite places to eat, other than his own?

“Pho 515 is fabulous. And Flame, Arturo’s (Mora) birria is the best. Skyla loves Flame, too, but no veggies. She only likes the meats.” ♦

Jim Duncan is a food and art writer who has been covering the central Iowa scene for more than five decades.