Hiro Mitsui

I was born in a small town outside of Nagoya, Japan. As the youngest of 6 children, I grew up cooking for my family because they were always busy working at the family factory. When my mom went grocery shopping, she would drop me off at the ramen shop inside of the grocery store while she shopped. My dad frequently took me to ramen shops because that was his favorite dish. I’ve grown up eating ramen for as long as I can remember. When I was older and could go on my own, I went to ramen shops by myself.

My dad always told me to chase my dreams and be my own boss. I played on a Japanese basketball team but wanted to do something more. I decided to follow my dreams of becoming a professional basketball player and in 2011, I moved to the US to play for AND1 Mixtape and streetball in Washington, DC. I also had the chance to play in the Eastern Basketball Alliance (EBA) league, but after two seasons of a semi-pro career, I had to have knee surgery and stopped playing.

After chasing my dream to the US but not being able to fulfill it, I decided to stay to see what else I could make happen. In the meantime, I decided to apply to work at Toki Underground in Washington DC. The simple reason I joined the team was because I wanted to eat good ramen. The Toki OG, Erik, taught me how the restaurant industry worked, and he mentored me throughout my career. After working at Toki, I worked at Maketto as a line cook alongside James Wozniuk, who taught me how to cook in a serious kitchen. At the same time, I started doing Uzu pop-ups around the city. I became a manager at PaperHorse while still doing pop-ups, this time more frequently at Honeycomb Grocer inside of Union Market.

I learned from each experience and grew along the way. I realized that I could connect with others through food, which I found satisfying. After one year of pop-ups, I was able to open Conbini by Uzu in Shopkeepers Gallery, where I was able to cook Japanese comfort food such as okonomiyaki. It was such an honor to cook for the neighbors, and I was overwhelmed by their support. After six months at that location, I was able to open my own ramen stall inside of Union Market directly across from the old Honeycomb Grocer location, and we have been there for the past 2 years.