Owner offers new flavor with Asian restaurant

By Roni Gehlke

Name of Business: Renee's Asian Island

Type of business: Restaurant

Owner: Kenny Zhao

Founded: November 2009

Address: 2525 Main St., Oakley

Phone number: 925-679-1888

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday; 12 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday; 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Restaurant closes Monday through Friday 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Number of Employees: nine

Products and services: Asian cuisine specializing in Chinese and Japanese food. Sushi bar on site. Special feature is Hawaiian-style tuna poki salad, the Godzilla roll with tempura shrimp, tuna, salmon and hamachi and the Big Kahuna with tuna, salmon, spicy crab topped with tobiko and green onion. It also has added an Oakley roll featuring thin, sliced cucumber with spicy tuna and crab.

Renee's Asian Island also features several soups on its menu, including the Japanese Miso soup. Its chef specials include a salt and pepper prawn, spare rib, chicken wings and calamari deep fried dish. Menu also features hot garlic sauce chicken wings, twice cooked pork, Mongolian chicken and beef and Kong Pao chicken. It offers a create-your-own sizzling iron plate with vegetables, pork, beef, chicken or seafood.

From 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, it offers a lunch special featuring several menu favorites. It offers takeout, eat-in and delivery, as well as catering services for special events.

How did you get into the business?: After Zhao moved to the area, a friend told him about a man who prepared sushi in Brentwood who was looking for a new place to work. Zhao liked the area and wanted to create a new business here. After hearing that a restaurant was coming up for sale, he decided that with a few changes he could make it into the business he was trying to create.

Best part about the business: Zhao said that he likes the look of the new business. "I put all my heart into the design of the business," he said. "It now has a nice, clear, bright presence."

The former restaurant at the location served traditional Chinese food. The storefront property was decorated with bamboo and Chinese lanterns, which Zhao thought gave it a closed-in, cluttered appearance. While developing the idea for his restaurant, Zhao's hope was to open up the space available and give it more of a wide-open feel.

He doesn't have any art on the walls and added different seating to make it look bigger. He also built a sushi bar in the back corner.

Worst part about the business: So far, Zhao said he hasn't found a worst part.

Key to success: Zhao said that offering a variety of food and making sure the plate looks good is really the key to success for him. He can't let anything go out to his customers that doesn't look 100 percent right. He also believes in using fresh, quality foods.
"Another thing is to make sure that we listen to the customers and what they want to eat," he said. "It is important to serve the community."

Biggest misperception about the business: The previous restaurant at Renee's Asian Island was a traditional Chinese restaurant. Zhao said that people will find that his restaurant offers both Chinese and Japanese cuisine with a large variety of fresh sushi sold.

Future plans: In the spring when more people are looking for entertainment outside the house, Zhao hopes to offer music and karaoke in the restaurant. "There aren't a lot of places for people to go in Oakley," he said. He is hoping to offer some fun entertainment.

— Roni Gehlke