The Hataes may have been falling apart when the Sushi-Ko episode of Kitchen Nightmares first aired, but they seem to be back on track now.
When viewers got their first glimpse of the Hatae family in the May 14, 2010 episode from the first season of Kitchen Nightmares’, it was very evident that the restaurant’s slow decline had taken a toll on everyone.
And for the first half of the episode, it seemed like Akira, who had started out as the sous chef at Sushi-Ko and worked himself up to the owner, had started shutting down completely and was refusing to communicate with Lisa (his wife), Sammy (his son) and Hana (his daughter), who were all working in the restaurant alongside him.
Unfortunately, despite Gordon Ramsay and the Kitchen Nightmares team’s best efforts to transform Sushi-Ko, the restaurant ended up closing in August 2009, before the Kitchen Nightmares episode even aired.
What the Hatae family has been up to since Sushi-Ko closed down
There is no doubt that losing their beloved family business made things even more difficult for the Hatae family, but it seems like they have stuck together.
They have also managed to get themselves back on track, almost a decade down the line.
In fact, fans who have been keeping up with the younger members of this fan-favorite family on social media will already know that they frequently see each other at weddings, concerts and other events to this day.
In a roundabout way, losing the restaurant all those years ago may have just brought Akira, Lisa, Sammy, Hana and the youngest Hatae sibling, Summer, that much closer together after all.
How Sushi-Ko stacks up to the other Kitchen Nightmares season three restaurants
Sushi-Ko is one of only a few restaurants in the Kitchen Nightmares roundup which has shut its doors before it even appeared on-screen. But it is not the only restaurant from the third season of the series that has closed down.
In fact, almost all of season three’s restaurants have now closed down, as shown below:
| Restaurant | Status |
| Hot Potato Cafe | Closed in 2010 |
| Flamangos | Closed in 2011 (after being renamed to The Junction) |
| Bazzini | Closed in 2010 |
| Mojito | Closed in 2016 |
| Lido di Manhattan | Open |
| Le Bistro | Open |
| Casa Roma | Closed in 2017 |
| Mama Rita’s | Closed in 2010 |
| Anna Vincenzo’s | Closed in 2010 |
| Fleming | Closed in 2010 |
| Sushi-Ko | Closed in 2009 |
The Hataes do not blame Kitchen Nightmares for Sushi-Ko’s failure
Although it may shock many longtime Kitchen Nightmares fans to hear that by the time they were tuning in to watch this episode from the show’s first season, the Hatae family had already vacated the old Sushi-Ko space, the restaurant’s owners were not as surprised by this outcome.
Lisa spoke to the Ventura County Star about their experience being on the show.
She admitted that by the time that the Kitchen Nightmares film crew showed up in May of 2009, they had “nothing to lose” and that they were already “going to the landlord and asking for relief,” so they had no real hope that the show would be able to rescue the restaurant.
Lisa and Akira are living a much more peaceful life now
Things were not all smooth sailing for the Hatae family once Sushi-Ko closed down, and Lisa (who had taken a job at Pepperdine University’s coffee cart to help pay the bills) shared with the Pepperdine Graphic in 2014 that:
“We lost the restaurant, then we lost the house, then we got rid of a car. We spent a lot of money building the new restaurant, and lost it all.”
Fortunately, it seems like her job and Akira’s new job as a cosmetic importer helped to get the couple back on their feet. Lisa’s Facebook profile reveals that they now live quite a peaceful, seemingly retired life in Redway, California.
The Hatae kids have gone on to pursue various artistic endeavors
Between Lisa’s dancing and Akira’s creative culinary concoctions, there is no denying that creativity runs in the Hataes’ blood.
And it seems like now that Sushi-Ko is no longer tying the youngest members of the Hatae-family down, they have all been free to follow their other artistic passions.
Samson “Sammy” Hatae has now grown his photography hobby into a fully-fledged photography career, where he focuses mainly on motorcycle, outdoor and travel photography.
Hana has not acted professionally in quite a few years, but she has now started her own interior design business.
And Summer, the youngest member of the Hatae family, who viewers did not get to see in the original Kitchen Nightmares episode, completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2021.
