FLORENCE — When he moved to Northampton 16 years ago from El Salvador, Javier Marroquin likely never dreamed that one day he’d open his own restaurant specializing in the cuisine of countries on the other side of the world.
But his odyssey from dishwasher to fryer to cook at several local restaurants that serve Japanese, Chinese and Korean food gave him a chance to soak up knowledge from some of the best in the business.
The experience gave the Spanish-speaking Marroquin, 49, the confidence to take the plunge and become a new business owner. So after a year of planning — not to mention investing their entire life savings — Marroquin and his wife, Morelia, 44, and daughter, Tatiana, 24, fulfilled an American dream earlier this year by opening Bamboo Asian Cuisine.
The restaurant, which opened Sept. 22 in the Bay State section of Northampton at 311 Riverside Drive, serves many Japanese dishes featuring noodles or tempura and Chinese dishes with chicken and vegetables with sweet and spicy flavors.
The Marroquins journey to business owners began in 2000, when Javier Marroquin decided to come to the United States for better job opportunities. He had a brother living in western Massachusetts who suggested the Valley would be a good place to make his home.
He found a job washing dishes at Teapot Restaurant in Northampton shortly after immigrating here from El Salvador. Over time he moved up to prep work and frying before eventually learning how to cook Japanese and Chinese cuisine.
Javier could not speak English, but he worked with Chinese immigrants who could not speak English either. Tatiana said Javier picked up Chinese quicker than he did English.
Javier worked about six years at Teapot as well as a few other Asian restaurants in the area. He spent about a decade working at the House of Teriyaki in Amherst, which serves Japanese and Korean food.
Six years after Javier left his family for a better life in the Valley, his wife and daughter were able to leave El Salvador and join him. Morelia started working as a cook at Asian restaurants such as China Dynasty, House of Teriyaki and Crazy Noodles, where she learned a mix of Thai and Italian dishes.
After gaining as much knowledge as they could about the food and about how to run a restaurant, Javier and Tatiana began planning about a year ago. The process took about three months once they started implementing the plan.
Tatiana said all together they invested $50,000. “It was all of our savings,” she said. “Everything we had.”
Javier never cooked before working at Teapot, but he said he loves learning. He uses the recipes he learned in the past and tries to make his dishes better by using high-quality ingredients. He also makes all the sauces at Bamboo.
Javier said owning his own restaurant allows him to have more freedom in the kitchen to use the recipes he’s learned during his time in the Asian restaurant industry.
While the family is proud of all of the offerings on its menu, such as the lunch and combo specials that are served with a side of miso soup and rice, Tatiana recommends the seafood teriyaki, a dish for $17.95 made with shrimp, scallop, green mussel, salmon and vegetables in teriyaki sauce. Appetizers such as the crab rangoons and house-made egg rolls are also popular.
“Even if it’s not on the menu…if you ask, he’ll make it,” Tatiana said.
Tatiana said business is picking up slowly and they are looking at advertising options such as flyers. She said many customers come in after driving by. “I think the food is delicious,” she said. “We haven’t had anyone disappointed.”
Caitlin Ashworth can bereached at cashworth@gazettenet.com.