After a rough day, takeout or delivery can be a real comfort.

How about scheduling for some at-home sushi? Thanks to Parkite sushi chef Haley Eckstein, you can.

Eckstein, a Sushi Chef Institute graduate, is delivering Parkites a Omakase experience to the home through Sushi Venture. She serves parties of six to 12, charging $185 for her base service and $265 for the premium. Once booked, Eckstein flies in premium fish from around the world, serving up staples such as tuna, and scallops. Plus, some specials.

While Eckstein has always been a foodie, she developed her taste for making sushi while working for Flying Sumo in 2019. Working alongside private chefs after deciding to pursue the culinary scene instead of medicine, which she studied at Pomona College through 2018, sold her on being a private chef. When COVID-19 shut down the New York sushi restaurant she was working at in 2020, Sushi Venture was born only months later.

“My family loves to cook,” said Eckstein, a 2014 graduate of Park City High School. “Everyone was like this hobbyist chef. When I was at home, I would always be in the kitchen with my mom cooking.”

Eckstein said some of her family’s favorites were pizza and sushi. While she’s acquired a taste for fine sushi, she still loves the comforts of pizza, burgers and other American staples. In addition to learning how to first cook with her family, Eckstein also learned about how food brings people together.

Fortunately for her, Eckstein’s family was nothing but supportive when she decided to pursue the culinary field. It was a junior year trip to Italy, where she shadowed a food critic around to the best factories and mom-and-pop spots, when she knew she had to chase this calling.

“I really got to that unique, small-food environment and the love and passion that goes into making food,” she said. “So I called my parents, and I was like, ‘Hey, I love school, I love medicine, but I think I’m going to go the culinary route.’”

Once returning to Pamona, Eckstein took her first culinary job, working for the campus restaurant. She got experience sourcing food, creating menus and cooking. While that and the Flying Sumo experiences helped lead Eckstein to where she is today, they also helped her realize working in a restaurant maybe wasn’t for her at the moment.

An array of Haley Eckstein’s sushi. She serves parties of six to a dozen. Credit: Photo courtesy of Haley Eckstein

Eckstein completed a two-month program at Sushi Chef in Torrance, California, learning the ins and outs of quality sushi making. Her sensei there, Andy Matsuda, helped place her with Andy Bouhanda of Sushi by Bou in New York after she graduated. Eckstein worked for Bouhanda for less than a month before COVID shattered the world and, seemingly, her dreams.

“So the job was short lived because the world essentially shut down,” Eckstein said. “I came back here, didn’t have a job for a while and was twiddling my thumbs. I was like, ‘Man, I really don’t want to give up on this entrepreneurial dream of starting my own sushi restaurant or sushi catering business.’”

Sushi Venture launched in late 2020. Eckstein began serving her parents and their longtime friends. She said she knew she could carve out a niche if she served a high-quality experience to often wealthy Parkites who at the time were also reluctant to leave their homes.

It turned out that COVID may have created the perfect storm for Sushi Venture. While Eckstein’s parents continue to beg her for sushi and poke bowls, she’s expanded the business to new clients as well as her regular customers. She said Sushi Venture is successful, and while she’s happy with her current setup, she may expand to Salt Lake, other states and maybe even a storefront in Park City someday — she’s heard the requests.

“I’m so fortunate,” Eckstein said. “Everybody is amazing. Couldn’t ask for more.”

Eckstein doesn’t want to expand before she’s ready, as her staple is quality, she said. She’s got a hold on her purveyors, who get her fresh, seasonal fish from around the world. Eckstein serves traditional, Japanese-style sushi — simple, with a focus on the quality of the fish.

A big reason she’s a private chef is her ability to enter people’s homes and connect with them. Eckstein said customers feel they’re a part of the experience when she explains everything to them.

“The reason I have a 12-person maximum is because I want to be able to answer those questions and be in a quiet enough environment where people can slowly enjoy the sushi,” said Eckstein. “Really be in that space with everybody to enjoy, and it brings out my personality, too.”

From left to right, Hokkaido Hotate (scallops), Hawaiian Maguro (big eye tuna), Baja Mexican Kanpachi (greater amberjack), Japanese Shima Aji (stripe jack), Japanese Hamachi (yellowtail), UK Umi Masu (ocean trout) and New Zealand Sake (king salmon). Credit: Photo courtesy of Haley Eckstein

Eckstein said she’s already booked into part of December, so if you’re looking to hire her, do it sooner than later. She’s looking forward to sharing whatever fish is seasonal then, being the only one to touch the fish once it lands in Salt Lake, outside of the purveyor. She said crowd-favorite items have been Hamachi, Hokkaido raw scallops and U.K. ocean trout.

Eckstein uses feedback to continue tweaking her menu. She’s recently added wagyu and caviar to the Grand Venture menu. She is researching and preparing aged fish as well.

“There’s always a perfect time to have friends and/or family get together to experience Sushi Venture for an evening,” Eckstein said. “It’s a really fun, interactive evening where you get to be a part of it, hang out, and have a good time. … I always go home and think ‘That was so much fun. I’m so grateful that this is what I do for work and these are the people that I get to meet.’”