Sonny Orsini, part owner of Asu Smokehouse, passionately
explained his dream of opening up a barbeque restaurant on Guam and the hard
work that it took to get him where he is at now. At the time, Sonny was living
in the U.S running his restaurant for about eight years. Nostalgic of the
island life, his family, and the desire to reconnect with his culture, Sonny
and his family made the call to relocate to Guam. Leaving his restaurant was
difficult with all the time he invested and the work that he put in, but he
thought why not do something that he loved while being surrounded by the people
he loved. So, he called up his brother, Buddy, and they teamed up to make Asu
Smokehouse come true.
Before reaching Guam, Sonny was already doing his research
and trying to find out how he could go about opening up this business. He
thought that Chamorro Village would be a great location and applied for a spot.
Through that application process, Sonny sought the guidance of (former) business
counselor, Frank Toves, at the Guam Small Business Development Center (Guam
SBDC). He explained that Frank was instrumental in the technical and logistical
assistance on top of the business planning in guiding him and Buddy.
Furthermore, he stated that Frank really talked them through the process of how
they were going to conduct their business, ways in finding efficiency, product
costing, and clarifying their goals and objectives. Through multiple counseling
sessions, Sonny and Buddy Orsini submitted their application and business plan
and then were vetted and approved by Chamorro Village.
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Asu BBQ plate featuring their mouthwatering
beef brisket
with red rice, slaw, and homemade BBQ sauce.
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Sonny and Buddy strive to provide a sustainable, value added
product for their customers. As much as possible, they try to reduce their
carbon footprint by not using petroleum, charcoal, propane, or electricity.
Instead, they use a variety of tangantangan, mango, and a Filipino-indigenous
wood, called chico with a sheet of newspaper and a match to burn a steady fire
for over 12 hours. Sonny uses locally harvested sea salt from Inarajan Bay and
his products are all made from scratch. Asu adds value to their products with
the employees who handle them. Some of these individuals, Assistant Pit
Masters, are from the Guam Community College Apprenticeship Program where Sonny
and Buddy give lessons and hands-on practice on butchering, making sauces and
rubs, fire management hazards and safety precautions, and high quality control.
Currently, there are five employees creating and serving up delicious BBQ at Asu.
Asu Smokehouse brought a unique way of barbequing to the
island that no one was doing. Smoking meats such as brisket, pork, and ribs
overnight over a slow burning fire was what diversified Asu from other
restaurants offering BBQ plates. Asu stands by “quality before anything”. They
start off with the very best cuts of Certified Angus beef and cut no corners.
This—along with other factors—has led them to win numerous competitions including
Grand Championship for the Jack Daniel's Smokin Grills BBQ
Competition 2014 and most recently the Grand Champion Grill
Master at the annual Tumon BBQ Block Party held on July 5, 2014.
In the short run, Asu Smokehouse plans to implement greater efficiencies
with the determination to always create a better product. They hope to overcome
transportation issues that create personnel challenges. Their long term goals
are to increase their product distribution and one day subcontract their wood.
If you’ve been to Asu, you may have noticed their hours of operation sign, and
yes it is true, they are collecting wood on Sundays.
Lastly, after touring the back-end operations of how Asu
stores their wood and smokes their meat, Sonny wanted to share what he learned
from starting his business to future business owners. He said, “Commit. Follow
through. Be prepared to work like you have never worked before. But make time
for family. Follow your dreams, because people will appreciate the amount of
work you put in and what you have sacrificed. If you love what you do, then
it’s not work.”
Asu Smokehouse is a restaurant located at the Chamorro
Village closest to the Paseo Stadium entrance. They are open Monday – Saturday
from 11:00am – 2:00pm and on Wednesday Night Market from 5:00pm – 9:00pm. For
lunch special inquiries and to place your order, please call 671-979-1278 or
visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Asu-Smokehouse/256552447807246
or e-mail them at asusmokehouse@gmail.com.
For more information on how the Guam SBDC can assist you,
please call 671-735-2590 or visit our website at www.pacificsbdc.com.
