Out to Lunch: Billy Sushi chef is unapologetically 'crazy' for Minnesota
Billy Sushi chef Sodbileg Enkhbaatar prepares a meal for Minnesota Now host Nina Moini and Billy Sushi owner Enkhbileg “Billy” Tserenbat on May 9.
Ellie Roth | MPR News
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: For the latest in our series called Out to Lunch, I met up with Chef Enkhbileg Tserenbat, known to many in the public as simply Billy. He's the owner of the trendy Minneapolis restaurant Billy Sushi. Perhaps you've seen one of his outrageous viral social media videos, or maybe you've been watching the Timberwolves this season. You may have seen him sitting courtside. He's got a big personality, and we talked about how he uses it to be Minnesota's biggest hype man. Here's our conversation from when we met up at his North Loop restaurant for lunch.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Billy from Billy Sushi.
[LAUGHING]
I'm honored to be here with you. Thank you so much for coming out to lunch with Minnesota Now.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Oh, my pleasure, and thanks for coming out.
NINA MOINI: Very lucky to have our own service today just for us.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah, so we have a personal sushi chef for us, [? Soto. ?] He's TikTok famous. And--
NINA MOINI: Oh, wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: --there is about 600,000 people watched him--
NINA MOINI: Amazing.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: --in last two days. So he is actually making us our very own nigiri sushi course. And the first one we had was a bluefin tuna, a fatty cut. And the second course, we're going to have is a bluefin tuna with caviar and fresh wasabi straight from Japan. And we want to take it a single bite.
NINA MOINI: Let's eat, I say.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yes, yes, yes.
NINA MOINI: This looks amazing. Wow.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Tell us a little bit about where we're sitting. We're not even in the main dining. We're in this beautiful room that I've been told by you has no name because so many celebrities want to come in here. There's a bar. There's some tables. There's shades that you can draw. Tell me about this beautiful wall of your collection.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Well, so it's one of the largest selection of Japanese whiskey. And we do have some awesome selections. So in Minnesota, we always learn to be humble. But here, we now have to indulge ourselves.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, you're showing off your pride of your beautiful collection of whiskeys here.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: I think it's not my pride. I think it's the state of Minnesota. People who love sushi, it's their pride, and I'm the guy who is just holding it. And sometimes, the people who is the craft masters, I am just a messenger for their products.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And so Soto made us this beautiful bluefin tuna with little bit of wasabi and then little bit of scallion.
NINA MOINI: Beautiful.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: So it's called negi toro, yeah.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And Enkhbileg Tserenbat is your actual name. Did I say it OK? How did I do?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah. Actually, you did just fine, and I love it.
NINA MOINI: I want to start at the beginning, if we can, in Mongolia.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Sure.
NINA MOINI: When you were growing up, was that in a more-- were you in the city? Were you more in the countryside? What was it like?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Well, I mean, I wish I born in a countryside. That would be super exotic, right?
[LAUGHING]
But yeah, I'm just typical city boy. I don't know much about Mongolia because 30 years ago, we were a part of the Soviet Union.
NINA MOINI: Right.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: And--
NINA MOINI: Different influences.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yes. Yeah, so the last 30 years, Mongolia actually ruling their own country. And because of that, sometimes people judge too quickly. It's like America is over 200 years old. Mongolia is only 30. Like, 30 years old kid always make mistake. I remember when I was 30 years old, right? So yeah, growing up there and coming to America is life changing. And anyone who can work hard, they always give them opportunity and chance.
NINA MOINI: You're living your own American dream. But when you first came over to America, you were not thinking about this career or this life that you're living now. I mean, would you have even been able to imagine this?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Do I ever think about becoming sushi chef? No, I'm from landlocked country.
[LAUGHING]
NINA MOINI: Right.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: I went to school here, majored in geology, Earth science. So I come here, I need to go get a job. And I never worked in my entire life, and it was so hard. The dilemma of-- hey, we are looking for someone inexperienced, but then they don't give you the job. And I'm like-- they're like, hey, if you don't give me the job, how can I get the experience?
NINA MOINI: Right.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: I mean, I learned along the way. I think you remember my food truck, right?
NINA MOINI: Yes. Because it was kind of historic, right?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yes, it is. It was the one and only-- just we trying to sell sushi from the truck It was challenge already.
NINA MOINI: And no one else was doing that. The sushi truck.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Nobody else, yeah. Because everyone walks by. They're like, sushi from truck? Are you crazy? And I'm like, yeah, the crazy guys do the crazy things. Right?
NINA MOINI: Fast forward to 2020. It is just so striking to me that you opened up in 2020. What was that timing like for you? How did it feel?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Someone said it's not great timing. But I have an amazing mentor, Bill McGuire. He explained to me that everyone's difficult time shouldn't be your difficult time. You should prepare for it. And a lot of restaurants are letting go of the good people, and you should hire them right away. And so that's what I exactly did.
Five years ago, he said, you may open the restaurant. And that was one of the most happiest days I ever imagined because you are ready to rock and roll the world, and you are just patiently waiting. And you're just like, man, I want people to taste my sushi. Once they taste it, it's like, game over. I'm going to change the world. And just waiting for that moment is so difficult, right?
And finally it happened. I'm like, let's go! And next thing, it's five years. We have 80 plus people work at Billy Sushi, and we open seven days a week because we are in fish business. And there is no such thing called aged fish, and it's only the fresh.
NINA MOINI: What do we have here, I wonder?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: This is a bluefin tuna, fatty part.
NINA MOINI: Oh, delicious.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah. One bite.
NINA MOINI: OK.
[PLEASED HUMMING]
Wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: It's good.
NINA MOINI: Just the freshness, it's just incredible food.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Fish has-- ultimately one fish, you can cook it in 12, 13 different ways. And then because of that, the fish becomes so different identity. So it's the same fish. You can come at eight, nine different kind of cut. You can poach it. You can cook it. You can sear it.
NINA MOINI: It's a creative process.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah, it is.
NINA MOINI: Well, let's give this a try, shall we?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yes, cheers.
NINA MOINI: Cheers.
[PLEASED HUMMING]
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: The saltiness of caviar and hint of this wasabi, it's so good.
NINA MOINI: I think fun is very much the atmosphere here. You are very larger than life. You have an amazing social media presence. And I said you're a hype man for Minneapolis. You really love this city, and you are trying to tell people all the time how amazing it is. Tell me about your love for just the city of Minneapolis.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: I think the life changing moment happened to me is when my daughter, Jetsun, born. And I realized that not just because of I'm sushi chef and I am become father, so I need to change it. And in order to change, I look at Minnesota. We are super smart people here, right?
We are so amazing at the art, theater, and all those things. We have 30 Fortune 500 companies here. And we are such a small community, yet we don't advertise as that place to be deserved to be that, right? And mission is someday, our kids-- our daughters and sons-- they go out to California or New York. They are not shy to be proud to be Minnesotan, right?
And so that's the thing. I was like, OK, I want to be the hype man for Minnesota. And someday, 20 years down the road, my daughter goes to college. They know-- oh, my God, Minnesota is awesome.
NINA MOINI: You're saying humility is a good thing, but that it's OK to be loud and boisterous and fun. And--
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah.
NINA MOINI: That, in itself, sounds like it's true to who you are, but that it's also been--
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Thank you.
NINA MOINI: --genius marketing in the way that this place has become synonymous with what's hip and what's happening in the North Loop neighborhood, and what celebrities are dining here. So all of that seems to have come together in an organic way.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah, it does. I have to thankful to my wife. She is the biggest cheerleader I have in my life, right?
NINA MOINI: And what is her name?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Her name is [? Tinsen. ?] Back to that 2020, and she was actually a nurse. And she was working, and she exposed to COVID twice. And--
NINA MOINI: You were really in the thick of it with a nurse in the family, and then a restaurant owner.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: I know.
NINA MOINI: That's a lot of stress.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Crazy.
NINA MOINI: But you just kind of kept persevering. You just kind of kept going.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah. Well--
NINA MOINI: Sushi cheers to that.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Cheers, yes.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So this is a bluefin tuna with soy citrus sauce called yuzu.
[PLEASED HUMMING]
NINA MOINI: Wow.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Ever since I came to America, I haven't gone back to Mongolia for almost 20 years. And then now, my mom cannot fly anymore. So I want my kids to know their grandparents. So every summer, I go to Mongolia for a two months.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: And while I was traveling, actually, I saw this old mining town 100 kilometers south of the city of Ulaanbaatar where I grew up. And while I was traveling through, I saw there was a hockey rink. And in Minnesota, it's the state of hockey. We always say hockey rinks.
I go over there and I saw a couple of people standing by. And I asked them, well, what do you guys use for? They said, oh, we have hockey team. And I'm like-- OK, you guys, hockey team? Like, OK. And that mining town, sometimes it gets minus 55 degrees.
NINA MOINI: Oh.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Right?
NINA MOINI: Wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Without windchill.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: And those kids who is 10, eight years old kids, they are playing hockey in that. And I thought that was so amazing. And I'm like, I want to help them. How can I help? That evening, all the hockey team's parents all come. I was asking them, how can I help? Everyone is like, well, Billy, we want our kids to go play hockey to different cities. Then we have to take time off from our work. If we take time off from our work, we don't have money.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, yeah.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: And it is one of the dilemma they are in that they want to cheer on their kids, but they just can't. Right? And so two weeks later, I went to market, buy them bus. So I drove that bus back to that town, and I gave it to those kids. And their parents were so happy, right?
NINA MOINI: Oh, so they could get to their different tournaments.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yes. Because instead of 10 parents taking the time off, now only two gets to time off, and they can drive everyone out. This winter, actually, I sent a bunch of used hockey equipment to Mongolia and--
NINA MOINI: Amazing.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: So that small mining town, it used to have 20 kids was interested in hockey. But this winter, it's exported to 250 kids now.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: And the hockey is going so strong, and I love it. Sometimes, you do this small good deeds and change someone's life to be so better. And that is the privilege to be me living in this world right now. So--
NINA MOINI: Absolutely.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
What's happening here?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: It's a salmon from Norway. And we are eating the belly section. And blow torch brings out little bit of fattiness. And then you're going to use one sweet sauce with a little bit of lime. And when you eat, it's just another masterpiece.
NINA MOINI: Beautiful.
[PLEASED HUMMING]
Wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Right?
NINA MOINI: The blow torch adds a lot.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah. Look, it's like eating sushi next to ocean on the campfire.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NINA MOINI: I wanted to ask you, what are the ingredients to staying on your own path?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Well, anytime someone says you cannot do that, you have to prove you can because it's America. America has one of the best slogan in the world-- land of opportunity. And you come here, you work hard, you dream. And I think also, it's important that being Mongolian, we still carry the spirit of the [MONGOLIAN SPEECH], which means bravery. And every small victory becomes like your cherished moment, right?
NINA MOINI: Yeah. Just keep moving forward. I love that. Cheers to that.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah, of course. Of course, of course.
NINA MOINI: Cheers to you. Thank you, Billy.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah.
NINA MOINI: Thank you for coming out to lunch with Minnesota Now.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Oh, my pleasure. Yeah.
NINA MOINI: It's been a pleasure.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
That was my conversation with Chef Enkhbileg Tserenbat at his restaurant, Billy Sushi. I want you all to see the beautiful sushi we ate during our conversation. You can check out the pictures at mprnews.org. You can also find our past Out to Lunch conversations with people, including Lindsay Whalen and Ojibwe language scholar Anton Treuer.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Billy from Billy Sushi.
[LAUGHING]
I'm honored to be here with you. Thank you so much for coming out to lunch with Minnesota Now.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Oh, my pleasure, and thanks for coming out.
NINA MOINI: Very lucky to have our own service today just for us.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah, so we have a personal sushi chef for us, [? Soto. ?] He's TikTok famous. And--
NINA MOINI: Oh, wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: --there is about 600,000 people watched him--
NINA MOINI: Amazing.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: --in last two days. So he is actually making us our very own nigiri sushi course. And the first one we had was a bluefin tuna, a fatty cut. And the second course, we're going to have is a bluefin tuna with caviar and fresh wasabi straight from Japan. And we want to take it a single bite.
NINA MOINI: Let's eat, I say.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yes, yes, yes.
NINA MOINI: This looks amazing. Wow.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Tell us a little bit about where we're sitting. We're not even in the main dining. We're in this beautiful room that I've been told by you has no name because so many celebrities want to come in here. There's a bar. There's some tables. There's shades that you can draw. Tell me about this beautiful wall of your collection.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Well, so it's one of the largest selection of Japanese whiskey. And we do have some awesome selections. So in Minnesota, we always learn to be humble. But here, we now have to indulge ourselves.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, you're showing off your pride of your beautiful collection of whiskeys here.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: I think it's not my pride. I think it's the state of Minnesota. People who love sushi, it's their pride, and I'm the guy who is just holding it. And sometimes, the people who is the craft masters, I am just a messenger for their products.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And so Soto made us this beautiful bluefin tuna with little bit of wasabi and then little bit of scallion.
NINA MOINI: Beautiful.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: So it's called negi toro, yeah.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And Enkhbileg Tserenbat is your actual name. Did I say it OK? How did I do?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah. Actually, you did just fine, and I love it.
NINA MOINI: I want to start at the beginning, if we can, in Mongolia.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Sure.
NINA MOINI: When you were growing up, was that in a more-- were you in the city? Were you more in the countryside? What was it like?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Well, I mean, I wish I born in a countryside. That would be super exotic, right?
[LAUGHING]
But yeah, I'm just typical city boy. I don't know much about Mongolia because 30 years ago, we were a part of the Soviet Union.
NINA MOINI: Right.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: And--
NINA MOINI: Different influences.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yes. Yeah, so the last 30 years, Mongolia actually ruling their own country. And because of that, sometimes people judge too quickly. It's like America is over 200 years old. Mongolia is only 30. Like, 30 years old kid always make mistake. I remember when I was 30 years old, right? So yeah, growing up there and coming to America is life changing. And anyone who can work hard, they always give them opportunity and chance.
NINA MOINI: You're living your own American dream. But when you first came over to America, you were not thinking about this career or this life that you're living now. I mean, would you have even been able to imagine this?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Do I ever think about becoming sushi chef? No, I'm from landlocked country.
[LAUGHING]
NINA MOINI: Right.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: I went to school here, majored in geology, Earth science. So I come here, I need to go get a job. And I never worked in my entire life, and it was so hard. The dilemma of-- hey, we are looking for someone inexperienced, but then they don't give you the job. And I'm like-- they're like, hey, if you don't give me the job, how can I get the experience?
NINA MOINI: Right.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: I mean, I learned along the way. I think you remember my food truck, right?
NINA MOINI: Yes. Because it was kind of historic, right?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yes, it is. It was the one and only-- just we trying to sell sushi from the truck It was challenge already.
NINA MOINI: And no one else was doing that. The sushi truck.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Nobody else, yeah. Because everyone walks by. They're like, sushi from truck? Are you crazy? And I'm like, yeah, the crazy guys do the crazy things. Right?
NINA MOINI: Fast forward to 2020. It is just so striking to me that you opened up in 2020. What was that timing like for you? How did it feel?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Someone said it's not great timing. But I have an amazing mentor, Bill McGuire. He explained to me that everyone's difficult time shouldn't be your difficult time. You should prepare for it. And a lot of restaurants are letting go of the good people, and you should hire them right away. And so that's what I exactly did.
Five years ago, he said, you may open the restaurant. And that was one of the most happiest days I ever imagined because you are ready to rock and roll the world, and you are just patiently waiting. And you're just like, man, I want people to taste my sushi. Once they taste it, it's like, game over. I'm going to change the world. And just waiting for that moment is so difficult, right?
And finally it happened. I'm like, let's go! And next thing, it's five years. We have 80 plus people work at Billy Sushi, and we open seven days a week because we are in fish business. And there is no such thing called aged fish, and it's only the fresh.
NINA MOINI: What do we have here, I wonder?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: This is a bluefin tuna, fatty part.
NINA MOINI: Oh, delicious.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah. One bite.
NINA MOINI: OK.
[PLEASED HUMMING]
Wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: It's good.
NINA MOINI: Just the freshness, it's just incredible food.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Fish has-- ultimately one fish, you can cook it in 12, 13 different ways. And then because of that, the fish becomes so different identity. So it's the same fish. You can come at eight, nine different kind of cut. You can poach it. You can cook it. You can sear it.
NINA MOINI: It's a creative process.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah, it is.
NINA MOINI: Well, let's give this a try, shall we?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yes, cheers.
NINA MOINI: Cheers.
[PLEASED HUMMING]
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: The saltiness of caviar and hint of this wasabi, it's so good.
NINA MOINI: I think fun is very much the atmosphere here. You are very larger than life. You have an amazing social media presence. And I said you're a hype man for Minneapolis. You really love this city, and you are trying to tell people all the time how amazing it is. Tell me about your love for just the city of Minneapolis.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: I think the life changing moment happened to me is when my daughter, Jetsun, born. And I realized that not just because of I'm sushi chef and I am become father, so I need to change it. And in order to change, I look at Minnesota. We are super smart people here, right?
We are so amazing at the art, theater, and all those things. We have 30 Fortune 500 companies here. And we are such a small community, yet we don't advertise as that place to be deserved to be that, right? And mission is someday, our kids-- our daughters and sons-- they go out to California or New York. They are not shy to be proud to be Minnesotan, right?
And so that's the thing. I was like, OK, I want to be the hype man for Minnesota. And someday, 20 years down the road, my daughter goes to college. They know-- oh, my God, Minnesota is awesome.
NINA MOINI: You're saying humility is a good thing, but that it's OK to be loud and boisterous and fun. And--
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah.
NINA MOINI: That, in itself, sounds like it's true to who you are, but that it's also been--
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Thank you.
NINA MOINI: --genius marketing in the way that this place has become synonymous with what's hip and what's happening in the North Loop neighborhood, and what celebrities are dining here. So all of that seems to have come together in an organic way.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah, it does. I have to thankful to my wife. She is the biggest cheerleader I have in my life, right?
NINA MOINI: And what is her name?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Her name is [? Tinsen. ?] Back to that 2020, and she was actually a nurse. And she was working, and she exposed to COVID twice. And--
NINA MOINI: You were really in the thick of it with a nurse in the family, and then a restaurant owner.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: I know.
NINA MOINI: That's a lot of stress.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Crazy.
NINA MOINI: But you just kind of kept persevering. You just kind of kept going.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah. Well--
NINA MOINI: Sushi cheers to that.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Cheers, yes.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So this is a bluefin tuna with soy citrus sauce called yuzu.
[PLEASED HUMMING]
NINA MOINI: Wow.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Ever since I came to America, I haven't gone back to Mongolia for almost 20 years. And then now, my mom cannot fly anymore. So I want my kids to know their grandparents. So every summer, I go to Mongolia for a two months.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: And while I was traveling, actually, I saw this old mining town 100 kilometers south of the city of Ulaanbaatar where I grew up. And while I was traveling through, I saw there was a hockey rink. And in Minnesota, it's the state of hockey. We always say hockey rinks.
I go over there and I saw a couple of people standing by. And I asked them, well, what do you guys use for? They said, oh, we have hockey team. And I'm like-- OK, you guys, hockey team? Like, OK. And that mining town, sometimes it gets minus 55 degrees.
NINA MOINI: Oh.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Right?
NINA MOINI: Wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Without windchill.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: And those kids who is 10, eight years old kids, they are playing hockey in that. And I thought that was so amazing. And I'm like, I want to help them. How can I help? That evening, all the hockey team's parents all come. I was asking them, how can I help? Everyone is like, well, Billy, we want our kids to go play hockey to different cities. Then we have to take time off from our work. If we take time off from our work, we don't have money.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, yeah.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: And it is one of the dilemma they are in that they want to cheer on their kids, but they just can't. Right? And so two weeks later, I went to market, buy them bus. So I drove that bus back to that town, and I gave it to those kids. And their parents were so happy, right?
NINA MOINI: Oh, so they could get to their different tournaments.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yes. Because instead of 10 parents taking the time off, now only two gets to time off, and they can drive everyone out. This winter, actually, I sent a bunch of used hockey equipment to Mongolia and--
NINA MOINI: Amazing.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: So that small mining town, it used to have 20 kids was interested in hockey. But this winter, it's exported to 250 kids now.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: And the hockey is going so strong, and I love it. Sometimes, you do this small good deeds and change someone's life to be so better. And that is the privilege to be me living in this world right now. So--
NINA MOINI: Absolutely.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
What's happening here?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: It's a salmon from Norway. And we are eating the belly section. And blow torch brings out little bit of fattiness. And then you're going to use one sweet sauce with a little bit of lime. And when you eat, it's just another masterpiece.
NINA MOINI: Beautiful.
[PLEASED HUMMING]
Wow.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Right?
NINA MOINI: The blow torch adds a lot.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah. Look, it's like eating sushi next to ocean on the campfire.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NINA MOINI: I wanted to ask you, what are the ingredients to staying on your own path?
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Well, anytime someone says you cannot do that, you have to prove you can because it's America. America has one of the best slogan in the world-- land of opportunity. And you come here, you work hard, you dream. And I think also, it's important that being Mongolian, we still carry the spirit of the [MONGOLIAN SPEECH], which means bravery. And every small victory becomes like your cherished moment, right?
NINA MOINI: Yeah. Just keep moving forward. I love that. Cheers to that.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah, of course. Of course, of course.
NINA MOINI: Cheers to you. Thank you, Billy.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Yeah.
NINA MOINI: Thank you for coming out to lunch with Minnesota Now.
ENKHBILEG TSERENBAT: Oh, my pleasure. Yeah.
NINA MOINI: It's been a pleasure.
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That was my conversation with Chef Enkhbileg Tserenbat at his restaurant, Billy Sushi. I want you all to see the beautiful sushi we ate during our conversation. You can check out the pictures at mprnews.org. You can also find our past Out to Lunch conversations with people, including Lindsay Whalen and Ojibwe language scholar Anton Treuer.
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