By Charlene Arsenault

When people hear the name Baba Sushi, owner and chef Wilson Wang wants it to be automatically synonymous with fresh, high-end sushi.

Until he opened Baba in 2007, he argues that the choices for really good quality sushi in Worcester County were few and far between. He generally just wants to "bring it to the people."

Growing up in Northeast China, he also attended a two-year cooking school there, coming to the States in 1993 to work as a sushi chef in New York. After two years in the N.Y. restaurant, Wang was drawn to Boston to help a friend open Oishi Sushi there, not only working at the place, but attending school for computer science at Boston University. "I personally like computers, too," says Wang, "but if it's between the computer and sushi, I'll choose being a sushi chef."

During this time, Wang says he made an important connection: to chef Ming Tsai, whom he met when Tsai opened The Blue Ginger in Wellesley. Tsai, who went on to pile up accolades and experience (including awards and his TV show "Simply Ming" and "East Meets West" on the Fine Living Network), hung out with Wang and shared a lot of meals and cooking secrets.

Wilson Wang

Wang opened Teppanyaki, his first restaurant, in 2003 in Franklin, Mass. He owned this Japanese-Chinese restaurant for a few years until moving to Worcester to work at Zipango. Then it was on to open Baba Sushi on Park Ave.

"There was a lot of sushi that wasn't very good around here," says Wang. "We opened Baba so we could offer a lot of different sushi at a high-quality level."

Wang points out that at Baba, the open plan allows customers to see the sushi being made, which he thinks is an important aspect. Sushi is extremely dependant on freshness, as it's no joke when dealing with raw fish. With contacts he's made over the years, Wang draws upon those and combs the Internet for the best deals in high-quality fish from Boston, Tokyo, Hawaii, Canada, Australia and Moscow. At Baba, you truly get a taste of the world.

"The customer can see everything we do here," says Wang. "Sushi chefs have to be very careful about quality because this is raw. Customers can judge how good we are and how bad we are. In this country, they eat a lot of fried food and high-fat food, and a lot of people are overweight here. We want to give them more choices."

Baba also includes a menu beyond the extensive sushi choices, such as Kobe beef, chicken and seafood.

Most important kitchen tool: "The knife and the cutting board."

He'd love to cook for: "The Iron Chef, Hiroyuki Sakai, and Chef Morimoto in New York. He's a good man, too. Sakai is more experienced in the French style, so he made sushi go into the French style."

Famous people he's cooked for: "Well, you know Ming Tsai. Also, a guitar player from Hanover Theatre — after the show he came to the restaurant — B.B. King. He ordered a lot of sushi and some cooked sushi. He ate a lot. He played and we were drinking and dancing. A lot of his friends came in. He's a very good man."

Music he likes to cook to: "I like some southern rock, south rock."

His favorite thing to cook: "Scallops"

Dislikes: "Durian"

In his refrigerator at home: "All different kinds of food — a packed refrigerator."

What he had for dinner last night: "I had some sushi — I could eat it seven days a week."

Visit www.babasushi.com or call 508- 752-8822 for more information on Baba Sushi, located at 309 Park Ave. o

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