Great ideas can come from anywhere, and as the old adage suggests, the best sometimes come “out of the mouths of babes.” This is how the popular SushiSKool was born at the Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort.

“When the GM’s 9-year-old son moved here from Florida, he spent so much time at the hotel eating sushi that Chef Osamu ‘Fuji’ Fujita, corporate sushi chef for Loews Hotels, offered to teach him how to make his own California rolls,” says Director of F&B Luiz Oliveira. “Someone from the marketing department heard the story and knew a sushi class for kids would be a big hit.”

The classes were offered for the first time last summer, on Saturdays from Memorial Day to Labor Day in the sushi bar of the Marssa restaurant. For $20, each participant received a one-hour lesson as well as a gift bag with a Sushi-SKool t-shirt, chopsticks, and Chef Fuji’s guide to sushi. The classes were offered to 5-year-olds through teenagers, and the average age was 12. The sold-out 16-spot classes attracted an equal number of boys and girls.

Participants learned the basics of ordering, using chopsticks, types of sushi, and sushi etiquette. They sampled gari (pickled ginger), wasabi, and shoyu (soy sauce) between sips of ocha (green tea). Bottled water was also available. The vegetarian ingredients were already prepared, so no one had to touch a knife. The kids then chose what they wanted to wrap into their customized California rolls.

Initially, parents were invited to watch. For $25 per person, Chef Fuji offered Mommy Maki, which included wine and assorted maki. “The kids were well-behaved,” says Oliveira. “But parents interfered so much with what their children were doing that they became a distraction and were discouraged from coming.

“Chef Fuji, however, was inspired by the interest parents expressed in the classes,” says Oliveira. “So he created Sushi & Sake sessions for adults.”

Chef Fuji, a third-generation sushi chef, conducts the two-hour educational sessions every second Saturday through 2009. Sake clinics and tastings are provided by distributor Vin Sauvage. The cost is $50 per person and includes a gift bag and discount card for the restaurant.

“We didn’t make a profit on SushiSKool,” says Oliveira. “The book alone cost about $1,000 to produce 500 copies, which we did in-house. But there was so much publicity surrounding the activity that it was well worth it.

“The four-diamond Marssa’s price point doesn’t typically attract families, and this made it more inviting. We were struggling last summer to bring in families, and this really helped. It also expanded the kids’ interest in certain foods; many of them are already hooked on sushi.”

SushiSKool is one of many children’s programs and amenities offered at Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort. And, as one of its most popular, plans are in place to offer it again this year on summer Saturdays, beginning Memorial Day.

Margaret Rose Caro is the editor of HOTEL F&B.