Mochi Queen, Lori Ann Fusae, was born into an Ohana of incredible bakers and cooks. Her father, Eugene, is from ”The Big Island .” His mom, Fusae, whom she was named after- was an excellent baker. “Grandpa Gene,” enjoys cooking Island food and baked flaky & delicious pie crusts. Her cousin, Colin, runs the world famous ,”Seaside Restaurant And Aqua Farm,” in Hilo, Hawaii. Lori’s mom, Nancy, is from the Manoa Valley on Oahu. She is an amazing cook and baker. Lori grew up visiting her Granny Yoshiko or ,"Sunny," in the summers. Granny had a mango tree that she would climb and made the most delicious mango bread with walnuts. She was a nurse, and also a gourmet chef and baker. She made both traditional Japanese and American cuisine.

 

Baking has always been Lori’s hobby and passion. As a child, she grew up watching Julia Child’s cooking show and often did cooking demonstrations at family gatherings in Julia’s voice. After graduating from Fountain Valley High School in Orange County, California, Lori decided to continue the USC Tradition. Following her Grandpa Fred and Godmother Lyn’s footsteps into dentistry, Lori had a rewarding career as a Dental Hygienist for 30 years. While working at Dr. Craig Ota’s office, around 2001, she received a Christmas gift from her patients Irene and Claire. They are sisters from Honolulu, Hawaii (Mc Cully area). It was a cookbook all about mochi. This book changed her life! Lori began making recipes from this book to take to parties and get togethers. Everyone enjoyed them throughout the years. She had an opportunity to make her mochi for a Hawaiian restaurant that did catering when her three kids were small, but declined. 

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When her eldest son became an Eagle Scout in August 2019, Lori had a Hawaiian Party, with a dessert and candy bar. It was comprised of all of her son, Ryan’s favorite desserts. Many were recipes from his grandparents, great grandparents, great great grandparents and Ohana.

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In October of 2019, Lori made Hawaiian mochi for her patient, Jaime, as a wedding gift. She has known Jaime since she was a young child. Jaime wanted to have butter and blueberry mochi for guests as they arrived at the venue. The ”sign,” was if more than 2 people loved the mochi, she would go into business! In November 2019, Lori went to Spain and with the help of her cousin, Jamie, who is a brand manager, worked on her business plan. She deplaned, called her boss and resigned. A few weeks later, she made her mochi for a Celebration of Life for another patient, Frank, who was like a second father to her. People were asking for business cards and the Hawaiian entertainers said they would pass out cards and help! The problem was that there were no business cards. The rest is history and thus emerged Mochi Queen.