Connecting People, Purpose and Place

Michael's mission of unconditional service goes back to the beginning of his professional endeavors, when he was a Zen monk in the Bay Area.  As part of his training with the San Francisco Zen Center, Michael worked as a server at the famed Green's restaurant in San Francisco and a dining room manager at the world-renowned Tassajara Hot Springs resort in the mountains near Big Sur.  There he not only applied his understanding of 'presentation as intention'... artfully setting tables and graciously greeting patrons, but also the reverent gift of fine, nourishing food and elegant style.

"It was not about money, but it was about work and it was about practice,"  Michael says of his hospitality work at Zen Center.

Michael later brought these principles and aesthetics to the acclaimed Oakland bistro Citron, where he was co-owner, maitre d' and sommalier for five years.  During Michael's time at Citron, the Provencal-style bistro was rated a three-star restaurant and won San Francisco's Top 50 Restaurants award.  Through a winning combination of charming atmosphere, elegant food and neighborhood warmth, Michael gifted his regular and visiting patrons alike with the experience of being completely cared for.

"Citron was a very small little refuge [in a busy town]," says Michael of the ambiance he helped create for his beloved customers.  "We knew what wine they wanted.  We knew all their kids and grandkids.  The only way to find out what people want is to ASK THEM!  The only way they're going to tell you is to connect with them from the heart, first."

When their second daughter Emi was on the way, the call of family life was pulling Michael and his wife, Iba Fukuda, to Santa Fe, where Iba's parents live and work at their acclaimed Shohko Cafe downtown.  The younger couple had lived in Santa Fe one summer during their years at the progressive Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and had vowed to return to raise their children.  Iba hostessed at Shohko, while Michael helped open the elegant Inn of the Anasazi, just off the Plaza.  The Smith-Fukuda family, including Lia, 7, Emi, 5, and Taiyo, 3.5, has been an intergral part of the Santa Fe community ever since.

The time finally arrived when Michael was ready to integrate his wealth of mindfulness, hospitality and business experience under one umbrella:  real estate.  He received his real estate license six years ago; taking 120 hours of education instead of the usual 90 hours in order to be a Broker and not just a salesperson.

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