Growing up in Bangkok, Thailand, Nat had the privilege of enjoying homemade ice cream for most of his young life. However, after years of working at a sushi restaurant in Cary North Carolina and travel to various ice cream shops all around the country, he came to realize his new home was sorely lacking in the kind of parlors he had frequented as a child. It was not long before he set his sights upon opening a local parlor that made fresh, unique, and delicious cones as well as specially crafted ice cream flavors to go with them.

He began to wonder at all the flavors he could create and serve with his specially made Fish Koiyaki waffle cones; inspired by his childhood in Bangkok and his experience as a

sushi chef at Sushi Thai in Cary, North Carolina. Eventually, in the year 2000, Nat was introduced to the ice cream business by his best friend, Eric. This started him on his Sugar Koi journey, and with every passing year and every trip to a new city, Nat fell more in love with Asian inspired ice cream, American flavors, and the industry’s creative spirit.

Finally, the time was right and Nat opened the doors to Sugar Koi Ice Cream in the spring of 2019, realizing his dream of sharing the “Asian Inspired” ice cream of his childhood and his specialty Koiyaki fish waffle cones with the savvy palates of Durham, North Carolina. 

In September 2022, Nat have made the decision to move Sugar Koi to Cary NC to be close to his home. The new location is 116 Kilmayne Drive CARY NC 27511