Partial view of the new restaurant, on Calle Samuel Lewis.

Sushi Itto restaurant is celebrating its first decade in Panama at its brand new establishment, located between Calle Samuel Lewis and Calle 55, closer to the city’s hotel district.

Sushi Itto has grown with Panama since it opened in 1996, filling a need among Panamanians and visitors looking for sushi bars and Japanese cuisine.

Today, the restaurant continues being the first choice for great sushi, skewer and teppanyaki specialties.

Sushi-Itto is operated by a Mexican chain, which gives a Latin twist to traditional Asian specialities, such as curries and fantasy rolls, using ingredients such as mango, avocado and cheese. Tempura with vegetables, shrimp, gyoza, and stuffed squid are popular and a good selection of pastas is also part of the menu.

Sushi-Itto offers a delivery service. For more information, call 265-1222.

Sushi Itto offers Japanese specialties with a Latin flavor.

Balboa Union Church:

The congregation is as old as the Panama Canal.

A consequence of Panama’s role as "The Crossroads of the World" is the freedom of religion enjoyed by its inhabitants. With the construction of the Panama Canal, many protestant denominations established congregations throughout the Isthmus, including the Balboa Union Church, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year.

Once known as the "Stranger’s Church", the Union Church is an all-inclusive religious body that welcomes all denominations, offering Christian unity and the abolishment of sectarian trivialities.

Established in the fall of 1913, the church offered spiritual guidance to hundreds of U.S. citizens working in the construction of the Panama Canal. It was "a home away from home", where Christians could worship and forge friendships with fellow Americans. As Panama’s community became more diverse, the church welcomed Christians of all nations and ethnic groups.

Representatives of the Christian communities of Balboa, Corozal, Cristobal, Culebra, Empire and other townships of the former Canal Zone met in January of 1914 to adopt the constitution of the Union Church.

Rev. William Flammer became the first minister of this new "stranger’s church," the concept of which is based in Romans 12:5: "so we, though many, are one body in Christ..."

In 1917, the governor of the Canal Zone granted the lot on which the church building presently stands. Construction began in September of that year. Despite the financial hardships of the Great Depression and the WWII years, the congregation thrived and on December 31, 1941 became the only church to be incorporated by an act of the U.S. Congress (Public Law 391-77th Congress (Chapter 643-1st Section, H.R. 5289.)