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March 15, 2011 Portlandbiz

Miyake restaurant moves to Fore Street

Miyake, the tiny sushi restaurant that for four years has been run out of a cramped, one-story building with crooked floors and pockmarked brick walls, is moving to sleeker quarters.

The restaurant, owned by chef Masa Miyake and his business partner William Garfield, will leave 129 Spring St. and open at 468 Fore St. in May. The new dining room will be able to seat between 42 diners, up from 31 now, and fit 14 people at its sushi bar, according to General Manager Karl Deuben.

Perhaps the biggest change, though, will be the addition of a kitchen. At the moment, anything the chefs cook is made in either the restaurant's toaster ovens or its camp-style butane burners. "We don't have a formal kitchen," Deuben says. "We work out of a glorified closet." The restaurant's size and slightly rough edges have not, however, kept it from attracting the attention of the New York Times, Boston Globe and Bon Appetit.

Over the years, the restaurant has become increasingly creative and experimental with its cuisine, moving away from traditional Japanese recipes to more of an Asian fusion style, Garfield explains. With the new restaurant and its new kitchen, the menu will expand to include more cooked dishes, and the restaurant will use its increased buying clout and customer demand to purchase more exotic species, such as freshwater crabs, sardines, mackerel, snappers and needlefish from Japan, as well as Maine seafood.

At its new location, the restaurant will apply for a liquor license to serve beer, wine and sake. Deuben says this alone should increase profits by 30%. Garfield says revenues at the current location are about $600,000, and the expansion should roughly double that.

Last September, Miyake opened a noodle bar in Longfellow Square called Pai Men. Deuben says "business has been consistent and good" at the location, but stormy weather this winter at times dampened it. Meanwhile, Garfield says he and Miyake will keep their Spring Street location and use it as a base for a catering business. Garfield plans to increase staff from 28 to between 45 and 50 at all operations.

The renovation of the new Fore Street space, which was previously home to furniture retailer Utopia Design, will cost roughly $200,000, according to Garfield. Deuben added that the new space will feel more comfortable for patrons. Not only will the tables not wobble and the walls be intact, the restaurant will have a "clean, modest Japanese aesthetic," Deuben says, "subtle but impressive all the same."

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