Content area
Full Text
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. - Calling Japanese-style casual dining "a wide-open playing field," RF. Chang's China Bistro Inc. is preparing to test a new concept called Taneko Japanese Tavern, whose prices will exceed those of the company's namesake bistro chain.
With the concept still in development for a Scottsdale debut, RF. Chang's chairman and chief executive Rick Federico is eyeing Japanese food as a likely vehicle for his company to repeat what it had done with Chinese cuisine - make it accessible to Middle America as a non-intimidating dining option.
P.F. Chang's isn't the only operator to see room for growth in Japanese casual dining. While high-end and ultrastylish sushi restaurants continue to grow in popularity, operators such as Miami-based Benihana, Shabu Zen of Boston and the Los Angeles-based Dolce Group's Geisha House concept are finding success at a lower price point with broad menus that relegate sushi to a supporting role.
And some new players are folding an element of entertainment into the mix. At Ninja New York, for example, which opened this month, servers wear authentic ninja costumes, and "warriors" spring out from hidden corners to perform magic at the tables. A sister restaurant to Ninja Akasaka in Japan, the Ninja New York branch is owned by Haruo Yazaki, whose family operates the giant Skylark family-restaurant chain in Japan.
In Hawaii hotelier Ken Mitsusune is scheduled to open Tsukiji Fish Market and Restaurant next spring in Honolulu's Ala Moana Center near Waikiki. The expansive restaurant will feature a raw market modeled after the renowned wholesale seafood market by the same name in Tokyo.
But in the Hawaiian version of Tsukiji Fish Market, diners can watch the local catch being filleted while they eat at a yakitori bar, consume sushi...