Udon gone in St. B this fall

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This article was published 26/02/2024 (941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Yasuko Akimoto knew this day would come. What the future holds for the small business owner is anyone’s guess.

On Feb. 15, Akimoto was informed the lease for her beloved Japanese restaurant in St. Boniface — which she owns and operates with her husband, Takekuni — would only be extended five months, to Oct. 31, to clear the way for the building to be demolished and an apartment complex built in its place.

“Before we got in, the (property manager) told me (the owners) were trying to do something with this building. So, they might not give (us) a (long) lease here… so we kind of knew something was going to happen sooner or later,” Yasuko told the Free Press.

Dwarf no Cachette — which loosely translates to Dwarf’s Hiding Place — has lived at 175 Provencher Blvd. for the last decade. Yasuko has remained optimistic despite receiving news she will need to shut down her business.

She’s just happy they got an extension at all.

“Yeah, we appreciate that because we don’t own the land, so we can’t do anything about it,” she said. “We opened on Canada Day (in 2014), so we can have our 10-year anniversary, so I’m happy for that.”

The Akimotos posted a message to their clientele on Instagram and Facebook shortly after receiving the news.

“As the lease end date approaches,” part of the post reads, “we are uncertain about the future of our business. We have begun exploring alternative options, including the possibility of relocating, but these plans are still tentative.”

The Akimotos have been offered space by two other building owners to relocate the business to another area in the city. They are open to staying in Winnipeg, Yasuko said, but are weighing all their options with four children in the fold.

“(We’d consider staying) if we have a place like the current building — not too big, not too small — but Winnipeg doesn’t have many spaces like this. So, we could go to other provinces or maybe go back to Japan. I don’t know if that’s going to happen but we have so many options now,” she said.

A residential building has been the plan for 175 Provencher Blvd. for several years. Plans fizzled after the previous owners attained the zoning rights for a mixed-use development, which led them to sell the property and its zoning rights to Carrington Holdings, a Winnipeg-based development firm, on Nov. 24, 2023.

Founder Jared Carrington and business partner Sam Goszer told the Free Press their plans are still being reviewed by the City of Winnipeg. If approved, the existing building will be demolished in November and construction on a nine-storey, 94-unit, mixed-use development will begin by the end of the year.

The building would include commercial space on the ground floor, office space on the second floor and the remaining levels filled by residential rental units.

“We’re just carrying forward the same vision,” Goszer said. “It’s a beautiful property, it’s well-located in a fantastic community.

“We’re going to be meeting with some community leaders at the end of March with the intention of incorporating some francophone and French elements. We’re very excited. We think it’s going to be a very exciting and excellent development and we really look forward to being in this community.”

Dwarf no Cachette has grown in popularity for its authentic Japanese dining experience. Yasuko emigrated from Japan to Winnipeg in 2000 at age 16. She met her husband a short time after while attending the University of Manitoba.

“Why we opened this restaurant is: when I was in school, we were hungry. Even though we had food, we were craving Japanese food but not sushi. We don’t really eat sushi all the time. People think we do but we eat more like the food we serve in the restaurant. It was home food. But we only had sushi places here back then,” Yasuko said.

“I was thinking, ‘Maybe it’d be a good idea to serve hometown food to Winnipeg so that international students can be happy.’”

Each month, Yasuko has created a new special dish that draws on some inspiration from home. She said her family felt the most support during the COVID-19 pandemic when Japanese immigrants would turn to the restaurant for a taste of home.

“When I was craving Japanese food, I would just want to share with everyone,” she said. “I didn’t think, ‘I have to have more sales’ or anything, I just let me customers share with me.

“Then I realized, it’s been 10 years already.”

Yasuko said Dwarf no Cachette’s last day of operation is undetermined at this time. The couple plans to commemorate the restaurant’s 10-year anniversary on Canada Day.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam