Japonee resurges from its ashes

The renovated restaurant smelled of a fresh coat of paint and new lumber.

Gray stone waterfalls hung on wood-paneled walls that betrayed no traces of smoke damage.

The sushi bar had moved from the right to the left side, but the Japanese-Korean restaurant Japonee looked much the same as it had before a three-alarm fire damaged the building in 2012.

Landlord Han Chong adjusted his thick-rimmed glasses, enthusiastically explaining the new additions — a hibachi grill on a new second floor, high ceilings, large flat screen televisions, French-influenced Japanese food. He plans to open in March.

“I hope it just at least goes back to the business we had before,” Chong said. “That’s all we’re hoping.”

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Server Lilay Cai worked at Japanee for three days before flames engulfed the restaurant on 320 N. Walnut St.

On the morning of Sept. 24, 2012, electrical wiring in a refrigerator sparked a fire in the kitchen, Chong said. Though the Bloomington Fire Department contained the fire itself, smoke and water caused damage throughout the restaurant.

BFD Chief Roger Kerr confirmed the fire was completely accidental and no one was injured.

Cai heard about the fire while walking to her 11:15 a.m. class through a text from co-owner Janice Zhan, wife of co-owner Jian Zhang “Charlie” Shi.

“I thought it was a joke,” she said. “I reread it three times.”

Less than a decade after opening and less than a year after a $250,000 renovation, the restaurant was closed temporarily.

“I was shocked,” Chong said. “I was just thinking about insurance.”

When Cai went to pick up her check at the charred location, the sign reading “Japanee” was covered in ashes.

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Within the three days she worked there, Cai said she had established friendships with couples who ate regularly at the restaurant.

“It was super popular,” she said, explaining she often saw students she recognized from class.

In April, Cai received a call from Japanee owner Bokang Park asking her if she would be interested in working at two new sister companies, Sake Bar and Japonee Express.

She said she enjoys working there and hopes to add shifts at the remodeled restaurant, which will be called Japonee rather than Japanee.

“It was part of Bloomington,” Chong said of the original restaurant. “A lot of people really liked our restaurant. Now everyone is asking ‘When will you open again?’”

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The Bloomington Plan Commission  approved the addition of a second story and a 4,800 square feet extension to what was left of Japanee in June 2013.

At the time, Chong said he hoped the construction would be finished within five months. He tentatively planned to open in August of that year.

“We waited to get started,” he said of the delay. “We don’t want to open until it’s ready.”

Chong envisions a gradual opening of Japonee within the next couple of weeks, with the new upstairs hibachi grill opening after the main floor sushi bar.

Chong and Park, who are both Korean, said they look forward to the grill the most.

One new menu item is a type of marinated beef called kalbi, which Park described as Korean barbeque.

Remodeling and adding the second story for the hibachi grill cost more than $1 million, Chong added. The repair of the original back part of the building — costing more than $2 million dollars — was covered by insurance.

The remolded restaurant also boasts a new sprinkler system, Chong said.

At the time of the fire, the building did not have a sprinkler system, Chief Kerr said, which was legal because of when the building was built.

Chong’s goal is for the restaurant to be both modern and reminiscent of the original Japanee. He said he designed the new restaurant layout himself in a couple of weeks.

“I don’t want people to come here and not recognize Japanee,” he said. “I want it to have half the feel of the old restaurant, half a new ambiance.”

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Park’s dark gray jacket was covered in construction dust as he walked through his
restaurant.

“The roof, wall, ceiling is new,” Park said, looking around in satisfaction. “The floor is original.”

He said he isn’t thinking about being excited for the opening yet.

“It’s business,” he added with a laugh.

In a matter of weeks, sushi and sake will be brought to one of the more than 100 seats in the restaurant.

“It’s neat to see they didn’t give up on the lot location or the building,” Kerr said. “Now they’ve made it bigger and better. It’s a success story out of something that was very devastating initially and now they’re turning it around.”