ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture--Toru Mitsui left the glitz and glitter of Tokyo for this northeastern city with which he had no connection. Soon after his move, the 2011 tsunami ravaged his restaurant just as it was starting to take off.
ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture--Toru Mitsui left the glitz and glitter of Tokyo for this northeastern city with which he had no connection. Soon after his move, the 2011 tsunami ravaged his restaurant just as it was starting to take off.
But instead of making a fresh start elsewhere, Mitsui stayed in Ishinomaki as the city struggled to rebuild from the devastation.
Four-and-a-half years later, his casual dining restaurant, Sangi, is one of three eating establishments in a complex that opened Sept. 27 with the aim of bringing back the youth and buzz to the Matsukawa side street in downtown Ishinomaki.
The three-story Comichi Ishinomaki complex, which also features shared accommodations, was the result of a city-wide effort to breathe life into the area.
“In this stylish building that draws the attention of young people, I am aiming for a restaurant that will continue operating for five, 10 or even more years,” Mitsui, 43, said.
Mitsui, a native of Shiga Prefecture, worked as head chef of a restaurant in the Roppongi Hills complex in central Tokyo. He moved to Ishinomaki because he was attracted to the city’s fresh food, and he started running his own eatery there in February 2010.
But the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, submerged the area in seawater and debris, forcing him to temporarily close his restaurant. For nine months, Mitsui served drinks at a bar operated by his friend.
In December 2011, he opened another eatery with seven counter seats at a makeshift shopping street near the site of the Comichi Ishinomaki complex. There, he honed his cooking skills in a small kitchen and created a list of regular clients.
Sangi is located about 150 meters from where his initial eatery once stood. It has 22 seats and offers views of the side street through windows over the open kitchen, giving the place a spacious atmosphere.
The restaurant offers perennial choices from his previous eateries, including beef tendon stewed in red wine and grilled vegetables and seafood.
Mitsui has also brought in steam ovens and added pork sauté to the menu.
Ciel etoile, an Italian and French restaurant, relocated to the Comichi Ishinomaki complex from a nearby area, and an Ishinomaki-based operator of restaurants opened sushi bar Kirin there.
Like Mitsui, the operators of the two other eateries are in their early 40s.
The second and third floors of the complex feature seven rooms for shared accommodations. Five of the rooms are already occupied by men and women in their late 20s to early 30s.
The tsunami temporarily reduced the number of eating establishments on the Matsukawa side street from five to two.
Four landowners decided to spend 210 million yen ($1.74 million) to build the Comichi Ishinomaki complex. The central government subsidized 45 million yen of the total.
Kiyoko Abe, one of the landowners and the operator of venerable Japanese restaurant Yahataya on the Matsukawa side street, expressed her hopes that the complex will bring in more young people to the area.
“We need the power of youth for reconstruction, and we wanted to provide a place where they can challenge themselves and live,” the 53-year-old said. “I hope they will be the light of reconstruction.”