By Christine Graf<\/p>\n
Just 15 years after immigrating to the United States from China, Briana Lin is preparing to open her seventh Capital Region restaurant. Located at 30 Lake Avenue, Omakase Sushi and Grill is expected to open its doors at the end of September. The space was previously occupied by 30 Lake, an upscale seafood restaurant that closed earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Twenty-three-years-old when she arrived in the U.S. with her husband in 2009, Lin went right to work in her uncle\u2019s restaurant, Yang\u2019s Asian Bistro in Latham. When her uncle retired four years later, she took over the business.<\/p>\n
Since then, Lin and her business partners have opened two additional restaurants in Latham–Kobe Hibachi and T-Swirl Japanese Crepe\u2014as well as VOLCANO Asian BBQ and Hot Pot in Niskayuna, and Sawa Sushi Bistro in Glenmont. Rounding out the list is, Azuma Sushi Bistro in Malta where Lin\u2019s husband, Wen \u201cJason\u201d Cao is the head chef.<\/p>\n
Each one of Lin\u2019s restaurants features a unique menu, and Omakase Sushi and Grill will be no exception. In addition to serving a la carte menu items, the eatery will offer a Japanese sushi dining experience known as omakase, a term that translates to \u201cI leave it up to you.\u201d Three price points will be available for omakase dining ($70, $90, and $110), with each price point featuring a different array of sushi selections chosen by the chef.<\/p>\n
Lin said it was one of her customers who inspired her to open Omakase Sushi and Grill.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe passed away, but every time he came to the restaurant, he would say, \u2018You pick for me. Everything you pick I love,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
According to Lin, her new establishment will offer an upscale dining experience.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span>\u201cIt will be a sushi fine dining restaurant,\u201d she noted. \u201cEverything will be fresh, and a lot will be direct-fly from Japan. Most restaurants don\u2019t use that grade of sushi because of the cost. We will have a lot of things that people have never tried before.\u201d<\/p>\n For example, they will offer premium seafood including baby yellowtail and king salmon\u2014menu items not available at any Lin\u2019s other restaurants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When choosing a location for Omakase Sushi and Grill, Lin said the 30 Lake Avenue property offered everything she was looking for.<\/p>\n \u201cFor most of my restaurants, we used existing restaurant locations. That saves a lot of money for us and has less risk. At 30 Lake, they had a great business, and it\u2019s a great location for sushi. It\u2019s just a little off Broadway,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Lin is in the process of renovating the dining room but said the kitchen will require very little work. She expects to\u00a0 hire 20 employees, boosting her total employee count to 120.<\/p>\n When asked the secret to her success, she credits her dedicated business partners and loyal customers.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to thank my customers,\u201d she said, noting that she learned to speak English by interacting with them. \u201dFor the past 11 years all of the customer trust has made me feel more confident. I will continue to do my best for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Lin shows no signs of slowing down and has an eighth restaurant in the works. Although she is not yet ready to make a formal announcement, she said it will be located in Latham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Christine Graf Just 15 years after immigrating to the United States from China, Briana Lin is preparing to open her seventh Capital Region restaurant. Located at 30 Lake Avenue, Omakase Sushi and Grill is expected to open its doors at the end of September. The space was previously occupied by 30 Lake, an upscale […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"\r\n