Toro Sushi Bar Is Going to Be

¶ … Toro Sushi Bar is going to be a sushi-only themed restaurant with an upscale theme. The restaurant will be focused on the concept of a sushi bar. The preparation area will be in the open, with most diners sitting along the preparation area at a bar. There will also be tables, but around half the seating will be at the bar area.

The focus of the menu will be on sushi, and the center of the bar will be reserved for those customers who are ordering the omakase, which is the premium offering on the menu where the chef prepares a multi-course feast, roughly analogous to a tasting menu at the chef's table in a Western fine dining restaurant. The idea is to bring the type of sophisticated sushi concept normally found in a place like New York or Vancouver to the local area.

Toro Sushi Bar will occupy the high end of the market, so the target market will be older and more upscale than similar ethnic-themed restaurants in the area. The typical customer will be over 35 and be a high income earner. This customer will be adventurous in eating and have sophisticated tastes. Sushi will not be unfamiliar to the target customer, and much of the target market will be sufficiently knowledgeable about the cuisine to need little guidance from the staff. The customers will also in general be quite well-educated.

We expect to draw customers from across the area, as Toro Sushi Bar is going to be designed as a destination restaurant and positioned as the region's premium sushi experience. The menu will focus on sushi, so rolls (maki), hand rolls (temaki), hand-formed pieces with rice (nigiri) and slices of fish (sashimi). The rolls and nigiri will all be traditional in nature, with only a handful of North American rolls available. The rolls combine fish with ingredients such as avocado, cucumber, and other vegetables.

Toro Sushi Bar will carry a wide range of fish ingredients. Not only will standards like tuna, tuna belly, salmon, flying fish roe and barbequed eel be included, but more esoteric varieties such as snapper (tai), surf clam (hokkigai) and sea urchin (uni) will also be included. The menu will be a la carte. A unique feature of the menu will be omakase, which is where the diner entrusts the chef to prepare a meal within a certain budget range.

Normally, this will be a combination of different types of sushi. At Toro Sushi Bar, omakase will also feature the rarest menu items, some of which may not appear on the regular menu (for example hamachi toro or geoduck). To complement the sushi, green tea will be provided, and there will be an extensive menu of sake and Japanese beer, as much as can be provided by the local distributors. The pricing levels are going to be high.

Because of the costs associated with sourcing the best fish, the cost for a piece of nigiri is likely to range between $2.50 for an egg or tofu piece to over $4 for something like uni. Rolls will range between $6 - $12 and sashimi plates will be between $10-$18 depending on the fish. With omakase, the customer sets the price, and the chef prepares a meal that fits within that price range. A normal meal for two will run between $50-$100 before drinks at these prices.

Based on the buying patterns of sophisticated sushi eaters in other regions, the average omakase customer is interested in a super-premium experience is likely to spend between $50-100 per person for the meal before alcohol. One of the critical factors in the success of this restaurant is the sushi chef. Thus, the hours must revolve around a reasonable work week for the star chef, and thus it will be evenings only (5pm -- 11pm) from Tuesday to Saturday. The restaurant will be closed on Mondays and Sundays.

The bar will be relatively small, a compact space fitting around 40 patrons. The preparation area will also be small, the entire operation having relatively low rent and overhead as a result. The bar will hold around 20 patrons, with tables for maybe 20 more. For the most part, service will be at the tables or bar by waitress/waiter. Take out will be offered initially, although there is some question whether it can be maintained in the long run if the restaurant proves popular and is crowded every night.

But initially, not being sure of dine-in demand, take-out service will be offered. The one exception to waiter/waitress service (waitresses are traditional in Japanese restaurants, but.