As reported in the Appetizers column in the Taste section of today's Sacramento Bee, Taka Watanabe is going home again, returning to the 18th and S restaurant where eight years ago he opened Taka's Sushi. The new restaurant, however, won't be called Taka's Sushi Midtown, the name Watanabe and his wife, Susan, had been mulling over as the most likely choice. They aren't sure now what they will call it. (Taka's Sushi Midtown would have differentiated the restaurant from the couple's Taka's Sushi in Fair Oaks.)
They are dropping Taka's Sushi Midtown from further consideration after striking an agreement with Watanabe's former business partner, Benny Hom, said Susan Watanabe. Watanabe sold his interest in the 18th and S restaurant three years ago, but Hom continued to call it Taka's.
Hom closed Taka's a few months ago and is preparing to take over quarters currently occupied by Zen Toro Japanese Bistro and Sushi Bar at 15th and I. His brother, Jason Hom, has said the family was expecting to call the new place either Taka's Sushi or Taka's Japanese Cuisine, even though Watanabe isn't affiliated with the restaurant. Under the terms of the new agreement between Watanabe and Hom, however, the Homs also won't be using the name Taka's, said Susan Watanabe. "It just seemed the right thing to do," she remarked. "This will be fair to everyone."
No member of the Hom family could be reached for their take on the matter.
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