A Fish Out of Water

Around twelve years ago, two of my former colleagues, Steve Tove and Dave Noel, were approached by King, the owner of Sushi King, about finding a location for another sushi restaurant in Columbia. At the time, there was a vacant space on the lower level of the Exhibit Center building next door to what was then a cafeteria style restaurant called Fresh Choice. We thought that space would be perfect for him.

King loved the space. It was the right size and the setting was beautiful. There was only one problem; the landlord didn’t really “get” the whole sushi thing. They told us what they really were looking for was a combination coffee shop/ice cream shop for that particular space. They honestly didn’t believe that a sushi restaurant could make it there.

It took a little more time than we bargained for but we were finally able to persuade Columbia Management that King would do a great job and that sushi on the lakefront would work. Eleven years ago this month, Sushi Sono opened its doors. It has outlasted two neighboring restaurants and the original building owner.

Mama Wordbones and I joined some friends at Sushi Sono last night. The place was hopping and the sushi was, as always, mouth watering.

Happy Birthday Sushi Sono!