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The Mystery of Musashi

by Ann Bauer   ::   posted on Oct. 04, 2007 - 3:29pm

It started with Don Lee, my colleague in the English department at Macalester. Don is new to the Twin Cities, author of the novel Country of Origin, and we're very pleased to have him. So when he told me he was mostly happy with Minnesota but disappointed in the small number of restaurants serving authentic Japanese cuisine, I was concerned.

I sent him to Obento-ya, Sakura, and Anemoni, where the head sushi chef, Kenji Sakomoto, is from Japan. Then I promised to check into Musashi, the new place that was supposed to open downtown, in the old Olive Garden spot on Hennepin Avenue, in summer. This was mid-September.

Not two days later, I got a phone call from a reader asking when Musashi was due to open; he drove by it every morning, he said, and though the signs were in place, it looked like construction had stopped.

I called both the Downtown Chamber and the Greater Minneapolis Convention and Visitors Bureau (now, unfortunately, called Meet Minneapolis); representatives from both responded that they, too, were perplexed. The family-owned Japanese restaurant had been busy with pre-opening activity until suddenly, one day, everyone just disappeared. The man from the GMCVA even offered to walk by on his lunch hour.

"I looked in the windows," he reported back. "It's dusty and there's construction equipment all over. That place can't be opening any time soon."

Finally, on the advice of my co-blogger, Jeremy Iggers, I looked up the restaurant's liquor license and got a telephone number from it. I called and a man answered. "Oh, we're opening in November now," he said. "Plans were delayed." I asked what sorts of items Musashi will serve and the man offered to send me a menu. . . .even asked for my e-mail address and seemed to be writing it down. But no menu ever materialized.

I'm hoping, for Don's sake -- and for the sake of retaining great literary talent in Minnesota -- that Musashi opens next month and serves delicious, authentic Japanese fare. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see.