Business & Tech

Sushi Restaurant Opening on Madison Avenue

Roxu expected to open in time for the Car Kulture show on Madison Avenue. A grand opening is planned for the spring of 2014.

Lakewood’s got sports bars, taco/burger joints and specialty craft beer haunts.

But since Sakura Japanese Restaurant left the city a couple years back, there’s no spot with sushi offerings in the city.

Roxu, a new sushi bar at 15603 Madison Avenue, is expected to open later this summer and change all that.

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The new restaurant’s owner, Kim Novotney, said that the city is starved for some new culinary diversity.

Roxu will serve “rolls and bowls” — a witty way of saying sushi rolls and noodle bowls.

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“We really want to bring a different experience,” said Novotney, who by day works for a Beachwood-based innovation company that sources technology for Fortune 500 companies.

But this isn’t her first time starting a business.

“I’ve always been an entrepreneur,” said Novotney, who recently bought the building and is planning an extensive renovation.  “I’ve been involved with about 10 startup companies, but this is my first sushi restaurant.”

Novotney and husband Christoff Short, who was born in Japan, have noticed a need for a high-quality sushi joint in Lakewood.

“He and I have always had a certain bent for noodle bowls and sushi. It’s really a culinary appreciation and, for Christophe, it’s sort of his birthright. “

Novotney said the business will focus take-out and delivery — think motorized scooters zipping around town in the warmer months.

“I think Lakewood is begging for a new culinary style like this,” she said.

Situated in the first commercial building to the west of Barrio, the 1,600-square-foot restaurant will feature a traditional ramen noodle bar and an open kitchen along the east wall with about dine-in 40 seats.

The kitchen will be run by chef Kyaw Swar Oo, who recently opened the Burmese Asian Market on Detroit Avenue.

Roxu was recently OK’d for a parking variance by the board of zoning appeals. The exterior plans still need approval from the city’s architectural board of review.

Dru Siley, the city’s director of planning and development, said that the restaurant will be a nice fit to a neighborhood that already boasts nightlife establishments such as the Buckeye Beer Engine, Mars Bar, Metro! Home-Design-Food-Wine and Barrio.

“The Uptown Lakewood neighborhood is really starting to shape up,” said Siley. “There are a lot of good businesses over there. Since Barrio opened, that neighborhood has been even busier.

“It’s a cool district and Roxu is going to be a good addition.”

Roxu expected to open in time for the Car Kulture show on Madison Avenue. A grand opening is planned for the spring of 2014.


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