The signs announcing the arrival of Aburi Hana, an upscale Japanese fine dining restaurant, at the Alberni by Kengo Kuma building at 1550 Alberni St are gone.
Announced in May 2023 (and in the works for quite a while before that), the large venture was set to occupy a whopping 3,000 square feet of the Westbank development.
The restaurant was initially positioned to open last winter, but as of earlier this summer was still experiencing delays.
Now comes word the project isn't playing out as planned. Aburi Hana is still coming to Vancouver, but it won't be at The Alberni development, as that is now officially a no-go.
Aburi Restaurants Canada - known locally for its Miku, Minami, and Aburi Market concepts - shared this week a brief announcement about its Vancouver Aburi Hana project.
"Due to significant delays, the arrival of Aburi Hana Vancouver has been postponed but hopefully not for too long," reads a statement from the restaurant group.
"We’ll be sure to provide updates when a new location is secured in the future."
Aburi Hana aims to redefine "washoku," the deeply-meaningful culture of preparing and eating traditional Japanese ingredients and dishes. Washoku is a guiding principle behind Aburi's restaurants and popular standalone marketplace.
Diners were set to experience "the same fine-dining magnificence" as its Michelin-starred Aburi Hana in Toronto.
Next door to the planned Aburi Hana space at The Alberni was intended to be a second yet-to-be-announced project by Aburi Restaurants Canada and Westbank, which never materialized.
V.I.A. has reached out to Westbank for comment and will update if any is provided.
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