Les Amis Group to end ties with long-term partner Aoki restaurant after 20 years

JAPANESE food fans who swear by Aoki restaurant’s S$50 mazechirashi set lunch will have about six months left to enjoy one of the best deals in town, when the restaurant closes its doors permanently on Dec 31 this year.

The closure marks an end to the 20-year partnership that chef-owner Kunio Aoki has had with the Les Amis Group, which made the restaurant a familiar fixture at its Shaw Centre street-level location.

The group issued a statement on Thursday (June 29) to announce the split as an amicable decision between both parties. It’s not a reflection of the restaurant’s business as it has been “performing reasonably well financially”, says Tycen Bundgaard, CEO of Les Amis Group. He adds that post-Covid, and even in the current saturated Japanese dining market, “Aoki has fared better than most because of the strong and consistent following it has developed over the years”.

In the past 12 months, the group also decided to close several underperforming outlets to “ improve our financial position and in anticipation of potentially worsening market conditions”, adds Bundgaard. They include Cluny Food Court, Peperoni Pizzeria Zion, SOCIEATY and Yujin Izakaya. 

Currently, the group has not decided what to do with the current space yet, but will look for the right F&B concept, says Bundgaard. 

As for chef Aoki himself, it’s not a permanent goodbye as “I plan to take a short break and open a new restaurant in February 2024,” he says. And the new place will see him return to his “true culinary passion” – nigiri sushi.

Opened in 2003, Aoki is one of the oldest Japanese sushi restaurants to still exist in Singapore today, beaten perhaps by Shiraishi, which has been at the Ritz Carlton since 1996. Chef Aoki is part of the old guard of sushi chefs along with Shinji Shiraishi, both of whom were trained by pioneer sushi chef Yoshio Nogawa, who ruled the Singapore sushi scene in the 1990s.

Aoki is well known for its comprehensive menu comprising Japanese classics and set meals, while chef Aoki himself presides over the sushi counter, delivering Edomae nigiri featuring fish that he sources directly from Japan.  One regular says: “Where else can you get quality sushi from S$48 for lunch? And Aoki sources from some of the best suppliers – he even displays the fish’s certificate in the restaurant.”

In 2017, the restaurant underwent a major renovation, when handmade wooden screens by Kanazawa craftsmen were specially flown in, and sashimi was kept in the same luxurious handmade fridges seen in top Tokyo sushi-ya.

SEE ALSO

Basque Kitchen by Aitor to reopen with new name and Michelin-starred chef 

Even though it has been overshadowed by the many new entrants on the scene, Aoki still enjoys a strong regular clientele. The closure marks the end of a restaurant stalwart, but come February next year, a new chapter will begin.