Bob Wasabi Kitchen opening on 39th St.; Burlington opens in Grandview Friday

Shortly after he began his career as a sushi chef in California, Bob Shin got the nickname “Bob Wasabi” from a customer.

He put the nickname on his name tag through stints at Kobe Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi in the Baltimore area and in the Power & Light District, at Miso Phat in Maui and at other restaurants in Maryland, and told customers that he would one day open a restaurant called Bob Wasabi.

Now his Bob Wasabi Kitchen is expected to open in Mia’s Plaza, at 1726 W. 39th St., later this year.

Bob’s Wasabi Kitchen’s menu will include appetizers like edamame and seaweed salad, as well as rolls like the Caterpillar Roll (broiled unagi and vegetables wrapped with avocado slices), and the TNT Roll (with fresh spicy tuna, hamachi and salmon — fried tempura-style), sashimi and chef’s specials. It also will offer saki, beer and wine.

Shin is holding a series of soft openings, mostly by invitation only, as he finalizes the menu. He plans a grand opening after receiving his liquor license, probably by late November or early December.

His daughters, Tanya and Esther, as well as his son, Eugene, are helping out in the restaurant.

“It will be a limited selection of the highest-quality fresh fish,” said Tanya Shin.

Fresh fish has long been Shin’s passion. He first opened a fish market in The Bronx in New York City in the mid-1980s.

Burlington sets Friday opening in Grandview

Burlington Stores, a leading national off-price retailer, plans a ribbon cutting at 9:30 a.m. Friday for its new Truman’s Marketplace store, 12400 15th St., Grandview, on the site of the former Truman Corner Shopping Center.

It will be the first new store to open in the revamped shopping center; other stores won’t open until June 2016.

Burlington stores sell items for up-to-65 percent-off some department store prices, including dresses, suits, sportswear, juniors, accessories, menswear and children’s clothing, as well as furniture and accessories.

This story was originally published September 28, 2015 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Bob Wasabi Kitchen opening on 39th St.; Burlington opens in Grandview Friday."