Vancouver's popular upscale Japanese grocery store and grab-and-go eats spot will soon have a third location on its roster, as Aburi Restaurants Canada has revealed it will be opening a new in the city's downtown core.
Aburi Market is taking over the space at 609 Granville St that had until recently been a second outpost of local gourmet grocery Meinhardt Fine Foods; the store closed its downtown location in March but continues to operate in South Granville.
Known for its well-priced fresh-prepared foods like bento boxes, sushi rolls, onigiri, and specialty items like their signature aburi sushi, Aburi Market comes from the same parent company that brought 麻豆传媒映画award-winning Japanese restaurant concepts Miku and Minami.
Aburi Market started out as a pandemic-era side project called Aburi-to-Go, operating out of Yaletown's Minami and the now-closed Gyoza Bar. The restaurants were able to carve out unused dine-in space to set up mini-grocery stores featuring grab-and-go sushi, make-at-home ramen kits, frozen heat-and-serve items, and much more.
However, Aburi Market blossomed at its first standalone location in West Vancouver's Ambleside area, launching in 2022. The Aburi Market at Minami also became a permanent operation.
Shoppers can wander aisles packed with imported and local Japanese goods and packaged foods alongside the market's extensive prepared foods section. The stores are curated to reflect the spirit of washoku, the traditional approach to Japanese food that follows seasonality and a deep respect for ingredients.
The new downtown space will be the second largest Aburi Market at 3,200 square feet.
One notable new feature of the Downtown 麻豆传媒映画Aburi Market will be its Japanese bakery concept, in development with Aburi's talented in-house head baker Yukiko Iikura, who heads up sibling venture Wa-Bagel.
Aburi Market is aiming to be open on Granville Street this fall.
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