Sometimes, fate lends a hand.
Leonardo Lee came to Kansas about four years ago, ready to make a living by serving hibachi and sushi cuisine.
Lee was living in New York, working with his brother, who owned a restaurant in Manhattan.
But he wasn’t particularly fond of the crowded environment.
“It was too much,” he said.
So he migrated to southeast Kansas at the recommendation of a friend, first in Chanute, and then in Iola, in 2019.
Little did he know that within a year, restaurants across the nation were going to be shuttered within a few months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Lee was able to keep going, because he ran his eatery, Saki Japanese Express, out of his food truck.
“We didn’t have any trouble because we didn’t have a dining room,” Lee said. “We just opened like normal.”
After working in Chanute, Lee set up shop for a few months in Iola in the fall of 2020, “to try it out.”
He then operated briefly in Emporia before realizing Iola would be an ideal location to work permanently.
So he and crew spent several weeks cleaning up his old digs at 315 N. State St. before reopening Saki earlier this month.
The response has been everything Lee had hoped for.
“My customers say they like it,” he said.
Saki offers a variety of hibachi entrees and assorted sushi rolls, from basics, to deep fried and specialty rolls. Lee even introduced the Iola roll, loaded with shrimp tempura, cream cheese and avocado, topped with crabmeat and a special sauce.
Lee, who moved to New York from his native Japan in 2004, spent the next 15 years working at his brother’s restaurant.
He’s excited to become more established in Iola.
“So far, so good,” he said.
Saki is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and can be reached at (620) 418-9716.
