J’s Asian Kitchen Opening Second Location On Northside
FREDERICTON – J’s Asian Kitchen in downtown Fredericton is opening a second location on the city’s Northside.
With the new location, restaurant owner Gina Lee and her husband can open the dining room to customers since the current location can’t accommodate social distancing.
“We really want to see our lovely customers as soon as possible,” said Lee.
When Lee and her husband moved from South Korea to New Brunswick, they had never heard of the province. She said most people from Asia picture Toronto, Vancouver, or Calgary when they think of Canada. Before moving, they toured Saint John, Moncton, and Fredericton. The tours made up their minds to move.
They came to Canada as part of the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program.
“It was very challenging for us – new country and new communities – especially because of the language barrier,” Lee said.
Lee and her husband worked in Moncton originally to gain more work experience until they moved to Fredericton and opened J’s Asian Kitchen on Queen Street.
After two years of providing Asian cuisine to Frederictonians through dine-in as well as take-out on apps like SkipTheDishes, the couple found a Main Street location.
It’s been a long time coming for the opening of the new J’s Asian Kitchen location. Lee said they signed the rental agreement before the COVID-19 outbreak with plans to open mid-May, but due to the shutdown, they’re hoping to open sometime in August.
“Because of the coronavirus outbreak, everything is delayed, and everything is slow,” Lee said.
Lee said the location will likely open up new jobs for a server, dishwasher, and other positions.
J’s Asian Kitchen is only doing take-out and delivery on SkipTheDishes currently because their dining room is too narrow to accommodate the new social distancing rules because of COVID-19.
“People told us they are very excited,” Lee said.
J’s Asian Kitchen’s head chef is originally from South Korea so they can cook Korean food, but they also studied and worked in Japan, so they’d like to incorporate more Japanese dishes. Lee also wants to do more Chef’s Specials.
“But the basic menu is going to be the same as downtown’s because most of the menu is popular,” she said.
Customers have expressed interest in going to the new location to get a face-to-face experience.
“I hope to meet our regular customer again,” Lee said. “We do really, really miss them.”