St. Petersburg will get its first izakaya, an informal Japanese gastropub, next week if all goes according to plan.
Next to Paper Street Market in the space where The Edge Lounge & Tapas most recently operated, the new dining spot for owner Michael Sponaugle is in its final stages at at 911 Central Ave. With construction finished and staff training in progress, Sponaugle hopes to have it ready for a soft opening at the end of next week.
The restaurant is called Buya (pronounced boo-yah) Ramen.
Sponaugle, who's been in the restaurant business for 20 years, worked in Miami for eight years while opening a number of similar eateries with a man from Hong Kong. Upon returning to St. Pete, where he's lived previously, he said he felt that of the concepts he's developed, ramen was the most relevant to the city.
Buya's debut will follow the openings of other ramen-slinging restaurants around the region, including St. Pete's Mango Tree, Fuku Japanese Cafe in Clearwater and Tampa's Ichicoro Ramen and Japanese Kitchen Dosunco.
"It's a huge growing trend in the food scene, although it's been around for a while in other markets," Sponaugle said.
At its core, Buya is a ramen shop. Beverage heavy and loaded with ramen bowls and small plates, the menu plans to offer a rare glimpse into authentic Japanese cuisine. The kitchen will showcase dishes like gyoza (Japanese dumpling), kamameshi (hot pot rice) and other offerings, including char-grilled baby bok choy; craft cocktails and Japanese whisky, which Sponaugle calls a "proverbial Pappy Van Winkle" because of its rarity, will come from the bar.
He's looking to curate the largest selection of Japanese whisky on the east coast.
"We're working with some other importers to bring some distilleries here that are not here yet," he added.
Driven by the traditional izakaya style, Sponaugle emphasized the importance of staying "food-focused," highlighting simplicity rather than food from all over Asia.
"We take a specific culture in Japan and focus on that style of food," he said. "We really believe in the cuisine that we make, and we want to focus on that. When you start to get into too many things, it's confusing to the consumer."
For Buya and its patrons, this means no sushi. However, its sophistication-meets-comfort-food ramen will vary. During his CL interview, Sponaugle lists varieties like crispy duck, wagyu brisket, pork belly and barbecue eel, as well as vegetarian options. The elevated bowls will be made with either soy or tonkotsu broth, the thick and creamy granddaddy of ramen broths.
The restaurant's floors showcase hex tiles from 1930s-era St. Pete.
Buya Ramen via Facebook
The 2,500-square-foot space will seat 80 inside and 24 outside. Its intimate layout and open floor plan is meant to create a social atmosphere. Two 12-foot communal tables, fashioned from a Florida elm tree, share space with booths in the dining room, while the lounge, separated from the dining area by a slatted wood screen, features an concrete-topped bar.
"We don't have TVs… That's not what we are," Sponaugle said. "We're here to encourage interaction and to talk about food."
Both areas are dominated by work from local artist Michael Vahl. A large painting of a bantam rooster and bull greets customers from the front of the restaurant as a mural beckons from the right. The mural is based off the 1868 painting "Brawl in Women's Bath House" by artist Toyohara Kunichika, but in the Buya version, women have a ramen fight.
The restaurant's modern aesthetic combines elements of traditional and local Japanese culture. The floor is from the 1930s (St. Pete folks will recognize the hexagonal tiles, then swoon when they see some stamped with the year they were made: 1924). One wall is covered by shou sugi ban siding, a Japanese preservation technique that involves charring wood panels with fire and finishing them with natural oil. Each board was charred and laid by hand.
"We wanted to do something a little different. The classic [restaurant look] that you see here is brick walls, reclaimed wood, Edison bulbs and all that. It's great, it's fantastic, but we were going a different route," the owner said.
During the soft opening, seatings will be invite- and RSVP-only to avoid overwhelming the staff and customers. Dinner service will take place from 4 p.m. to midnight for the first two weeks, with a possible happy hour from 4:30 to 7 p.m. After those 14 days, Buya will open for lunch at 11 a.m.
Future plans for the restaurant include a noodle brunch and extended kitchen hours on Fridays and Saturdays, giving people a new late-night dining option. Sponaugle aims to have these in place within the next six months. The official hours at that point will be 11 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.
According to Sponaugle, he's looking to launch more restaurants in the area, including one in the same neighborhood that might potentially focus on yakitori, or Japanese skewers.
"All in all, we're probably looking at doing four to five stores over the next five years," he told CL.
This article appears in Jul 7-14, 2016.