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Japanese/French bakery in Brookline that closed for crowdsourced renovations could open within a couple months
By adamg on Thu, 02/16/2023 - 1:44pm
Patrick Maguire reports that Japonaise Bakery & Café, on Beacon Street on the Brookline side of Audubon Circle, expects to re-open in 45 to 60 days. Owner Takeo Sakan closed it in 2021 for the first extensive renovations since it opened in 1985. He started a GoFundme page both to help pay for the new equipment and to help support the staff during the closure.
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misdirected link
Report link and GoFundMe link both go to the GoFundMe page.
Sorry
Fixed.
Wait?!
It's really coming back?!?!
That is fantastic news. They have some interesting stuff that I haven't found anywhere else in town. I hope they bring back their twist donuts, those were amazing.
Amen.
Amen.
I live on the next block on Beacon (though in Boston, not Brookline). it's been, what, over 20 months since they "temporarily" closed down? I was sure they would never come back.
Love the Sweethearts, Ichigos, and Strawberry Shortcake. I rarely eat bread at home, but I had even started buying the sliced bread that you could toss in the freezer and pull out a slice or two occasionally to make some cheesy bread in the toaster oven. And the chocolate/ham and cheese croissants in the morning. The best coffee around Audubon Circle (though, now, I don't know that there's any coffee around Audubon Circle other than Tatte, which I have no interest in).
A bit pricy, but I also liked the salads they used to have, though they had quit doing those some years ago. Sandwiches were OK, if you were looking for one.
--gpm
I miss everything else on that block
O'Leary's, Sichuan Gourmet, Johnny's, and Temptations Cafe.
To a lesser extent I even miss the World's Smallest Whole Foods and each of the 300 different restaurants that have come and gone over the years in the adjacent spot.
Across the street was that good bakery which got eaten by the Tatte.
PS. Sichuan Gourmet / Chef Chang's closing was a horrible loss.
RIP Chef Chang's
I miss Chef Chang's terribly. Their sweet and sour chicken lunch special with fresh veggies and fried rice filled my belly when I came home from college every other weekend. No sweet and sour chicken dish has come close.
The food was certainly good
But beyond that it was a good value and speedy services. I can't think of anything else like it in Boston at this point.
The Cayenne Chicken was my go-to. A filling, tasty lunch for $10 + tip in a quiet place that wasn't too crowded. Perfection.
The place was busier at night. I think they were known for cocktails. I remember walking home one evening and seeing a guy in a nice business suit puking in a trashcan outside. Way to seal the deal, dude.
I’m a self-proclaimed hot and sour soup connoisseur
Chef Chang’s had the best I’ve ever had and probably will ever have. I remember ordering a lunch special with h&s soup and ordering a full side soup too. The waiter would be like - are you sure?
I went to the closing party too. I miss that establishment a lot.
No one knows this place...
...but there was this tiny place in the west Fens, Stars Ocean, that had some great hot and sour soup and a whole lot more that was truly excellent. They've been gone for years -- I think the taxi company expanded? Anyway, what's your go-to for hot and sour these days? I find that it's mostly tasteless glop, to the point where I'm afraid to order it.
Beijing, perhaps?
I haven't been there in years, but Beijing, on Comm Ave. was a really good spot for hot and sour when I was a student. The restaurant is still there, might be worth checking.
So you're talking Kilmarnock
So you're talking Kilmarnock with the taxi company? I don't remember that place. I used to be a regular at Thornton's. Before the fire, we'd stay past closing, with Howard Stern on the tube. About the only difference was that Marty would stop charging you for the drinks.
I still go there for trivia on Wednesday nights. The guy who started Stump sold out to Sporcle a couple of years ago and apparently had a non-compete that has expired. Sporcle made some awful changes in the format. The guy who . . . has started a new company with a format much more similar to the original Stump that Thornton's picked up about a month ago.
Our core group is ancient, while most of the other teams are kids. The kids are mostly terrible at history, geography, mythology, literature, etc. (though, since it's near the medical area, better at science). However, you need a youngun to deal with the pop culture stuff (and sports; we pretty much such at sports). We recently picked up a new youngun who may be the best we've ever had.
--gpm
I always got takeout, but
I always got takeout, but Chef Chang's was always packed at night before they finally expanded, probably some time in the late 80s. For that reason, I started going to Ta Chien while it was around (perished in a fire, IIRC), where Gyu Kaku is now and the Turkish-owned pizza place used to be back in the 80s, on the corner of Beacon and St. Mary's (with a couple of other places in between). I believe the family still lived on the upper floor (and owned the laundromat on St. Mary's) until Gyu Kaku came in.
They made a spectacularly wrong decision to try to convert the pizza place into a fairly upscale Turkish restaurant back in the late 80s or early 90s. After the pizza place was closed for about eight months, I think the Turkish restaurant lasted much less than a year.
--gpm
Also the tiny sushi bar
I can't remember the name -- it was owned by the same people who owned the little stall in Porter Exchange. Quality was decent, not great, but it was cheap and on my way from point A to point B on many evenings.
Sol Azteca is still there, though.
I think you’re talking about
I think you’re talking about Ginza? And while we’re at it, I miss Cafe Han River (mom and pop Korean) across the street and Tatte (when it was quaint).
I liked Ginza, but I wouldn't
I liked Ginza, but I wouldn't describe it as "tiny."
--gpm
One bright spot, along with
One bright spot, along with Matsu Nori, in what has been a series of depressing neighborhood events. I was dumbfounded walking by Economy last weekend, since I had been told by who knows who(m) that they had renewed their lease. The (tiny) Whole Foods closure came totally out of the blue last spring. A bit further afield, there were the closings of Gyro City and the Fenway Regal movie theater in the last week or two.
O'Leary's was the biggest loss. Didn't care that much for a lot of the food, but great neighborhood Irish pub run by actual Irish people, whom I knew and love(d). Great mix of neighborhood regulars, folks coming to Fenway Park/other neighborhood events, BU students, parents of BU students, etc., all mixing at the bar.
I was at O'Leary's on the last day. I had been up in New Hampshire when the governor announced that everything had to close down at midnight on Monday. I was bummed out, but I was coming back Monday morning and thought, oh, well, at least we'll have one last night at O'Leary's. Then, sitting at home Monday afternoon, I saw (quite possibly on UHub!) that the Brookline fascists had decreed that everything in Brookline had to close down at 5 pm. So I scurried over to O'Leary's about 3, where a few of us had a last hurrah. It wasn't until after 4 that they got a formal notice from Brookline that they had to shut down at 5.
Went to Chef Chang's forever, though I thought it went downhill a bit at the end. Still looking for places that do the same kind of fried rice they did. Sichuan, its replacement, was great, but you had to know what to order. They had some stuff on the menu that they seemed to think they needed to have as a Chinese bestaurant in Boston, but their heart wasn't in it and they did it terribly. Then there was the bar. OK, if Wayne(sp) was around, but it was mostly the lady who thought you shouldn't have more than one drink and you'd be hard pressed to get another.
And the "good bakery." I hardly ever went there because they would start baking at 3 am, then close down when they had sole everything. They usually weren't open but the time I got home from work.
I could go on and on about Johnny's (and its predecessor Beacon Street grocery), Temptations, etc., but I think I've said more than enough.
--gpm
Is Economy closed?!?!
They were open a week or two ago.
The store clearly had hit hard times. They condensed their stock such that 1/2 the store was blocked off. Their selection wasn't great (and getting worse) but still a go-to when I needed some hardware bit or tool quickly.
Final sale signs have gone up
Economy is closing, not sure when (end of month maybe? who knows?). They have even added a bit of their acerbic-sign-making at the end: "BYE! BYE! BYE! BUY! BUY! BUY! 20-50% OFF EVERYTHING!"
Nice to meet fellow St Marys neighbors. Can you believe the Whole Foods looks untouched since it closed 9 months ago!?
Aww, rats
Not surprised but that sucks. I've been literally going there for 25 years. They were good people and it was a good store. I'll be real sad to see them go.
I'd wouldn't call St. Mary's "working class" but for a long time that strip had a small town, unpretentious, non-yuppie vibe.
Let's hope Busy Bee holds on.
As I understand it, Busy Bee
As I understand it, Busy Bee owns their location. Otherwise, they'd probably be toast. I think there's a similar situation with a famous deli in New York (Katz?).
Busy Bee is one of the few places I know in Boston where you can get a delicious hot turkey or beef sandwich (with a side of canned peas!).
Rents are quite probably an issue. I forget the name, but there was a guy (who may have died not too long ago) that owned much of that block. Reputedly a bastard.
A year or two ago, somebody bought up the the strip from O'Leary's to Sichuan. Now boarded up and supposedly being renovated. Grandiose plans about wonderful cafes on the sidewalk, etc. Rents probably again an issue.
We shall see.
--gpm
Well, first, there were the
Well, first, there were the signs a month or two ago that went something like "if you don't want to cry when we're gone, come in and shop now." Too, too prophetic.
As I've said elsewhere, Wine Press is going to have to start selling batteries and hardware, as well as groceries. Seriously, it's no replacement for an actual grocery store (or even a 7/11), and pricy as hell, but Aaron is doing, to borrow a phrase from not my religion, a mitzvah.
--gpm
One thing I can't understand
One thing I can't understand is why they have almost all the lights on all the time. What's that all about?
There's been a grocery store of one sort or another at that location forever. The Beacon Supermarket, which had been there long before I moved into the neighborhood in 1980, may have been the best. They had a fantastic coffee selection and an actual in-store butcher.
After that, there was a weird new-agey sort of place for a couple of years that I never set foot in. Then Jonnie's, which was pretty good but maybe also went downhill a bit at the end.
--gpm
We could also have met up
We could also have met up with at O'Leary's, but no.
About the only local places I feel comfortable just drinking at these days are Bar 'cino, Audubon, Citizens, and maybe Sweet Cheeks.
--gpm
I think I forgot to comment
I think I forgot to comment on "each of the 300 different restaurants that have come and gone over the years in the adjacent spot."
That was the "cursed" location. Back in the mid to late 80s, there was a Cambodian(!) restaurant there named, I think, "Phnom Penh." The story is that a busboy was killed in the alley in a failed drug deal, which was the source of the curse. There were actually a few places that lasted there a while, but many others that didn't. Most recently the awful, awful Waxie's, who told Angus at O'Leary's that they were going to bury him within six months. Um, not so, it was Waxie's that lasted less than a year.
Now, it's Bar 'cino, which is doing gangbusters. I actually talked to one of the managers early on about the curse, which he was aware of. Maybe they did some sort of exorcism.
Earlier on, there was the Brown's Steakhouse fire. I don't remember it, but the (late) Dave Brown (son of the steakhouse owner) apparently had a bar at the O'Leary's location back in the late 80's/early 90's. I ran into him a few times at Horsefeathers in North Conway, where he had relocated.
--gpm