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 JACKIE'S KITCHEN had opened in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, on April 25, 2000, and
The Man Himself christened the kitchen and its 4th-floor diner
on November 15th that year. Unfortunately,
JC packed up and pulled out of Japan starting from November 17,
2002, just two and a half years later, closing all three of his
Kitchen franchises (Tokyo, Yokohama, Machida). The Tokyo location is now
a Hong Kong kitchen-style restaurant under a different name and
ownership. Despite the failure of Jackie's Kitchen in Japan,
however, Hong Kong-style fare — not to mention Taiwanese,
Szechuan, Cantonese and everything else — is experiencing
a popularity boom around the country. High-quality Chinese restaurants
and shops of all kinds are thriving in Japanese cities, even
in the tight economy. In fact, a restaurant like Wakin's
Kitchen,
the eatery owned by Jackie's pal Emil Chau, would surely succeed in Japan right along
with the rest~!
ALOHA-a-a-a . . . .
Jackie's Kitchen's Honolulu franchise (the first in the U.S.)
had been going strong since 2003 —
But even this one closed its doors after less than four years.
(How convenient that “Aloha” can mean both “Hello” and “Good-bye”)
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