Yuuyake Shimbun (The Sunset Newspaper) June 2003, No.57

Oregon Bar and Grill Opens in Tokyo

TOKYO, JAPAN

It, is amazing how the popular 1980's Japanese television series “From Oregon with Love" continues to influence relations between Japan and Oregon. The series seems to have struck a chord with the Japanese public, and in its quiet and subtle way has probably done more to introduce Oregon to the Japanese people than anything else in the popular media has. The latest example of this is the dazzling new "Oregon Bar & Grill” restaurant that opened in Tokyo on April 10, for if it wasn't for the series, it is likely that the restaurant's special link with Oregon likely wouldn't exist.

Don't let its name fool you, though; the "Oregon Bar & Grill” definitely is NOT inspired by a truck stop cafe somewhere along the Interstate 5 corridor. Rather, it is a stunning new steak and seafood house sitting atop the newly completed Shiodome City Center near Shimbashi Station. You can dine on traditional Pacific Northwest cuisine, like salmon stuffed with dangeness crab, charcoal grilled air‑dried steaks, and crab cakes, along with a fine selection of Oregon wines, while enjoying the view as you sit 42 floors above the streets of Tokyo.

The Oregon Bar & Grill was the idea of Yoshio Kojima, president of Maruha Restaurant Systems Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Maruha marine products and seafood processing group. Although he visited Seattle first, the Puget Sound area didn't seem like a good fit to Kojima. He then thought of Oregon, which he knew of from watching “From Oregon with Love," and was inspired to create an Oregon‑themed restaurant.

He put his idea in motion by visiting the website of the state’s trade office in Japan and then contacting Mr. Shigeo Ogawa of that office. Mr. Kojima scheduled a visit to Oregon over the Fourth of July holiday last year and met with Doug Smith, co‑owner of InSpec Group, an Oregon‑based planning, engineering, and construction firm that specializes in joint projects between Japanese and U.S. companies, which had just completed the design and construction of Ginya, a Japanese‑style yakiniku restaurant in Portland's Hawthorne District. Smith and InSpec were the ideal choice to develop such a strategic alliance and search for an Oregon partner for the project.

Kojima wanted an American partner who was authentic and sound in all aspects of the restaurant business, and Smith and InSpec took no time at all to find the perfect match: McCormick & Schmick's. The Portland‑based restaurant group owns 40 restaurants throughout the country, including such Portland landmarks as McCormick & Schmick’s Harborside Restaurant and Jake's Famous Crawfish, and was poised for in international expansion.

When Mr. Kojima first visited Oregon last July, Doug Smith arranged a meeting with managers of the McCormick & Schmick’s restaurant group, including its CEO, Mr. Saed Mohseni. As part of the visit Smith took Mr. Kojima on a tour of area wineries and visited the state capitol. Kojima. became excited about the decor and furnishings in the governor’s private office during the visit there arranged by Mike Doyle of the Oregon Economic & Community Development Department with the cooperation of then‑Governor Kitzhaber's office. Kojima turned to Smith and asked if he could recreate the private suite at the front entry of his future restaurant in Tokyo.

The restaurant's Oregon theme extends far beyond its name and cuisine; it features a wealth of handcrafted items by Portland‑based firms procured by InSpec. Working with Maruha's Tokyo‑based interior design firm, Tanseisha,, InSpec retained Sean Cho of Bolighus Design Studio here in Portland to design the "Oregon Room" at the entry to the restaurant, which incorporates authentic touches of the actual governor's private office, including the heavily‑burled wood paneling and ceiling, 1930's‑era light fixtures provided by Portland's Rejuvenation, and maple‑wood chairs upholstered in fabric from Pendleton Woolen Mills and a beautiful and proportionately accurate recreation of the governor's desk all crafted by The Joinery in Portland. The area even features a digital movie of Oregon, donated by Jeff Hammerly of the Portland Oregon Visitors Association (POVA), that plays continuously on a flat-screen display in the entry area as well as in the bar and private dining areas.

The opening of the Oregon Bar & Grill is an impressive example of what two willing partners and the expertise, experience and flexibility of a firm like InSpec can accomplish. The willingness to cooperate and professionalism of all involved are certain to ensure the success of this latest partnership between Japan and Oregon ‑ and to think it all started with a television series that ran twenty years ago.

McCormic & Schmick’s SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

Portland‑based McCormick & Schmick's operates over 40 full‑service seafood restaurants located in 15 states and the District of Columbia. Recognized as the country's premier family of seafood restaurants, each of the company's restaurants has it own unique character, design and ambiance and develops its own menu, but what they all share is the McCormick & Schmick's commitment to serve the freshest seafood available in a warm and inviting setting. Each restaurant has its own full‑service bar featuring top quality liquors and wines and a wide selection of craft beers.

Among the restaurants operated by the company are McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant, Jake's Grill, Jake's Famous Crawfish, McCormick's Fish House & Ban M & S Grill, McCormick & Kuleto's, Spenger's Fresh Fish Grotto and McCormick & Schmick's Harborside Restaurant and Pilsner Room .

Their professional wait staff takes orders from memory and are thoroughly committed to customer satisfaction, one of the hallmarks of the McCormick & Schmick’s philosophy.

The success of the McCormick & Schmick's restaurant group can be directly attributed to the imagination, drive, vision and energy of its founders and owners, Bill McCormick and Doug Schmick, who formed their first partnership in 1974.

MARUHA CORP.

Maruha is a Tokyo‑based corporation whose core operations are marine products and processed foods. The Maruha Group consists of 203 companies in Japan and abroad, which catch, process, freeze, ship and deliver seafood every step of the way from the catch itself to the consumer.

Among this diverse group is Maruha Restaurant Systems, Ltd., which operates 13 restaurants in Japan, including Tokyo's recently opened Oregon Bar & Grill, a joint venture with the Portland‑based McCormick and Schmick's restaurant group.

InSpec Group

The InSpec Group is a Portland‑based firm that provides strategic planning, engineering and construction management company to Japanese businesses desiring to do business in the U.S. Founded in 1998 by Dog Smith and Taro Toyoda in 1998, the company's goal is to provide their Japanese and American customers a service that would handle every aspect of a project from the earliest planning stages to the time product was leaving the door. A customer can come to them with a vision or plan and InSpec can provide complete construction, construction management, engineering and strategic planning services for projects of any size or scope and shepherd the project through to completion.

Their Primary focus is to position its customers to successfully evaluate the many options involved in developing new facilities. They strive always to deliver the project to their customers with a minimum of cost and in the most efficient manner to meet the customer's schedules. Their team of professionals bring technical engineering and construction expertise combined with knowledge about the customer's industry to help customers make the right investment decisions.

At InSpec they see their flexibility as their main strength and see themselves serving as the customer's “in‑house” facilities planning and engineering team that can also manage the overall construction of new facilities.

Some of the young firm's major projects include completion of the IMEX toner manufacturing facility and the Yamasa Soy Sauce plant expansion in Salem, building the facilities for Takai Carbon. Shimadsu in Cariby, Ididen at the port of Portland, Toyocam in Washington, new Marinepolis Sushiland sushi restaurants, and the popular Ginya Japanese Grillhouse Restaurant in Southeast Portland. For contact information, see ad on this page.