Kinton Ramen has opened a new location on Yonge Street on the border of Newmarket that has been welcomed with lines of eager customers.
While Kinton Ramen has 24 locations, the East Gwillimbury restaurant is the first in the employee franchising program and it is owned by Kinton Ramen executive chef Aki Urata.
One of his first experience in the food industry came when he worked at a food truck serving soup and hot noodles with his friend in Japan after the earthquake of 1995, he said.
Two years later he came to Canada.
Urata has been an employee of Kinka Family, the company that owns Kinton Ramen, for several years now and has been instrumental in shaping its menu. However, he said he has always wanted to own his own restaurant. Now, the employee franchising program allowed that to happen.
He said the response from the community has been incredible so far. Since opening Feb. 23, many customers have thanked him for coming to the Newmarket area and said they will be coming back.
The restaurant serves authentic Japanese cuisine and the specialty is, of course, ramen.
As the owner, Urata will work there full time as chef while continuing to travel to other Kinton Ramen restaurants as the executive chef for the company.
The local location is one in a number of new Kinton Ramen stores opening soon, with new restaurants coming soon to Kingston, Montreal, and Surrey, BC.
Established in May 2012, Kinton Ramen lays claim to being one of the first Japanese ramen restaurants in Toronto.
Each item on the menu continues to be a product of Urata’s experiences, prepared through strict adherence to the chef’s methods, using only select Japanese seasoning and fresh local, high-quality ingredients to serve authentic Japanese ramen.
