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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
September 20, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
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September 20, 2012
 
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Asian fusion restaurant opens in Shelton By GORDON WEEKS Starting at age 12, Ji Lee served food, bused tables and cleaned at her father's teriyaki restaurant in Tukwila. As an adult, she managed and performed the bookkeeping at his Sequim eatery, the Wasabi Japanese Restaurant. Lee now has a restaurant to call her own with last week's opening of Osaka Sushi and Asian Bistro at 506 W. Rail- road Ave., downtown Shelton. The business was launched with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 12. The structure was formerly home to the Route 66 Diner. The Osaka Sushi and Asian Bistro is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mon- day through Saturday, and is closed on Sunday. The karaoke bar is hosted from 9 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. The offerings include teriyaki and bulgoki dishes, tempura plates, stir-fry, sushi and sashimi. The menu is "fusion style: Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Thai," said Li, who is the chef. Li, who grew up in Federal Way, searched for a restaurant site in the Photo by Gordon Weeks Ji Lee last week opened her restaurant Osaka Sushi and Asian Bistro at 506 W. Railroad Ave., downtown Shelton. Olympia-Lacey area and Tacoma before light that streams through the restau- zeroing in on downtown Shelton. She rant, and by the drive-through window. said she was attracted by the amount of For information, call 427-2625. Journal photo by Gordon Weeks Chris Meyer surprises his boss, Bakala State Farm Insurance owner Melanie Bakala, with a U.S. Department of Defense "Above and Beyond Award" for making sure he had a job to return to after the Air National Guard sent him to Bahrain for six months. After 6 months in Bahrain, employee initiates award By GORDON WEEKS Bakala's three other em- gordon@rna,~'ot~coumy.com ployees worked harder to fill .................................................................. in for Meyer, who was wel- comed back to work in May. Melanie Bakala, owner of Bakala's devotion to her Bakala State Farm Insur- employee earned her the ance in Shelton, felt a rush of "Above and Beyond Award" emotions when her employee, from the Washington Com- Chris Meyer, told her the Air mittee for Employer Support National Guard was deploy- of the Guard and Reserve ing him overseas to Bahrain (ESGR), an agency of the for six months, U.S. Department of Defense. "My first reaction was, The award honors Bakala for 'Man, I'm going to miss him, her extraordinary support having him as part of the for employees who serve in team,'" she recalled. "My sec- the National Guard and Re- ond reaction was, 'Hey, don't serve. worry about the job' ... Then The "Above and Beyond I started thinking, 'What am Award" is given to only 10 I going to do?'" to 15 Washington employers each year. Meyer nominated his boss for the award, and surprised her with a presentation at the office last week. Bakala cried when she was handed the award. "The office Was crazy down," he said. As a member of the Air National Guard, Meyer served as a firefighter for the Air Force on a Navy base S~a in Bahrain. ~'As a ~ His biggest battle was ex- business tinguishing a portable potty owne it'sfire, he said. because of B a k a l a: said she ' that,all this hub-with reaJNy tough to honored to bub," Bakala said. "And dO But it's nominated for *~ • the award by it's hard toth ight th employ- surpriseme, e ing her " ee. Meyer is M e y e r ~ d ~u a "fabulous" said he to ~ person who is wasn't wor- great with cli- ried about losing his job~ dur- ents, she said. ing his absence. "As a small business own- "I knew Mel wogld take er, it's really tough to do," she care of it ..: My concern was said of Meyer's absence. "But leaving the office one person it's the right thing to do." Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 - Page B-3 j -I¸ i ll