The awe-inspiring Shiro Kashiba at this former digs in Belltown. Image: Bootsy Holler

I just came from a meeting of the Pike Place Market Historical Commission, where members unanimously voted their approval for a sushi restaurant headed up by one Shiro Kashiba—pretty much a sushi legend around these parts.

Kashiba and a handful of partners will take over the space at 86 Pine that was Marché, and before that Campagne. He told the commission that he would be a full-time presence in the restaurant and serve Edo, or Tokyo-style sushi.

The Inn at the Market owns the space, though any tenants require commission approval.

Kashiba sold his share of his namesake restaurant, Shiro's, earlier this year. Inn at the Market liaison Annie Delucchi told the commission that Kashiba "was planning to retire, but this opportunity came up." She and several members of the audience expressed warm fuzzies about the man known for his reverence for pristine seafood finding a home in Pike Place Market.

The fine print of this approval: Two of Kashiba's partners must sell their shares in another local sushi restaurant, Hana on Capitol Hill.

Delucchi said the restaurant could open by summertime, though it's subject to several more layers of commission oversight, as well as the typical uncertainties surrounding restaurant buildouts.

Obviously there are many questions yet unanswered and many more details to come. Stay tuned for more specifics, hopefully I can talk to the involved parties tomorrow.

In conclusion: This is amazing.

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