Restaurateur opens second Japanese eatery in Wortley Village
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For years, Jinju (Jully) Lee wanted to invest in a second Japanese eatery. But there was a caveat; it had to be in London’s Wortley Village.
Lee, who hails from Korea, fell in love with the community’s charm when she moved to London from Toronto with her husband. In 2018, they opened Roll Roll, a sushi restaurant at 162 Wortley Rd. that fast became a mainstay in the Old South neighbourhood.
“At the beginning, I didn’t know anything about the village,” Lee said, adding she was attracted to its friendly feel.
“It’s not common in Toronto. Even if you say hello to somebody, they don’t always say it back.”
In search of a larger space with communal dining, Lee toyed with the idea of opening a second business elsewhere in London. But the waiting game paid off.
Her new Japanese bar and restaurant, Mori, opened its doors last week at 147 Wortley Rd., just down the road from Roll Roll, and had its grand opening on Canada Day.
Unlike the sushi joint, Mori has a bar with outdoor and in-person dining. “That one is takeout and cold food, and this one has dining, drinking and hot food,” Lee said.
The licensed bar and restaurant offers a wide selection of appetizers and main dishes, such as salmon truffle and kushikatsu, a popular Japanese dish of deep-fried meat and vegetables on skewers. The drinks menu features Japanese cocktails, beer and sake, a rice wine.
Lee’s grandmother ran a business in Tokyo, Japan, for several years, and some of her family members still reside there. Her husband, a chef, also is Korean but lived in Japan for some time and has long admired its cuisine.
The pair wanted to make the restaurant feel as authentic as possible. Even the tiniest of details – from its ingredients to its dishes and decorations – are from Japan, Lee said.
“I want customers to feel like they’re in Japan.”
Wortley Village’s restaurant scene has seen some change during the years. Nestled between the Old South Village Pub and Wolfe Pack Company Bar, the space where Mori now sits used to house multiple eateries owned by London restaurateurs Justin and Gregg Wolfe including El Poco Lobo, the Little Bird and Wolfe of Wortley.
To run Mori, Lee has expanded her team of staff from four to 14 people. She credits her company’s success entirely to longtime customers.
“I feel like I’m rich because I have so many valued customers,” she said with a smile.
Even the restaurant’s name, Mori, which translates to forest in Japanese, is a gesture of gratitude and a nod to the Forest City.
“I just want to show our customers appreciation,” Lee said.
Enter Doug More, a longtime customer who lives doors down from Roll Roll. He goes as far as to say it has “the best sushi in the world.”
“Even throughout the pandemic, because of pick-up only … there’d be people lined up (and) down the road,” he said.
Based on that, More has no doubt the new eatery will be a boon for the neighbourhood. “We need a good quality restaurant like this.”
Mori is open from noon to 10 p.m. from Tuesday through Thursday and noon to 10:30 p.m. on Friday. It offers an earlier 11 a.m. start Saturday and Sunday, with alternating hours until close.
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