Smoked Salmon Vs. Sushi: The Latest Trend In Northwest Expansions - - Chandler's Crabhouse Tests Waters In Japan

Chandler's Crabhouse and Fresh Fish Market, the specialty seafood restaurant on Lake Union, is expanding into Japan.

If you think that's akin to delivering coals to Newcastle, John Schwartz counters with several reasons why it makes sense:

Fresh Northwest salmon. Dungeness crab. Smoked, rather than raw, fish. Key lime pie to top off the meal.

"American seafood really hasn't been done in Japan," said Schwartz, president and chief executive officer of Schwartz Brothers Restaurants in Bellevue, parent company of Chandler's.

The new 4,000-square-foot Chandler's, about half the size of its sister restaurant on Lake Union, is scheduled to open in July in the new Queens Square retail-office development along Yokohama Harbor, just outside Tokyo.

Chandler's is following in the footsteps of some other Northwest companies that have expanded to Japan, such as Starbucks and Eddie Bauer. In fact, both may be neighbors of Chandler's in the Queens Square development.

Eddie Bauer spokeswoman Karen Peck said the Redmond-based subsidiary of Spiegel is planning to open a 10,000-square-foot sportswear store there in mid-July. It will be Eddie Bauer's largest store in Japan and will feature a special blend of Seattle's Best Coffee in its coffee shop - SBC's first presence in Japan, said Cheryl Engstrom, Eddie Bauer's manager of public relations.

The Yokohama store will be one of five full-line stores and one discount outlet Eddie Bauer plans to open in Japan this year. It already has 14 stores and 3 outlets in that country now.

Meanwhile, Cheri Libby, a spokeswoman for Starbucks, said the Seattle-based gourmet coffee retailer was looking at the Queens Square complex as a possible location. The company now has seven Starbucks stores in Japan, all in the Tokyo area.

Schwartz said Japanese executives approached Chandler's. After trying out seafood restaurants in New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco, representatives of Sawayaka Corp., operator of Queens Square, picked Chandler's as the restaurant they wanted in their complex.

While the typical Japanese restaurant may feature sushi, large oysters and other traditional fare, the Queens Square Chandler's will offer smaller American oysters, salmon, Dungeness crab, crab cakes, whiskey crab soup, Caesar and seafood salads, Danken's gourmet ice cream and other items familiar to Seattle restaurant goers. Japanese patrons will dine on fish prepared over a wood-burning broiler or in a smoker after it's been marinated in brine.

This will be Schwartz Brothers Restaurants' first expansion overseas. The Chandler's in Japan will operate under a licensing agreement with Sawayaka, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fuji Coca-Cola Bottling.

Seattle's Mesher Shing & Associates will design the Yokohama restaurant. It also designed the Lake Union Chandler's.

Schwartz said Schwartz Brothers Restaurants has plans for four more Chandler's Crabhouses in Japan over the next 10 years.

With 3.5 million residents, Yokohama is a huge untapped market for U.S. entrepreneurs, Schwartz said.

"The international opportunity is going to be the future of Schwartz Brothers Restaurants," said Schwartz.

Schwartz Brothers Restaurants' holdings include Spazzo Mediterranean Grill, Daniel's Broiler Prime Steak and Chop House, Chandler's, Benjamin's on Lake Union and the Butcher Restaurant in Seattle.

In partnership with Gretchen Mathers, it operates Gretchen's Of Course Catering and Gretchen's Shoebox Express. John Schwartz's brother, Bill Schwartz, operates the Cucina! Cucina! and Cucina Presto restaurant chains.