Cheng Lin already owns a popular restaurant in Chardon – Cheng’s China House in the Marc’s plaza – but when he heard the Maple Leaf restaurant was closing in January, he jumped at the chance to expand the city’s gastro offerings with the newly open Hayashi Maple.
Cheng Lin already owns a popular restaurant in Chardon – Cheng’s China House in the Marc’s plaza – but when he heard the Maple Leaf restaurant was closing in January, he jumped at the chance to expand the city’s gastro offerings with the newly open Hayashi Maple.
“It’s kind of like my dreamed up place,” Lin said, after members of Chardon City Council and the Chardon Area Chamber of Commerce celebrated the opening of his restaurant with a July 19 ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Lin said he already had expanded China House to include a small dine-in section.
“When I was expanding China House, a lot of customers asked why don’t you have sushi,” he said.
He considered expanding again and adding a Japanese menu in the same area as China House, but with the Maple Leaf closing he found he could update its kitchen and dining space instead of building from scratch.
One challenge for Lin was learning the new Japanese menu, which has everything from sushi rolls to hibachi grilled dinners, to seaweed salad. The food, he said, is different than the Chinese cuisine served at China House.
The atmosphere of Hayashi Mayple is upscale grays and leather tones.
Lin says his two young daughters often come to China House and run around, but he wanted the new restaurant to be a place where diners could eat a nice meal without disruptions.
Lin’s wife, Lu Ye, will continue to manage China House while he runs the new restaurant.
Highlights from the menu include the Chardon Roll, which has spicy tuna, crabmeat with avocado wrapped in soybean paper, avocado and jalapeño sauce.
The restaurant also serves miso soup and soft shell crab. If you’re not sure which sashimi or sushi roll to try, you can build a platter for one to four and share.
