Partner Jason Chan Exits Lauded Sushi Restaurant Juno [Updated]

Lauded sushi restaurant Juno survived a fire, and now it will move on without its front-of-the-house partner. Jason Chan, the longtime local restaurateur and half of the partnership behind lauded sushi restaurant Juno, has left the restaurant, the Tribune first reported over the weekend. Chan will no longer be involved in the Lincoln Park restaurant and Eater 38 inductee after selling half of it to sushi chef B.K. Park.

Chan says he left because of a flurry of other opportunities, both inside and outside the restaurant business, and he "couldn't take advantage of them if I was tied down at Juno." Park will run the restaurant himself for the time being but Chan expects him to hire management staff to replace him. "We're both in agreement (that leaving was the right move) and I decided to leave on a high note," Chan says. "B.K. is doing great and (Juno) is doing great."

How this news affects Nishiguchi, Chan and Park's forthcoming sushi spot inside Lettuce Entertain You's Intro, is uncertain as Chan is unable to discuss it. Eater has reached out to Lettuce Entertain You for more information, so stay tuned.

Chan stresses that Juno will continue to operate uninterrupted without him. It opened on May 31, 2013, closed on January 24, 2014 after much of the restaurant burned in a fire, and reopened on September 17 of that year.

UPDATE: Lettuce Entertain You corporate submitted a statement on Nishiguchi, saying "Lettuce Entertain You is still moving forward with a sushi concept which is slated to open this fall. More details will follow shortly."