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If Shinji Nagai is not on the radar of many Montreal gourmets that has a lot more to do with his former employer than his skill with a knife. Nagai is the ex-chef of 357c, the exclusive private club run by Softimage founder Daniel Langlois. The de la Commune, Old Montreal spot is not exactly mainstream accessible.
Nagai's new eponymous sushi bar, however, is. The restaurant, in which Nagai has a small stake, marks a hat trick, of sorts, for the guitarist of Simple Plan in Montreal: Le Shinji joins Jeff Stinco's Mangiafoco and the adjacent Rufus Rockhead supperclub. All have designer Bruno Braën in common. The unusual bar itself is the work of a carpenter responsible for much of Hof Kelsten and apprentice to master sculptor/carpenter Mathieu Gaudet (whose work is most prominently on display at Joe Beef).
Shinji is getting warmed up pic.twitter.com/STXtOb32l6
— Jeff Stinco (@jeffstinco) January 17, 2014