Tri Express 2.0 May Bring Sushi to Petite Patrie [Updated]

The man behind popular Laurier Avenue sushi restaurant Tri Express is reportedly eyeing a new location on Saint-Zotique, just east of Little Italy.

Neighbourhood Facebook page Les amis de la rue de Saint-Vallier reported that Tri Express owner Trì Dư has bought two buildings on the street: the former Nantel Music School at 500 Saint-Zotique, and the building on the corner of Saint-Zotique and Saint-Vallier, which houses a dépanneur on the ground floor.

The very fine folks at Les amis de la rue de Saint-Vallier should consider careers in the journalism field as they’ve certainly done some investigative work here: they tell Eater that they had known for a while that a potential purchaser was looking at opening a sushi restaurant there but only found out this week via the building’s current tenants that the person behind it was Dư.

Dư and Tri Express are keeping tight-lipped about it, with Dư unavailable to talk until Saturday. Les Amis suggest that while Dư has previously been ambivalent about opening a new restaurant, given the building’s high value, the low rent for its current tenants and the fact it needs some solid renovations, it would be very strange to purchase it and not open a business.

The news has provoked major excitement among residents, say Les amis, given that Dư is well-liked and seen as a sushi “légende”.

It’s likely that any new restaurant would open in the old music school, with the dépanneur on the corner staying in its current place. It’s not clear whether Tri Express would move from its popular but tiny Laurier location, or whether the Saint-Zotique spot would be an entirely new restaurant. Don’t expect anything soon though — the space is very much still an old music school.

UPDATE — Eater received a message stating that “Tri will not be opening a second restaurant for the moment”. That doesn’t rule out the possibility of Tri Express closing its Laurier spot and moving to the larger Saint-Zotique location. However, it seems safe to assume that you might be waiting a while for good sushi on that stretch of Petite Patrie.

• Les amis de la rue de Saint-Vallier [Facebook]