Kettering sushi bar dream comes true for career change couple

A couple who dreamed of changing their lives are set to open a new sushi bar in Kettering’s town centre.

Sergei Vill and Anastassia Ljaskova moved from Estonia to the UK more than a decade ago and spent years working in warehouses.

The pair, who enjoy making and eating sushi at their Corby home, wanted a different career and thought about opening their own business.

And with no dine-in sushi restaurant in Kettering they’re opening Tokyo Sushi Bar in Gold Street, near the clock tower.

Anastassia, 32, said: “We just wanted to change our lives.

"I really love sushi and there’s nowhere like this here. There’s a couple of takeaways, but nowhere where you can sit and have sushi and a drink.”

The 40-seater restaurant, which could open at the end of April, will serve up a freshly-made variety of the Japanese rice morsels including baked sushi and classic sushi rolls.

Fillings will include salmon, eel and caviar as well as different vegetables with the sushi bar using local suppliers.

The bar will sell alcohol as well as tea, coffee and juices, and will create about five jobs in total.

Despite the restaurant’s name the couple have never been to Japan – with their love of sushi coming from their home country.

Sergei, 39, said: “Sushi is very popular in Estonia. We come from a city with a population of about 20,000 (Kohtla-Järve) and there are four sushi bars there which deliver.

“It’s very different to other lunches – a lot of people in the UK are into health and fitness and sushi is very healthy.”