Blue Salt Restaurant To Open Soon In West Newton

NEWTON, MA — Although it's been a difficult year for the restaurant industry, there have been pockets of hope. One of those comes in the form of a new restaurant set to open this spring in West Newton.

Igor Burukhin who has run Boston Gourmet Foods and Igor Catering for the past two decades said he hopes to open Blue Salt restaurant with his business partner by April. The restaurant is situated on Washington Street down the block from Sweet Tomatoes in the space formerly occupied by La Tate, a short-lived Mexican restaurant that opened in 2018 and closed a year later.

When the pandemic hit, it destroyed Burukhin's catering business. He said in a phone interview that some 40 events were canceled over the course of the year. But rather than dwell, he said, he used the downtime to set to work on fulfilling his dream of owning a full restaurant.

"When you're so busy, you don't have enough time to start something new. But because of COVID, the business was totally shut down. I decided it was probably a good sign for me, and I started looking for a business. And we found this space in Newton," he said.

Burukhin has catered out of industrial and home kitchens from Rhode Island to Maine, but has a large customer base in Wellesley, Newton and Brookline. West Newton made sense to set up shop, even though he lives about 45 minutes away on the North Shore.

He set to work repainting and lightly refreshing the space, he said. And has gotten his fair share of questions from strangers and friends alike.

"A lot of people ask me if I'm crazy to open a restaurant in the pandemic," he said. "Guys at this point I have nothing to lose. Because my business is totally shut down, at least I'm going to build something new. I'm all in."

Burukhin, whose mother was a chef in Moscow, and who inspired him to go to culinary school there, has been in the food industry since he immigrated to the United States in the 1990s. Over the years he has learned what people love to eat. He plans to fill his menu with what he calls "home run dishes" from burgers to steak and fish.

But he's not going to just stick with the American classics or traditional dishes.

"Why should I do just Chinese or just Russian or just American," he said. "We want to bring something other than just traditional."

So watch for the foie gras and the Hawaiian inspired food and the fish stew from Brazil and the rice pilaf to grace the menu, as well, he said.

The space is big enough to seat 42 people at full capacity when the pandemic is over. He said he plans to serve lunch and dinner, with slightly longer hours on weekends.

He still has a few inspections left. He's applied for outdoor seating this spring, and the next step is to start hiring staff.

He's nervous, he said. It's a big project he's embarked on, but he's mostly optimistic.

"I'm so excited," he said. "This should be a beautiful restaurant, a nice looking place and nice and warm for people. Hopefully, we'll be busy and there will be big demand."

And yes, there will be blue salt on the tables.

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.