Spokane, WA–Two Spokane restaurateurs have merged their operations into a holding company that soon will oversee six restaurants here, and say the new concern expects to launch an aggressive acquisition and development strategy that could include buying hotels and retail properties downtown, according to published sources. The restaurateurs, Noel Macapagal and Eric Nagano, say they can’t comment yet on what properties the new company, Northwest Islanders Hospitality Group LLC, will target, but say that they have their eyes on an upscale hotel, restaurants, and entertainment venues. Macapagal owned Spokane Sushi LLC, which until the merger had operated the Raw Sushi & Island Grill downtown and Okane on the Hill, on the South Hill, as well as catering services. Nagano was a principal in Cuisine Northwest LLC, which had operated the Bluefish restaurant downtown, as well as the Artisan Room in the Ridpath Hotel and the food and beverage service at that downtown hotel. Macapagal says the new company will proceed with Spokane Sushi’s plans to open a new restaurant and bar this summer on the east end of downtown to be called the Five-O Lounge, and also with Cuisine Northwest’s plans to open a restaurant to be called Soleil in the former Ankeny’s spot on the top floor of the Ridpath. “We put the group together so that, should development projects pop up, it’s a lot easier for us to pool our resources,” he says.
