JPan Sushi & Grill is closing its University Town Center restaurant after a decade—but co-owner Daniel Dokko doesn’t consider it a farewell.

“As of right now it’s closing, but we're working with Benderson,” Dokko says, referring to Benderson Development, the company that owns JPan’s building and has developed much of the broader UTC district. “So it’s not a goodbye. We’re exploring opportunities to relocate within the UTC area.”

The 150-seat restaurant’s final day at 229 N. Cattlemen Road will be Sept. 13. JPan beverage director Max Wheeler says the team will vacate the space two days later. Benderson Development has found a new tenant for the building that is yet to be publicized.

JPan announced the closing on social media, remembering the restaurant as a place where customers and employees celebrated birthdays, first dates, family dinners and late nights together.

“It has been such a special place for us for the last amazing 10 years and we’re incredibly grateful for all the memories, support, and wonderful people we’ve met along the way,” the announcement says.

Dokko says the closure isn’t the result of financial trouble. Rather, it's part of Benderson’s evolving vision for an area that has changed dramatically since the restaurant first arrived. 

JPan opened at UTC in 2016, expanding the restaurant Dokko started in Sarasota in 2008. He was JPan’s original chef and is co-owner. The UTC restaurant sits in the West District at UTC, across from the Mall at University Town Center.

“When we went in, we were one of the first,” Dokko says.

Benderson may be looking to bring larger restaurants and more prominent brands to the area around the traffic circle. Dokko says he respects that direction and remains on good terms with the company. The restaurant’s connection to its landlord even made it onto the menu—the $32 Benderson Bowl combines sliced salmon, sushi rice and marinated salmon roe.

And JPan's future seems secure: Asked whether the bowl would remain on the menu if JPan reopens elsewhere at UTC, Dokko’s answer was immediate.

“Oh, yeah,” he says. “That’s the plan.”

The bowl may temporarily lose its namesake home, but Dokko is adamant about where he wants a new JPan location to land next. “I don’t want to go anywhere else but UTC,” he says.

In the meantime, JPan’s original restaurant at the Shops at Siesta Row, 3800 S. Tamiami Trail, will remain open. 

Dokko’s two Lakewood Ranch restaurants—Korê Steakhouse at Waterside Place and Kurō Sushi on Lakewood Main Street—also remain open. Dokko can usually be found at Kurō, where he says he works nearly every day.

The UTC closing has been especially difficult for the restaurant’s employees. Dokko says telling them was one of the hardest parts of the decision. "I have an amazing team so it was very emotional,” he says.

The restaurant group expects to offer positions at its other locations to many of the affected employees, though Dokko says it won’t be able to accommodate everyone. 

JPan is also making arrangements for customers carrying rewards or gift cards. Dokko says points accumulated through JPan’s loyalty program and existing gift cards may be redeemed at its other restaurants, including Korê and Kurō.

The UTC restaurant’s decade included more than ordinary lunch and dinner service. In 2023, JPan flew in a 170-pound, aquaculture-raised bluefin tuna from Spain, broke it down in front of diners and served its different cuts through an eight-course tasting menu. Dokko compared the fish to a cow, explaining that akami, chūtoro and otoro offer different levels of richness, much like filet mignon, New York strip and ribeye.

The tuna-cutting dinner isn’t necessarily gone with the UTC restaurant—another will be planned in the near future, Dokko says.

On ordinary nights, the menu still offers plenty of spectacle. Asked to name JPan’s standout sushi roll, beverage director Wheeler narrows it to two: the Volcano, made with tuna, asparagus, cream cheese and avocado beneath baked shrimp and crab salad; and the Gents roll, which tops shrimp tempura and avocado with seared wagyu beef, green onions and miso butter.

Wheeler will spend more time at JPan Siesta after the UTC restaurant closes, with plans to give its bar program more attention. He says some customers sometimes don't realize that restaurant has a full liquor bar.

But until Sept. 13, diners still have time to visit the current UTC restaurant for one last cocktail, sushi roll or Benderson Bowl. If Dokko’s relocation plans work out, it may be less of a last meal than an intermission.

JPan Sushi & Grill is located at 229 N. Cattlemen Road, #61, Sarasota, (941) 960-3997; and 3800 S. Tamiami Trail, #3, Sarasota, (941) 954-5726;  jpanrestaurant.com