[Corrected] New Mexican, Thai food coming to Woodland; Mediterranean eatery closing

Davis sushi proprietor is the connection

Alex Alfridi pauses Wednesday as he sets up the restaurant sound system for El Paisano Taqueria. His brother Arif is opening the eatery. (Photo by Wendy Weitzel)

Note: An earlier version of this story misspelled Sithu Tun’s last name. Also, El Paisano operated a restaurant in the former Saffron space for two decades.

The owners of Hikari Sushi & Omakase are staying put in Yolo County, and so is their restaurant. But that doesn’t mean they’re not staying busy.

Zin Khine and her husband Sithu Tun were looking to sell their popular Davis business at 101 F St. and open a similar one in San Diego, where their daughters would attend college. But plans changed. Melody, 20, is now at Chico State, and Harmony, 19, attends UC Santa Cruz.

What does any of this have to do with Woodland, you say? I’m getting there …

Zin Khine and her husband Sithu Tun prepare dishes at Hikari Sushi & Omakase in Davis when it first opened. (File photo by Wendy Weitzel)

Tun struggles with chronic disease, and can no longer do the grueling work required of a sushi chef. (He can’t even eat raw fish.) But he’s found the energy to help his wife plan a new Thai restaurant in Woodland, and is consulting for a Woodland business that’s launching a new Mexican restaurant.

The Hikari owners plan to take over the space occupied by Saffron, a Mediterranean and Persian restaurant at 139B E. Main St. in Woodland. Saffron will close as early as mid-May. The new Thai restaurant, Amara (which means everlasting), could be open as early as mid-June. Tun said it will have lunch and dinner hours six days a week. None of this will affect the Davis sushi restaurant.

The Mediterranean restaurant Saffron will probably close next month in Woodland. The owners of Hikari Sushi & Omakase are taking over the lease, turning it into a Thai restaurant named Amara. (Photo by Wendy Weitzel)

Khine is taking over the lease of the Saffron space as its owner Jahid Alfridi deals with stage 4 lung and bone cancer. Alfridi’s older brother, Arif, has stepped in. For 35 years, Arif has run the El Paisano food truck in Woodland. It formerly had a restaurant in the Saffron space. The food truck is parked down the street from Saffron, at 1490 E. Main St.

Meanwhile, Arif is redeveloping the former California Market, a 2,500-square-foot space that will become a grand restaurant version of his food truck – El Paisano Taqueria. Their younger brother Alex Alfridi is a general contractor handling the improvements.