LATEST UP DATE (JUNE 7) HERE.

Picking up dinner makings, Bennie and I spy activity in one of the shops at the slightly dowdy end of Anderson St in Yarraville.

What was once a furniture store now has a papered-over window above which we see paper lanterns of Asian derivation.

Of course, we enter to get the low down.

Inside, we meet Lucy, one half of the couple that will soon be opening a restaurant called Little Tokyo.

Scheduled for a June 21 opening, it’ll have all the usual Japanese stuff like miso soup and tempura.

But it’ll also have a grill station turning out yakitori-style goodies.

And – get this! – the central feature of the joint, which will seat about 40 people inside, will be a sushi boat we see taking shape before us as we talk.

Lucy and her family live locally.

She tells me that despite the fact they’re Vietnamese, they’ve all had a long-standing love of Japanese food.

“We just want people to really enjoy the healthy food here,” she says.

Expect a pricing range that’ll go from about $4 for the cheapest entrée up to about $22 for the most expensive meal.

Lucy tells us their Japanese chef has come from Germany and that we should expect sushi that is “different” in a very good way.

And she says she and her husband have put a lot of time and heaps love into seeking out just the right furniture, fittings and decorations.

We’re so excited that June 21 seems like a long way away.

We tell Lucy to expect us hungry lads on opening night.

Who’s up for joining us?