Mizu, in White Bear Lake, arrives in June as the latest entry.

By David Peterson Star Tribune

Daron Close is from White Bear Lake, so he can get away with saying things like this about his hometown.

“When I used to try to take my mom to lunch, there was nothing to take her to,” he said. “When I grew up here it used to be all fried mushrooms. We’re seeing a lot more cooking from scratch these days.”

Today Close, the owner of a mini-empire of east metro gastronomy — six places in Stillwater, Forest Lake and White Bear Lake — is preparing to add a seventh, and in a key location: On the shore of White Bear Lake, at an old boatworks the city has been hoping for decades to redevelop.

Close is bringing Mizu and its Japanese cuisine there, to a town already admired for its sushi. The restaurant is the last major piece of a mixed-use project with apartments and public space called Boatworks Commons because it was long the site of sailboat builder Johnson Boat Works. Read more