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A new sushi restaurant is expected to open its doors on the Asbury Park boardwalk this spring.

Nick Oliveri, co-owner of Stella Marina and Cubacan, confirmed with the Sun he and his business partners have signed a five-year lease on a third space within the First Avenue Pavilion. Their plan is to open a traditional Japanese restaurant with a more modern atmosphere called Blu Nami. Nami is the Japanese word for “wave,” said Oliveri.

“It’s going to be a traditional sushi restaurant with a twist,” said Oliveri. “Along the same lines as Cubacan’s lively bar scene, but with Japanese fusion plates.”

Stella Marina was the first business venture between Oliveri and partners Kenny Mansfield and Joseph Cetrulo before they opened Cuban-themed restaurant Cubacan a few years later. The two take up both corner locations in the boardwalk pavilion. Blu Nami will be settled in the space between Cubacan and the Robert Legere Design store.

Sully’s Beach House Bagels formerly occupied the location. The breakfast eatery never reopened after Hurricane Sandy and no other business has been active in the space since.

Plans for the menu and interior design features are still being worked out.

“We haven’t really nailed down the menu — we’ve been trying a few different things,” he said. Cubacan head chef Bradley Rodriguez will be spearheading the efforts that come out of the Blu Nami kitchen with Mansfield’s oversight, according to Oliveri.

Each restaurant will have its own dedicated kitchen but the two will be connected, Oliveri said.

This way, Rodriguez will be able to keep a watchful eye on the Cubacan kitchen and be able to pass in between swiftly if his help is needed in either space.

Blu Nami will operate with its own separate bar and wait staff, who will serve about 90 seats in-house and between 50 to 60 on the boardwalk patio during the warmer months, he said.

Construction on the space begins this week. A projected opening is set for between April 1-15, according to Oliveri.

[Photo at top shows the boardwalk avenue entrance. The 2 sets of doors directly to the right of the auburn colored wall will be the Blu Nami doors. The photo at right shows the location from the Ocean Avenue side.]

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