Sushi Gallery Kerikeri re-opens after car crashed through shop window

Quan Sun and Bella Jiang are relieved their restaurant Sushi Gallery Kerikeri is open again after a car crashed through their shop window. Photo / Jenny Ling

The owners of a Far North sushi restaurant are relieved to have the business open again after a car crashed through their shop’s front window three weeks ago.

Quan Sun, Bella Jiang and their two young children Richie and Pheobie were inside Sushi Gallery Kerikeri on November 22 when a silver Suzuki crashed through the shop’s front window.

The couple were back at their Kerikeri Rd restaurant on Monday following repair work and structural testing by engineers to ensure it was safe to re-open.

“After a long wait, engineers have gone through a series of tests on our store and it is now safe to re-open,” Sun said.

Sun said he and his family were grateful to the Kerikeri community for their “caring and love” following the accident.

“Everyone asked if I wanted some support,” he said.

“Hundreds of people asked me about my situation, if we needed help.

“Lots of people are already coming in asking how we are and how the kids are.”

This car crashed through the front of Sushi Gallery Kerikeri in November. The popular eatery has now re-opened.

Police responded to reports of a crash “involving a vehicle and a building” around 4.55pm on November 22.

Sun and his wife were closing up for the day when the incident occurred. Apart from the couple and their children, no one else was in the restaurant at the time.

The driver and passenger in the car were believed to be shaken but unhurt. Police attended the incident but couldn’t say how it happened.

Sun said it appeared the elderly driver of the car panicked when an ambulance or fire truck went past with its sirens on as he was reversing out of a nearby car park.

Sun, a qualified chef and Jiang, a former fashion designer, had only just taken over the business, having bought it from the previous owners on November 6.

Jenny Ling is a news reporter and features writer for the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering health, food, lifestyle, business and animal welfare issues.