Chef Barry Honan opened Lotus Noodle Bar as a way to bring his fine-dining experience and deep love for Japanese cuisine to St. Augustine, blending big-city flavor with a personal passion that’s been years in the making.
Tell me about your background. Are you from Florida?
I moved here at a young age, but I was born in North New Jersey. I lived in Pennsylvania for a little bit with my parents, then they moved here. I lived in St. Augustine, went to school, and grew up here, but then I left and went to New York City. I moved back when COVID happened because I had family here.
At the time, I was working at Le Bernardin, which is a three-star Michelin restaurant in New York City. I would moonlight at different ramen restaurants in the city in my downtime. I made it a goal to eat at almost every ramen restaurant in Manhattan.
When I moved back here, there really wasn’t much for me in my line of work in St. Augustine, so naturally the next evolution for me was to open my own space, which is how Lotus Noodle Bar got its start.
How did you get into cooking and the restaurant business?
It's all I’ve ever done, honestly. I started washing dishes at an early age. I believe I was about 15 or 16, and a gentleman in the kitchen saw that I had a little speed, so they moved me to the kitchen and started teaching me how to cook. I started progressing through different restaurants, learning different cuisines. I worked rolling sushi, and I think that’s what first piqued my interest in Japanese cuisine. Cooking has been my passion, and what I do in this life, and I’m always learning, always evolving.
Was Lotus Noodle Bar your first experience in that realm?
Yes. Now, I’ve run many kitchens. I’ve been a sous chef, and I’ve been an executive chef, so I have expertise in the field, but owning my own restaurant is a whole different ball game.
It’s funny when people come here; I don’t even feel like the owner. I feel like the chef. There’s a lot that goes into it, but the thing is — anything worthwhile is never going to be easy. Otherwise, everyone would do it. I do feel like this industry is in my blood. Some people just were born to do certain things, and I think this is my calling.
You opened Lotus Noodle Bar almost two years ago now. What made you feel like this was the right time for you to start the restaurant?
I mean, do you ever really have the right time for things like that? Everything just kind of fell into place for me. I was doing pop-ups here, and a lot of the local chefs in St. Augustine were doing these fancy prix fixe dinners. So naturally, I wanted to showcase what I was capable of doing and that’s how Lotus came about. We always wanted to do a ramen restaurant, but the pop-ups led me into doing more of an elegant concept than just your normal noodle bar where you go and get a bowl of ramen and you’re out the door.
Have you felt the community support you?
It’s been great. There’s always a few people that don’t quite understand what we’re trying to do here, but a lot of people come here and they’re like, “Man, this place has a big city feel.” You step in the door and you feel like you’re in the Lower East Side of New York City through the service and the food and the ambiance. And for me, that’s great because that’s what I want to hear. We want to stand out. We want to be unique. That’s our goal. It’s just amazing to see the community come together.
