I got an intriguing letter -- yes, snail mail -- from Seon Kim, a Korean-Japanese businessman who came here a few years ago from Japan.

He asked me to review his new restaurant, Aloha Tokyo, which he said is about to open where the French Quarter was at 1120 E. Fort Ave. in Locust Point. 

It will be a Japanese restaurant, not a sushi bar, he told me.

"Yakitori, Odeng are our representative cuisine. We also serve Sake, Soju, rice wine, Korean fruit wine and beer."

The most distinguishing features of Aloha Tokyo, his letter continued, are the fusion interior and the Hawaiian and Japanese music.

I called the restaurant number, and it rang and rang. No one answered. The phone number of the French Quarter is continually busy. Kim's cell phone was off, and he hasn't returned my voicemail or e-mail. The Web site is only a domain name under construction. 

I'm used to restaurants trying to stay below my radar until everything is shipshape and under control. It's a first to get an invitation to review a place before it's even opened.