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PITTSTON &mdash; A popular Main Street restaurant is under new management &mdash; but longtime customers won&rsquo;t need to worry about losing their favorite meal.
				Local restaurateur Rob Friedman announced that he had finalized the purchase of Rikasa, adding the upscale eatery to his Friedman Hospitality Group lineup.
				Friedman said that the idea of him buying Rikasa from previous owner Nancy Medico had been one he&rsquo;d kicked around in his head for about a year and a half.
				&ldquo;I really thought Nancy did a great job with this place, renovating it and making it a great place to eat,&rdquo; Friedman said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s already got such a great reputation in the community.&rdquo;
				In the roughly three years since Rikasa opened, the restaurant has become a hot spot for customers looking for an upscale, fine-dining experience &mdash; the same type of experience that Friedman offers in his other restaurants.
				&ldquo;I thought this place fit the same mold that I strive for with all my restaurants,&rdquo; Friedman said.
				With the purchase (finalized on Monday, according to Friedman), Rikasa becomes the seventh restaurant within the Friedman Hospitality Group.
				Friedman&rsquo;s other restaurants include Grico&rsquo;s in Exeter, Bank + Vine and Cork Bar and Restaurant both located in Wilkes-Barre, Fire & Ice and the Beaumont Inn out in the Back Mountain and Kevin&rsquo;s Restaurant in Kingston.
				The menu and decor of the restaurant will remain largely the same, according to Friedman and Sheila Humphrey, the operations manager for Friedman Hospitality Group.
				&ldquo;This place is already very much a Friedman-style restaurant,&rdquo; Humphrey said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t need to change much, just some of the systems we use to track orders.&rdquo;
				Humphrey, who&rsquo;s been with Friedman Hospitality Group for six years, said that getting Rikasa ready to go presented a unique challenge for them because the restaurant, sold on Monday, was open for business the very next day.
				&ldquo;It was definitely a challenge trying to make sure our staff was trained and ready to go,&rdquo; Humphrey said. &ldquo;But they&rsquo;ve been great, and we really wanted to stress that we wouldn&rsquo;t be making any drastic changes.&rdquo;
				Friedman&rsquo;s purchase of Rikasa also included the second-floor entertainment venue known as The Joint, and a vacant space on the third floor.
				The Joint would remain largely the same, according to Friedman, while it hasn&rsquo;t been decided yet what to do with the vacant space.
				&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got some cool ideas, nothing for sure yet though,&rdquo; Friedman said.
				Purchasing Rikasa also had some sentimental meaning for Friedman: the restaurant is located at 53 South Main Street, just a block away from the site of the old Friedman Electric, his family&rsquo;s business.
				&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always loved it here,&rdquo; Friedman said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited to be here and I&rsquo;m excited to provide a great dining experience for the community.&rdquo;

Friedman adds Rikasa to fine-dining portfolio