TORONTO -- A murder victim was in a minor squabble with a fellow employee at a popular Annex sushi restaurant before becoming the city's 50th homicide of the year, according to police.

The victim and his co-worker -- both Chinese nationals -- knew each other through working in the kitchen and waiting tables at the New Generation Sushi Japanese Restaurant on Bloor St., just west of Brunswick Ave., and didn't seem to have any bad blood prior to Saturday, said Det.-Sgt. Terry Browne, of the Toronto Police.

It appeared that a minor work-related dispute broke out between the pair near the front of the busy restaurant before spilling into the kitchen where one of them was attacked with a "sharp-edged" weapon around 11 p.m. Saturday, Browne said.

The 27-year-old victim, who left his family in China last year to study at the Ontario College of Art and Design, was pronounced dead in hospital. His name was not released as Browne tried to contact family and the Chinese embassy in Toronto with news of his death.

The victim's 25-year-old coworker, who arrived on a student visa in 2003, was arrested at the scene. Neither of the men were known to police prior to Saturday, Browne said.

"Something that should have been very, very minor escalated very quickly and as a result, we now have someone dead in the city," Browne said. "It has nothing to do with the neighbourhood or the surroundings."

A waitress at the restaurant, identified only as Yuki, said that while everybody seemed to get along in the kitchen, "sometimes a few of them seem easy to get mad at each other."

Long-time patrons of the popular eatery were shocked to see police inside yesterday.

"They're always nice," 26-year-old Kristen McGregor said of the employees. "I feel terrible. They're a great business in our community."

Xu Wang appeared in court yesterday charged with second-degree murder.

tamara.cherry@sunmedia.ca