Wabi on Rose

Morning Fire Destroys Wabi Venice on Abbot Kinney Boulevard | Eater LA

"An early-morning fire completely gutted the decades-old Abbot Kinney eatery, leaving a burned-out shell after a pre-dawn blaze that began just before 6 a.m. and was knocked down in less than an hour; the Los Angeles Fire Department says the fire briefly threatened the next-door property, no injuries were reported, and the cause is said to be electrical though unconfirmed. I know the longtime restaurant—originally opened as Wabi-Sabi in 1992 and taken over by Sam Marshall and Tricia Small in 2015—had been a popular home for fusion Asian cuisine with a fiercely loyal local following; Ricardo Zarate worked there as a chef before building his Peruvian restaurant empire. Over the years the menu vacillated from gyoza, miso soup, and sushi to poke bowls and Korean-style short ribs, and just last year it underwent a massive refresh with new personnel, design elements, and a rename to Wabi Venice." - Farley Elliott