Wabi Sabi - Beauty In Venice's Imperfection

Ever since Wabi Sabi opened on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in 2001, it's been our go-to place for sushi. We were sad when the Korean liquor store in the location at 1637 Abbot Kinney closed up shop, but really good sushi just a walk across the street consoled us quite a bit. Fourteen years later, it's still one of our favorites, and in fact, has become even more of a beloved treasure more recently when it's become one of the few places on the block that you can still see a lot of locals.

I sat down the other day for one of my favorite cocktails in Los Angeles (the grapefruit basil martini - pure Summertime!) with Wabi Sabi's manager, Fumi Kimura to catch up and hear the latest on what's going on with our hangout. Kimura (who has been at Wabi since a month after they opened) told me that after Yo Santa Monica Mirror posted an item about the Wabi Sabi building being sold (for 7.4 million!), the restaurant has been inundated with calls and emails from people wanting a table for their last night, in a total panic that the place was closing. As of now, that is not true.

Kimura said that yes, the building has sold. Yes, there is a new owner. But no, they don't have a new tenant, and Wabi Sabi is staying right where it is, for as long as the new owner allows them to - and even they don't know how long that will be. Total limbo. If the building's new owner is smart, it will be a long, long time. With the closure of our Hal's (now going to be a stupid Houston's/Hillstone!), Wabi Sabi has picked up the slack. The community really can't handle the closure of another community fixture, not without a lot of resentment building up for whoever would take over. So let them be! NO MORE CHAINS! Venice is not everywhere. Gross.

Wabi Wabi is now the place you can walk in and wave to all your neighbors at Happy Hour (5:30-6:30). Wabi Sabi is one of the few places left on AKB where you can get a real drink (and a delicious one!), not just beer and wine, and that liquor license is real valuable. The art on the walls is by local artist legend (being evicted from his Venice studio) William Attaway. The chalk drawings above the bar are by our homegirl, Anna Kondo. Locals who have been priced out and have had to move away make the drive back to Wabi Sabi specifically, always expressing their relief that Wabi is still there, thank God. Wabi Sabi is also one of the places where it's not a hipster scene, and the staff is genuinely glad to see you.

We LOVE the Wabi Sabi staff, and they love each other. It's fun to see people working among friends, going out together in the neighborhood when they get off, and enjoying and helping each other when they are at work. I wanted to take a photo of everyone, and they all wanted to wait until they could all be in it ... so we waited. In the middle of a dinner rush, the sushi chefs can still find the time to make a little origami treasure for a little girl regular. It's like that.

Kimura said that locals are feeling sad that Venice is losing its fabled edge, and are giving up, "but now is the time for us all to appreciate each other even more ... now is the time to grow together in a special way." What a lovely way to put it.

Wabi Sabi means "Beauty in imperfection" in Japanese, and with so much imperfection going on all around us all the time, Wabi Sabi is truly a bit of beauty within it all, and we're all so grateful to still have it.

Wabi Sabi is OPEN - every day.
1637 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
310.314.2229
www.wabisabisushi.com

A Farewell To Hal's - To Be Continued ...

A couple of weeks ago I got a frantic late night text from a friend who had heard that our beloved Hal's on Abbot Kinney was closing. I immediately put out a call to Don Novack, Hal's owner, to find out what the heck was going on. The bad news was that it was true. The mournful comments and true sadness spread all over town (and the world), and last night was the grand finale of Hal's at 1349 Abbot Kinney.

It was like a big Irish wake all week, with drinks flowing and old friends coming in to pay their respects ... so much so that Novack cracked, "If we'd been this busy all along, we wouldn't need to relocate." Some food for thought there, as often we don't know what we've got until it's gone. I went backstage at Hal's for the first time ever a few nights ago to chat with Novack and get the real story. The joint was absolutely packed to the rafters, and Novack was like a politician, getting stopped every two inches by someone who had a hug, needed a photo, or wanted to express their gratitude for 30 great years of fun at Hal's. It took us like 20 minutes just to walk back along the bar. Once back there - wow. I'd never been behind the scenes at Hal's in all these years. The place is a winding labyrinth of hallways and storage, and a bustle of workers effortlessly gliding by and getting to where they needed to be, providing the same great food and service on almost their last night as they've been doing for decades, with many of the same staff members. I got to see Executive Chef, Manuel Mares, in action with his guys. You could tell that as busy as they were, it was also somewhat emotional back there.

The real story is not that Hal's is being kicked out. Novack went to the landlord to negotiate an extension of the lease when it expired in a few years. The amount that the rent would be raised to then would be such that Hal's would have to charge $40 for a plate of calamari, "and that's not our customer, " said Novack. So it's not exactly about getting the boot ... but it is about that almighty dollar. Novack and the landlord made a business deal, simple as that. The staff will be absorbed by other Venice restaurants (like Sunny Spot, Saltair, Danny's Deli, Canal Club, James Beach, The Sidewalk Cafe, and The Brig), as there will be some down time while Hal's sorts out their next location ... which right now appears to be in Playa Vista (aka The Truman Show) or down the street - or both. As they say on the commemorative T-shirt (of which I was delighted to receive the first one - and hid it until last night's closing!), "The Adventure continues ..."

So the adventure will continue, but it will not, of course, be the same. Venice will never be the same. That is the big problem with all of this that people are having ... that Venice is changing too much, into something that is becoming difficult to recognize. Too posh. Too hipster. Too anonymous. Too ... I hate to say it ... cheesy. At some point, someone has to stand up and say enough. That they have enough money already, and they'd NEVER sell to the highest bidder. SOME landlord has to say, you know what, I have enough money, I had enough when rents were normal. I want cool people here, not wealthy posers, and I'm gonna make sure of that by charging a livable rent (to residents and businesses) and preserve some of what made us special to begin with. BE A HERO, Man!!

SOMEONE has to make a stand. With all the people of Venice saying they can't stand what its becoming ... how is it able to become that? Too much talk, too little action. I'm getting messages from people saying it's to the point where they want to start doing illegal things to make a point ... that's not the answer, but it does show you the frustration many of us are having with the nauseating robbery of our neighborhood. And with all the money we're pouring into the City Of Los Angeles with our new, outrageous rents and property taxes, we still only receive about 1% of the city's budget ... so we have all the trash and mess of all the people who come here, but none of the support that goes along with that. It's a problem. But I digress ... (for now)

For now, the story is about how very much people loved THIS Hal's. People met their spouses there - "Right there in that table! You have to take that table with you!". People celebrated birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, births, everything at Hal's. Many people called it their office, and you could see the same familiar faces bellied up to the bar each afternoon. Most of them were there last night.

This was a place that had a Writer's Block evening dedicated to it, with a Q and A following - about a restaurant! This was a place that had a Facebook page dedicated to it's famous Turkey Burger - which seemed to be the menu item that most will miss most. I personally will miss and crave the Seafood Grill ... and hope it follows them all to the new location.

This place was mainly about love. Love of family, love of community, love of art, love of good food and drinks, love of friends, but mostly love of Venice. The Venice of the last 30 years, the Venice of now, and the Venice of the future (Let us hope that we will still recognize that Venice). Let us hope that people will start making a stand about it, and help to preserve the unique, eccentric, artistic beautiful place that we all fell in love with. We don't want to see turned into a boring Beverly Hills type, generic, fancy, haven for douchebags. Many believe that losing Hal's is a final nail in our coffin. I do not. For whatever buildings and rooms are dear to us, it is truly the people that make anything special. We still have the people. We still have the ability to come together and preserve and protect what is special about Venice to us.

Some believe that this is progress. I do not. Fancier homes, steeper rents, and more expensive restaurants and stores is not progress. It's actually the demise of our culture. It's the homogenization of our society, and by everyone being the same, everyone loses. That's just my opinion, of course, but it's my strong one. It also cannot be sustained. This madness will jump the shark, like everything ultimately does. There will be empty storefronts, vandalized while they sit vacant. Big, ugly box houses will sit empty when no one can afford their property taxes. Tourists will stop coming because the big, expensive scene will be gone, and they have all those chain stores in their towns anyway ... So keep it up, you greedy lot. And hang in there, REAL Venice people. Once it all becomes a ghost town again, you'll be able to snap up something great for a song! Onc can hope ...

But back to the LOVE. "The outpouring of love has been overwhelming," said Novack. He and his dear wife, Linda want everyone to know how much they appreciate the love and support the community has given them for the last 30 years ... "Thank you so much, and see you soon!"

Casa Linda is closing on May 1st as well, and will re-open down the street. Hal's will re-open, so it's really only a hiatus for that turkey burger and seafood grill. It's just ... you know. Not the same. As the card they gave out stated ... the important thing is to "Celebrate Life Together".

As the sun set on the last day of Hal's and the place filled up so much there was a line 25 people long out front (something I've never seen at Hal's!), it was clear that the important thing was the celebrating together. Destin Clover sent me a photo of the sunset behind Hal's last night and said, "Good times come and go ... looks like this one is gone." Ugh. As you looked at the old friends hugging, remembering, crying, baring breasts, wailing on harmonicas, dancing on the bar, laughing ... it was clear that truly more than anything ... Hal's was about the LOVE.

And this morning, it's gone. Hal's the place, but not the love. As moving trucks were already parked outside this morning, there were also candles outside, like at a car accident memorial. The love remains. We'll miss you so much, dear Hal's. Let us all use the feelings of last night to draw us together and help to keep Venice so incredibly special ... together.

Follow @HalsVenice on Twitter and check in with their website - HalsVenice.com - to keep up with their new developments.

*There will soon be a friends page on the website with all the photos taken the last couple weeks that you may go and download as their gift to you. Thanks for the memories, Hal's!!!

Enjoy Another Kind Of Sunrise!

Get excited, Venice. Soon there will be a wonderful new spot to enjoy your healthy cereal, fruit, coffee, juice, tea ... all the good stuff we love, in a cozy spot hosted by great locals. Another Kind Of Sunrise is coming soon!

Conceived, owned, beautified and operated by dear friends and neighbors, artist/actress Diana Garcia and musician Gregory Rogove, Another Kind Of Sunrise is exactly what Abbot Kinney needs now. Located in its own little alley just to the right of the Stronghold building, AKOS will be original. Creative. Built with love and cooperation by people that live in and love Venice.

Greg grew up LOVING cereal, and always thought it would be great to have a place that was just about cereal. The more he and his lovely lady Diana thought about it, the more it seemed like a cool thing to do. Both are busy with their arts, but when friends showed support and enthusiasm for a place like AKOS in the neighborhood, and then the perfect spot on Abbot Kinney opened up, they decided to go for it.

"Another kind of sunrise" is a Sun Ra lyric that always stuck in Greg's head, and went along with the idea that you can have (and many do) cereal at any time of day, not just for breakfast. Rad.

Since it's 2013 and it's Venice, you won't find your chain store Frosted Flakes, but you will find yummy organic Cocoa Crispies and a whole bunch of other cereal choices, with top shelf milk selections from the Mylkman, and several options for toppings (cacao nibs, coconut, fresh fruit - like kiwi growing up the walls!). As well as acai bowls, homemade granola, Moon Juice, Handsome Coffee, Distira Tea ... all healthy, delicious sustenance made locally. And enjoyed in a sunny, plant filled space, tucked in right on Abbot Kinney, but with its very own mellow sense of place.

Super talented artist Diana, and friend Brandon Boyd, have done up one whole wall with a gorgeous mural, and the floor is going to take you from the sun to the moon. There will be music, of course. There will be art classes for kids while the parents are enjoying a bite. There will be friendship, laughter, and a sense of community that we dearly need to preserve, for many sunrises to come. And there will be cereal.

Please help make Another Kind Of Sunrise a local treasure, with whatever you can contribute to Greg and Diana's Kickstarter fund to get it all up and carrying on. The incentives are treasures themselves, from AKOS credit to Greg's gorgeous music to beautiful artwork by Diana to a dope cereal party at your own place! Click HERE to participate and join the fun!

Another Kind Of Sunrise plans to open just in time to be added to your fall routine, in late August. I will look forward to seeing you there!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/akosunrise/another-kind-of-sunrise

AnotherKindOfSunrise.com

Facebook.com/AnotherKindOfSunrise

Twitter/Instagram @AKOSunrise

909.334.AKOS

The French Market Celebrates 20 Years and Bastille Day!

I am so grateful for The French Market Cafe. It is my little spot to go and feel real community, real neighbors, and real good coffee every day in Venice. They are celebrating 20 years of business this year, not an easy feat, especially these days. So it was a party for Bastille Day yesterday ... a perfectly glorious day outside, made more so by the festive atmosphere of the Musette music and special bbq menu (Merguez sausage! Croque Monsieur!) for the occasion.

The outdoor patio was festooned with red, white and blue for the French holiday, and the loyal patrons were in the mood to party in the daytime. Always fun.

Owner Agnes Martinez was radiant in her patriotic outfit, and our gracious hostess accepted kisses and congratulations for all of her hard work over the years making "The French" a place that is absolutely beloved by her locals.

Thank you to Agnes, Carole, Eddie, Jenny and everyone who makes The French Market Cafe a joy to share your day with! Here's to many, many more years of French food and fun ... J'adore!!!

A Quarter Century of Hal's

Hal's Bar and Grill is celebrating 25 years on Abbot Kinney in Venice, and loyal fans turned out Wednesday night to hear Linda and Don Novack and Hal Frederick in discussion with Jeff Gordon from the Writer's Boot Camp (and Hal's regular) at the Electric Lodge. It was packed with the fine folks that you can regularly see bellied up at Hal's, eager to hear and share stories of the many years of fond memories.

They opened up with the question, "What was Venice like 25 years ago?" to which an audience member piped up, "It was GREAT!" You could tell that most in the room were nostalgic for times when it really was more about the people, and the art, than the great money grab of the present, which Novack commented on, saying, "The street's gone crazy." True story.

Escalating rents are pushing out many of our old standbys, and a rumor was flying recently that Hal's would be another victim of the greed, but that was put to rest with a relieved sigh. This night of story-telling was pure appreciation for a true neighborhood landmark.

I knew many of the stories from having done an article on Hal's a while back, but it was a delight to hear all the locals chiming in with their 2 cents, in what became sort of an open forum. Artist Ed Moses made the room laugh when he said, "The food is always B+, which is very good, always consistent, I love the Chef (Manuel), and that's why I like it." Meaning that Hal's food is very good, and he didn't WANT it to be A+, because that's for foodies and that's what makes you not be able to get a table, and what brings all the people from all over, not all your favorite people in town that you can catch up with whenever you want. For instance, Don got more laughs with, "I love Gjelina. If people can't get a table, they come to Hal's for B+ food." Which happens a lot. Which is great for everyone. (If they can find parking ... which is why locals should walk or bike and take it all back over again).

All in attendance agreed that Hal's has been the center of the Artist's community in Venice, and as Linda Lucks of the Venice Neighborhood Council decreed (with certificates handed out), "Hal's is the unofficial City Hall of Venice." Another audience member said that no street has gone through as much change, so quickly, as Abbot Kinney, not even in New York ... and the locals come to Hal's to feel comfortable. And they do. Because of the consistent menu and local favorites - we learned that their famous (it has its own Facebook page!) turkey burger is due to Stockard Channing wanting a burger back when they were not on offer - to the familiar faces and warmth extended from everyone involved in the operation. Hal's is clearly a local treasure, and has been since they opened their doors back in the 1980's, when its address was the hard to locate West Washington Boulevard.

Local artist Peter Lodato spent a lot of time in New York, and he said that when he arrived back in L.A., Hal's became his spot because, "It felt like home." Don Novack added to that, saying, "Venice has STUFF. Grit, like New York." At least it always has, and God willing, that will remain in spite of the best (worst) efforts of the developer vultures circling.

Certificates were given, lovely Linda Novack got a beautiful bouquet of roses, and all the artists and locals in the Electric Lodge were thanked by the grateful panel from Hal's. Then we all ambled across the street, to get swept up in what Frederick called "The Mix" in the bar at Hal's. "It's ALWAYS been about the mix." By which he means, everyone is welcome ... struggling artist, millionaire artist, all ages, all races, all genders, all sexual orientations, any and everyone is in the mix. ALL will be welcome, at this beloved place that is "just a restaurant, but NOT just a restaurant ... it's so much more." It's Hal's.

Congratulations to all the Hal's family on 25 years of great times in Venice! And many more.

Adieu et Merci, Lilly's!

After 13 years of fun and Frenchness, Lilly's on Abbot Kinney closed for good last Friday. It was one of my favorites, and we Venice friends shared many a special occasion within those walls (and out on the lovely patio). Tres triste.

We went over on their last night to wish Chef Francis Bey adieu, and get one last order of moules frites, my favorite mermaid dish.

It was sad as people would come up to the packed and chaotic bar to place their orders, only to be told they no longer had that kind of rum in stock. Or on the night of the Blue Moon, to watch the bartender unscrew the tap for Blue Moon beer - fin.

Though it was sad, there was a lot of laughter and hugs among friends who were regulars at the delightful Lilly's over the years. We celebrated birthdays, babies, marriages, lives, and simple good meals with friends there many, many times over the years, and all of that bubbled to the surface on August 31st, as we clinked our glasses one final time.

Salut, Francis! Salut Lilly's!! And MERCI for the abundance of happy memories you provided so many of us over the last 13 years. I can't wait to see what you come up with next.



*I'm not sure exactly why Bey chose to close Lilly's doors now, but I have a feeling it has to do with the new and ridiculous rents. Now I hear that Jin Patisserie is closing too due to QUADRUPLED rent. Don't these greedy landlords realize that these are the very places that made Abbot Kinney special in the first place?! No one cares about another fancy clothes outpost, and the skyrocketing rents can't be sustained. They'll see. In the meantime, support the local places you love! While you still can.

AK Supper Club - Concept over Chef

Well, I get back into town and it's right back into the swing of things. I returned to a message from my friend, Alona Cooke, that the AK Supper Club has a new chef, already! Gone is Kevin Kathman, after some what sounds like mutual disagreements about the concept (that, interestingly, he also had at his last restaurant gig in Minneapolis, at the end of my friends street, where I just was), and in is Benadicto Gell, formerly of The Yard, Joe's and Red Medicine.

I had an impromptu opening in the action and met Alona at AKSC (formerly Capri) to sample the new menu and meet Mr. Gell. Oh, MAN, was it good!  We discussed the vision for the space, and it's really more of a Pop Up CHEF concept vs. Pop Up Restaurant ... "It's an adventure .. it's never the same experience," said Cooke.

Well, she's right there. The first dish we tried was an appetizer of scallop crudo, which I described as a dish a Mermaid would make to impress the Fairy Godmother of her Prince Charming. Does that sound gushy? Fine, it's worthy. Raw scallops in their shell sit in a pool of soothing, cool cucumber and melon water. Scattered over and around this loveliness are pearl currants that pop with tartness and look like jewelry from the sea. Topped with Thai basil and Peruvian mint, the ladies at the table could only laugh and roll our eyes. "I want to jump in and swim around", said one friend. I just shook my head and uttered, "It's like alchemy." Yuuuuuum. Summertime perfection.

Equally yet differently delicious were the shell on salt and peppery shrimp appetizer special that you just ate with the shell on because to not do so would be just weird with all that flavor. GOOOOOD. It reminded me of the Virgin Islands for some reason, and came with little slices of grapefruit and tangelo and tiny slices of red pepper that just combined to burst into savory perfection in your mouth. I loved it obscenely.

As I did the ridiculous lamb entree served with black figs, wild mushrooms and blackberry mustard. Within that were these little crunchy bits that turned out to be rendered crispy lamb fat chunks that were so full of flavor, formerly civil friends began to eye one another's hands with an eye to stab them with forks if they took one of those little guilty pleasures. "Aromatic." "I don't usually gnaw, but I'm going to." (ok, that was me).

The braised pork with mangu (a mixture of mashed yucca and plaintains - "African.") was an autumnal dish that would go well with crisp evenings and fireplaces. It also featured little crispy pork bits, and we again searched like truffle hogs around in the plate for them. Holy moly.

I called the poached black cod in corn broth bland ... until I almost drowned from my watery eyes due to a peppery bite that I wasn't prepared for. Take that, the cod appeared to say. Burned.

After we finished up this "Bacchanal of Pleasure" with some "Best Ever" coffee ice cream, we sat around and chatted with the talented new chef, Benedicto Gell. He's from Boston with Dominican heritage, so he's got flavor influences from all over. It's fun to talk to people about food when they so clearly love it dearly and want to share that with you. It's like Alona said, "You follow your instincts and your nose, not a Michelin guide." True. And you only have two weeks to get in on the current action starring Gell. Then it will be a new adventure, and I'm sure I'll tell you all about it, and try not to drool on you while I'm at it. Go. Now.


AK Supper Club
1616 Abbot Kinney
Venice
310.392.8777
Tuesday through Sunday, 6 - 11ish


*I also spoke with lovely Kailani who is taking over the former Wolf In Sheep's Clothing daytime operations. They're opening soon on Melrose and Fairfax and will be called The Hart and The Hunter. It promises to be out of this world again, and you can say you had it first as Wolf In Sheep's Clothing in Venice. Mmmm.



***UPDATE  - AK Supper Club is now closed for good. Will let you know about what goes into the Capri space, which we will all miss.