A Santa Monica-based Hawaiian seafood restaurant will open its second branch in Westwood Village by early summer.
Sweetfin Poké will be located at 800 Degrees’ old to-go location next to Peet’s Coffee and Tea on Westwood Boulevard. Customers will be able to build their own poké bowl or choose from a list of pre-selected combinations, priced between $10 and $14, according to the Santa Monica location’s menu.
Poké is a Hawaiian dish that typically combines marinated raw fish, such as tuna or salmon, with a rice or seaweed base. The dish can be topped with a variety of seasonings and sauces.
Sweetfin Poké founders Seth Cohen, Brett Nestadt and Alan Nathan teamed up with Dakota Weiss, former contestant on “Top Chef” and executive chef at The Backyard at the W Hotel, to create the chain’s menu.
Cohen said the restaurant’s success in Santa Monica motivated them to open more locations. He added the storefront on Westwood Boulevard, at the junction of a university, a medical plaza, business offices and a residential community, is a prime choice for Sweetfin Poké’s next location.
“(Westwood Village) strikes a balance between companies along Wilshire, local residents and the university,” he said. “We think the community will appreciate our offerings.”
Jim Brooks, president of Topa Management Company, a company that manages numerous residential and commercial properties across Los Angeles and Hawaii, said he thinks it’s sensible to bring to Westwood a restaurant that offers a unique and healthy food concept. He added poké restaurants are rare in West Los Angeles, but their popularity is constantly growing.
Brooks said he thinks the restaurant may also attract customers who normally do not venture to Westwood Village.
“People are looking for an experience that doesn’t already exist,” he said. “Similar to the impact of The Boiling Crab, (Sweetfin Poké may) attract clientele that normally wouldn’t want to come to the Village.”
Steve Sann, chair of the Westwood Community Council, said he thinks Sweetfin Poké will improve Westwood’s culinary scene after repetitive restaurant types have settled in Westwood recently.
“Bringing them in is going to bust the Village’s formulaic trend of pizza and hamburgers,” he said.
Allison Ortiz, a third-year anthropology student, said the new store will not draw her to the Village because she does not find the poké concept interesting.
Donald Nguyen, a third-year astrophysics student, said he thinks the new restaurant will be a positive addition to Westwood Village because of its distinct menu.
“As a college student I really don’t venture often into the Village, mostly because it’s costly to eat out,” he said. “But I do like and appreciate the fact that there is a restaurant opening up that is marketing themselves as a healthy alternative.”
Email Siu at bsiu@media.ucla.edu or tweet him @benjaminsiu.