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When fine dining stalwart Piccolo Venice decided to turn off the lights back in August, there was absolutely no talk of what might become of the restaurant space at 5 Dudley Avenue. As it turns out, Piccolo chef Bobo Ivan hasn’t given the place up, instead reworking the room into the eponymous Bobo, which is now quietly open as of a week or so ago.
Signage is up and a new ABC license shows a partner by the name of Ichiro Sakashita, but otherwise the place is still Ivan’s to run with. The reworked menu seems to be a bit more skewed more towards the casual side, with $20 plates of pasta, $12 kale salads, and larger dishes like pork chops and rabbit. There is still a six-course tasting menu running $75 a head, but perhaps the dinner-only Bobo is taking a play from its neighbor Dudley Market in trying to go upscale casual for the neighborhood.
Either way, it’s a welcome return for chef Ivan, whose once-bursting restaurant empire has been forced into some serious cuts of late. Now with the more easygoing Bobo on the scene, Venice itself is down one less fancy dinner option too, though it’s worth noting Joe’s still going strong on Abbot Kinney.
Bobo
5 Dudley Ave.
Venice, CA
