Sabi Sushi, the restaurant without a restaurant, dries up

sabi sushi logo.jpg
Last summer, three freshly minted Duke grads opened Sabi Sushi in Denver, the first restaurant without a restaurant, with money won from a start-up contest at their university.

"First there were traditional restaurants," owner Shaan Puri told us at the time. "Then fast-casual, then food trucks, which are traditional restaurants on wheels. Sabi is the next step. We're attempting to deliver high-quality food and service without the actual walls or confines of a restaurant."

The owners said that Sabi would improve on the typical downtown delivery model by delivering a full restaurant experience to cubicle warriors who didn't have time for an hour lunch. They'd contracted a high-profile sushi chef to write their menu, and they generated considerable buzz when they launched.

But you can't eat buzz. And if you were relying on Sabi for that lunch, you'll have to find sustenance elsewhere, because the venture has dried up.

Not only has the number been disconnected and the Sabi Sushi website removed from the Internet, but Puri and co-founder Trevor Ragan have moved to Brisbane, Australia, to pursue other careers. The third member of the trio, Dan Certner, left Denver for the Bay Area.

As for the restaurant without a restaurant? It quietly closed its metaphorical doors.

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Sabi Sushi

Downtown Denver, Denver, CO

Category: Restaurant

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offdisc
offdisc

Less than a year? Go back to the original posting and see how many of us called this one a failure in the making. The owners proudly explained the higher costs of doing things correctly (premium fish every day, transport costs with temperature controlled boxes, etc). Guess they didn't count the fact that no one, customers or their own staff, wanted to stand around World Trade in the friggin' cold waiting for the orders! Whoops!

minion underling
minion underling

 i would have thought that most of the people who would have paid for this would have sent their underlings to pick up the food.  So it would have only been minions standing around in the cold.

GFTW
GFTW

None of them fucked off for Aruba??

Guest
Guest

Makes sense. Living off a trust fund in Australia sounds more fun than work.

Manfrenjensen
Manfrenjensen

File this one under "D" for one of the Dumbest F@#%ing Ideas Ever.

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