Warner Ebbink

Expert Interview: Warner Ebbink

Behind the Restaurateur

What were your favorite foods growing up?
Japanese, Italian, Mexican and diner food

When did you decide you wanted to be a restaurateur?
After college

Where and when did your career in food begin?
A Hawaiian breakfast place

If you didn't become a restaurateur, what would you be?
A farmer

Who/what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
Learning about farmers markets

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
Extra time and a creative mind

What influences your cooking style?
The weather and what ever is fresh at the farmers market

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Garlic, lemon, sea salt, olive oil and great butter

What is the one rule or value you try to instill in all of your staff?
Every customer counts.

If I'm trying to watch my weight and I'm eating at your restaurant, what should I order to eat?
The fish

What was your worst restaurant disaster?
Sending the band away for a private party

What is your least favorite food?
Chinese

What is your beverage of choice?
Anything pink

When you are not eating at your own restaurant, where are you eating?
At a Japanese restaurant

Which foreign country inspires your style most?
Japan for it's simplicity in all things

What was the most spectacular meal you have ever had?
Japanese breakfast in Kyoto

What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
Be brave.

What do you eat when you are home?
Whatever my wife cooks

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Expert Profile

Warner Ebbink is a native Angeleno whose passion for restaurants extends beyond cuisine to encompass the restaurant's history, architectural design and relationship with its neighborhood. It was this passion that led Ebbink to co-found Eat Heavy Restaurant Group, which is comprised of perennial Los Angeles favorites 101 Coffee Shop, Dominick's, Little Dom's and the Little Deli, all of which proudly reflect the fabric of and integral involvement in their respective neighborhoods.

Ebbink considers himself quite fortunate that his restaurants have become popular destinations, but notes, "We are really trying to support a neighborhood-based clientele. The celebrities and hipsters are just gravy." He also expresses a comforting--and in a city like L.A., extremely refreshing--philosophy about service. "We tend to treat regular people like stars and treat celebrities like regular people." During his spare time, Ebbink pursues his passion for architecture by restoring vintage homes and spends as much time as possible with his fiancée Audrey and their son Arlo.