Originally opened in 1990 in Santa Monica, Axe was a popular destination for surrounding business people and residents featuring a simple breakfast and lunch menu. A short time later the clientele expanded as did the menu which began to include dinner. After the 1994 earthquake, Axe was abruptly closed due to damage to the old brick building that housed it. Three months later, under barricade and scaffold, the cafe reopened for a brief nine-month period. It wasn’t until 1999 that Axe was resurrected in its current location on Abbot Kinney. In Venice, chef-owner Joanna Moore found the perfect locale to set roots and develop her original project even further.
The self-designed restaurant is constructed of congona and black acacia woods. Handmade jute lamps lend warmth and richness to the serene, modern and unique space where Joanna’s design sensibilities (she studied at Art Center) and innate passion for food co-exist. Open windows invite the ocean breeze into the simple and spare space giving us a calm refuge from the city outside. Axe’s seasonal menu is culturally diverse, uncomplicated yet refined and highlights beautiful local farm direct organic ingredients. Joanna can only describe it best as soul food from California that nourishes both the body and the spirit. The beer and wine list reflects Axe’s commitment to artisan products and features boutique producers that make their product with love and care.
More than a restaurant Axe is a place where the ideal of neighborhood can be shared with a city as big as Los Angeles. A place where food has the great power to bring people together to enjoy the pleasures it brings while enhancing a social gathering.
Place Categories: Breakfast, California Cuisine, Counter Seating, Cuisine, European Restaurants, Farm to Table, Features, Mediterranean Restaurants, Outside Dining, Personal Wines Welcome, Private Dining and Weekend Brunch