One of downtown’s trendiest buildings is looking to get even edgier. Niku X, an upscale Japanese restaurant with a French influence, has signed a lease to occupy the Wilshire Grand Center. The restaurant, created by Haibin Yang and David Zhao of The X Pot, will open this fall.
The eatery will occupy more than 8,000 square feet of space, for which it signed a 10-year lease. The landlord, Hanjin International Corp., was represented by Kennedy Wilson’s Lee Shapiro and Justin Weiss.
“We’ve recognized the success that Niku X’s sister restaurant, The X Pot, has garnered in Las Vegas, and we are thrilled to bring this new refined establishment to the Wilshire Grand Center,” Weiss said in a statement.
Niku X is being designed by AC Martin with touches from DWDW’s founder De Shun Wang. It will feature three private rooms in addition to a main dining area. The restaurant will have traditional Japanese design elements. It will also have a dry-aging meat cellar and meat imported from Japan.
“Niku X represents the perfect example of the rising popularity of the fine-dining category embodying elements of artistry and culture,” Shapiro said in a statement. “The restaurant will feature an open dining concept which allows for personal connections to be made between the chefs and guests, a quality we typically do not see in upscale dining experiences.”
Shin Thompson, a Michelin-starred chef, is leading the restaurant. He is known for his gastronomy offerings at the now-closed Chicago-based French restaurant Bonsoiree, Japanese comfort food eatery Furious Spoon and Bokuchan’s Japanese Curry House.
The Wilshire Grand Center, at 900 Wilshire Blvd., is a 73-story skyscraper that opened in 2017; it is the tallest structure on the West Coast.
The building is home to the 889-room InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown hotel and has a skydeck on the top floor. It also has offices and amenity space.
