Wabi Sabi to become pescatarian-vegan restaurant and late-night sake bar

Smith Street's Wabi Sabi Salon has stayed the course as the once-grungy, now gentrified, gelatified strip has entirely transformed over the past 14 years. But the time has come for change.

In mid-April, owners Saori and Tomoya Kawasaki will start a renovation and reopen in June with a new, minimalist look, a pescatarian and vegan menu, and a late-night sake bar open from 10pm-1am at weekends.

The Kawasakis already cater to the non-meat crowds with their perpetually busy canteen Neko Neko, serving vegan ramen, okonomiyaki and teishoku (set meal) platters just around the corner on Gertrude Street.

The plan for Wabi Sabi 2.0 is to have a more refined, constructed menu cooked by chef Shingo Tochimoto, designed for dining, rather than the eat-and-dash food of Neko, a little like a Japanese version of Fitzroy's upscale vegetarian, Transformer.

Japanese designers and carpenters the de Keyzers (brothers Shaun and Neil de Keyser) will be doing the minimalist fitout, adding an entry via the rear courtyard and turning the mezzanine into a DJ deck for the late-night, sake-fuelled times to come.

Wabi Sabi Salon will be closed mid-April to late May; 94 Smith Street, Collingwood, wabisabisalon.com.au