Peruvian Nikkei Once Says Adios to the Las Vegas Strip

Peruvian Nikkei restaurant Once from chef Ricardo Zarate closes after service on Saturday, February 29. The member of the Eater 38 specializes in Peruvian ingredients prepared using Japanese techniques.

Zarate opened the restaurant nearly two years ago at the Grand Canal Shoppes and named the restaurant Once — pronounced on-seh, which means “eleven” in Spanish — because it symbolizes Zarate’s spot in his line of 13 siblings. The restaurant debuted after the chef launched Rosaliné, which he named for his mother, in West Hollywood in 2017.

Zarate dissolved a business partnership, which in turn sparked the restaurant closing, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. That also means a second location in Brooklyn will no longer open.

In 2009, Zarate landed in Los Angeles and went on to debut a mini empire of restaurants that introduced the city to Peruvian cuisine. He earned a nod from Food & Wine as Best New Chef 2012.

Although Once is closing, the RJ reports that Zarate is looking for new space in Las Vegas.

• Meet the Godfather of Peruvian Cuisine [ELV]

• All Coverage of Once [ELV]

• Every Restaurant and Bar That Closed in Las Vegas: 2020 Edition [ELV]