Operating out of a pop-up space in Culver City, Nabiya is meant to be an “inviting, comfortable space — nothing scary,” for people to meet and learn from each other. Founded by Isabell Manibusan, previously the pastry chef at Liu’s Cafe, and Lana Kim, previously general manager at Baroo and other reputable institutions, the two industry veterans wanted to discover their own place within the culinary scene to grow and evolve.
Nabiya, the Korean word for butterfly, is a fitting name for the evolution Manibusan and Kim hope to achieve — emerging into the culinary world of their own accord. Tired of working for other people, the two wanted to have the freedom to be inventive and creative.
“Now, we’re kind of exploring our own goal and American heritage because we’re getting older,” Kim said. “Diaspora is something you want to belong to.”
The project explores their Korean American heritage, playing with fermentation and classic styles. However, Kim said that while they stay true to certain forms in terms of culinary technique, they want to be able to “play loose with flavors and what [they] think can work.”
Nabiya is also a uniquely community-focused effort. They offer pick-up meal services, tea tastings, cooking workshops and after-hours dinners, which occur every month. Manibusan also mentioned that they will soon start exploring a cafe-by-day concept with new hours.
One of the main focuses of their services so far have been the late-night hangouts, which they call community dinners, that intend to create a space for others in the industry to be able to retire when it’s late and nothing else is open but fast food chains. Aside from operating as a late-night haven, it’s also a space for people to talk, meet and learn from each other.
“For the community dinners, we are trying to make it as fun as possible,” Kim said. “It’s whatever we want to do, what we enjoy and how we want to do that interpretation, so we don’t think that we belong to one singular community.”
They take flavors that aren’t recognizable in American food culture and apply them to more traditional culinary techniques, such as with their May hangout, which was a three course menu that began with vegetable summer rolls with peanut sauce and jeow som, which is a Laotian dip with flavor profiles of chili, garlic and fish sauce, an experience best encapsulated by its colloquial name “crack sauce.” It ended with chè, a Vietnamese ice-based dessert with various toppings including grass jelly, various fruits like pineapple and lychee and a mixture of coconut milk and fruit juice.
The main course was their shrimp boil, which underscored their project of experimenting with tradition in unique forms. They took the typically Cajun dish and infused it with Southeast Asian flavors such as lime and coconut as a celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander month. A highlight of the dish was the Laotian sausage which they source from Westminster, which was deeply savory, aromatic and completely unlike any mediocre hot dog that may come to mind. You’re best off experiencing it for yourself, which goes back to the underlying motivation of Nabiya — becoming a safe space for people to learn. It is important to Kim and Manibusan that food does not scare people who aren’t well-versed in the culinary space.
“We really wanted to be pillars where people do come to us for questions, do come to us if they want more culinary experience,” Kim said.
She went on to say that her favorite thing about Nabiya is getting to see people enjoy food and not feel intimidated, which is both humbling and extremely exciting. The future is promising for Nabiya as their ambitions continue to expand and they continue to carve out their space in the culinary scene. It’s a way for the two to evolve from everything they have experienced in the industry, while turning what they’ve learned into a home for their dreams and for their community.
“We want to develop into a place that’s just serving good food and not taking ourselves too seriously,” Kim said. “Because it’s just food. It’s just food at the end of the day.”
