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Several tipsters alerted us to the shutter of Roppongi Restaurant & Sushi Bar, which announced its closure rather suddenly last night. Owned by Sami Ladeki, the eatery, which is part of the Ladeki Restaurant Group (Sammy's Woodfired Pizza), had been in operation in downtown La Jolla since 1998.
Ladeki tells Eater that he had been contemplating a top-to-bottom refresh of the restaurant but with his lease coming up, made the difficult decision to pull the plug; he acknowledged that business had been dwindling in recent months, and cited the shutter of several other eateries on Prospect Street, from Amici to Bijou, as evidence of the neighborhood's changing restaurant climate.
But fans of Roppongi's Asian fusion cuisine may still have hope. Ladeki says he would consider transplanting the concept to another, smaller location. Eater also checked in on the status of his Sammy's Woodfired Pizza outpost on Pearl Street, which has been closed since last month due to a kitchen fire; it will likely be six months before it can reopen.
