A Stone Cave on the Strip, Kozo Brings Afro-Asian Dining to Sunset
The restaurant from Accra and Kigali opens its first room outside Africa at 8500 Sunset, with Julian Cox on cocktails.
The Sunset Strip is getting a stone cave. Kozo, which already operates in Accra, Ghana, and Kigali, Rwanda, is opening its first location outside Africa at 8500 Sunset Boulevard, and The Infatuation’s fall guide puts the opening in late October.
Founder Ramzi Yamusah, a Ghanaian entrepreneur, is not interested in a copy. “We didn’t come to Los Angeles to replicate what already exists,” he said.
Nisa Punjabi of NAP Design Studio designed the roughly 6,000-square-foot space. The Infatuation describes “a glamorous stone cave look with timber pillars shipped from Ghana,” and Forbes notes interconnected rooms, carved wood, woven materials, water features, warm bronze tones and a dramatic central bar.
Executive chef Sakorn Somboon’s menu moves between continents, with king crab miso rolls, wagyu-truffle gyoza with suya spice, and charcoal-grilled peri-peri chicken marinated with kimchi. Julian Cox runs the bar, with cocktails built on baobab, marula, yuzu, shiso and matcha.
