Venice Restaurant Guide

For many months, Sassan traveled around Europe on a quest to hone his culinary and tasting skills. Formerly the lunch chef at Rustic Canyon Wine Bar in Santa Monica, Sassan decided to seek inspiration for the next chapter in his culinary career. Meanwhile, older brother Saul, a lawyer and self-proclaimed foodie, was working 60 hour weeks and when not in the office he was always on a quest for his next great meal. However, finding something better than fast food but less time-consuming than fine dining that was healthy, casual and reasonably priced became an exercise in frustration.

So, when Sassan returned from his excursion, the brothers talked about opening their own place where the menu would be comprised of dishes made with seasonal, organic and locally sourced ingredients and the price point would be right; nothing over $11. Within a very short period of time, a small restaurant space with an excellent location in Venice became available and the guys grabbed it. Coming up with a name was easy. The restaurant that vacated the space (which has been a restaurant space for the past 25 years) was Jimmy's on Hampton. In an effort to maintain the traditional neighborhood feel of the restaurant they kept "on Hampton" and then made it their own by adding Sauce as a play on Sassan's family nickname Sass (pronounced "sauce). Voila! Sauce on Hampton was born.

Walk into Sauce on Hampton on any day of the week and Sassan is there to give you a warm welcome, cook you a great breakfast, lunch or dinner and maybe even give you one of his delicious cookies. And if it's a Saturday or Sunday, Saul can be found sitting at an outside table, enjoying one of the most popular burgers on the menu, Gilda's Garden, named after mom Rostamian.