About Us
Tabula Rasa Bar opened in September of 2016 in Thai Town, Los Angeles. We are a neighborhood bar that serves $6 beers at Happy Hour; a place to enjoy a glass of exclusive female made, vintage, Grower Champagne poured by the winemaker herself; it is where you celebrate your birthday and where you bring your parents when they come to town. It is a safe space for all people. We serve 20 natural wines by the glass and offer over 200 bottle selections to enjoy in house or to take home as retail. In time we have been open, Tabula Rasa Bar has received critical acclaim and become known throughout the world as a premier destination for natural wine and hospitality. We were named Los Angeles’s #1 Wine Bar by Los Angeles Magazine in early 2020 and have been recognized in Wine Enthusiast, Wine & Spirits, The Los Angeles Times, Goop, EATER, The Infatuation, Time Out, Punch, well as many other publications. We are a small business owned and operated by Zach Negin and Nicole Dougherty and lovingly staffed by the best team in town. Come visit us at 5125 Hollywood Blvd!
Nicole Dougherty
Owner & Beverage Director
Nicole Dougherty is owner and operating partner of Tabula Rasa Bar, acting as Beverage Director since joining Tabula Rasa in 2018. The program focuses on clean natural wines, highlighting female made wines and wines from under-represented areas alongside classics. She and her business partner Zach Negin most recently created, conceptualized and opened Sur Le Vert Wine Bar in Beverly Hills as opening consultants. Her Los Angeles projects have been recognized in Wine Enthusiast, Wine & Spirits, The Los Angeles Times, and Eater, among others. She has been on the opening team for 5 food and beverage projects since 2013- ranging from a Michelin Bib Gourmand in San Francisco to a retail wine shop in North Hollywood. She has also spent years in importing and distributing, including time with one of the first importers of natural wine in America, Neal Rosenthal. She strives to provide access for all people to natural wine while maintaining warm hospitality, empowering her employees, and managing and operating successful small businesses.
Zach Negin
Owner
Zach started Tabula Rasa Bar in 2016 with the goal of making it the best neighborhood bar in Los Angeles. He guided the design, construction and opening of Tabula Rasa’s expansion to a sister wine shop in North Hollywood in 2022 before handing it off to a former employee. In 2020 Zach partnered with Steven Acosta to purchase the historic Silverlake Lounge on Sunset Blvd, reviving the 80+ year venue and bar. Zach is also a partner in a neighborhood corner shop in San Francisco called Dolores Deluxe. Zach originally honed his skill for small business and hospitality through his first business, a mustard company in San Diego, CA. Prior to opening Tabula Rasa Bar, Zach was on the opening team of the highly lauded restaurant Bestia. In early 2023 Zach and Nicole were brought in to consult on opening a wine bar in the former Bouchon Bar space in Beverly Hills, naming it Sur le Vert. They were given 30 days to concept, develop, staff, and open it, and on day 29 they welcomed in their family and friends for feedback for 2 nights before opening to the public the following night.