Beloved Malibu Restaurant Reopens After Tragedy

MALIBU, CA — Sonrisa is the Spanish word for “smile,” and after a long, hard journey, Howdy and Linda Kabrins finally have reason to smile.

On Monday, the Malibu couple reopened their beloved restaurant Howdy’s Sonrisa Café near the intersection of Civic Center Way and Cross Creek Road. The restaurant serving up smiles as well as California and Latin cuisine became a Malibu staple that inspired one resident to say, “Howdy is Malibu and Malibu is Howdy.”

But the Kabrins had to close the popular restaurant after tragedy struck. In 2015, their only child, Gabriela “Gaby” Kabrins Alban, was brutally murdered in South Africa by her boyfriend, Guatemalan billionaire Diego Novella.

After the murder, the Kabrins relocated to Cape Town, South Africa to make sure that Novella was brought to justice. They spent three difficult years there enmeshed in the justice system, and needed to shut down their popular hangout back home. During that time, Howdy also suffered from pneumonia, a mugging, a bad fall during a hike, and the financial hardships of fighting a legal battle while shutting down a family business, according to the Malibu Times.

In Sept. 2018, a South African court sentenced Novella to 20 years in prison, which falls short of the country’s maximum life sentence of 25 years.

“Linda and I miss Malibu and our special friends there,” Howdy told the Malibu Times shortly after the sentencing. “I gotta get back to work. Maybe open a new Howdy’s, if I could only find a location.”

He did, and after two years and a devastating pandemic that shut down businesses everywhere, Howdy’s Sonrisa Café finally reopened in an emotional gathering Monday night.

A crowd enjoyed burritos, halibut ceviche, and drinks, according to a report from the Malibu Surfside News. Cantor Marcelo Gindlin of the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue emceed the event, giving Jewish blessings to celebrate the new restaurant and the Kabrins’ overcoming tragedy.

“God is inside all of us,” Gindlin said. “These two people, Howdy and Linda, embody godliness and Howdy, you became our teacher as we all shared in your painful journey.”

He then added that while “New York has the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge, Malibu has the Malibu Pier and Howdy’s.”

The space was also blessed by shaman Missy Sunseri, who led a moment of silence to remember Gaby Kabrins. Pepperdine University President James Gash also spoke, noting that Gaby graduated from the university in 1998 and “continues to be a part of our family.”

“Thank you all for being here and the reason we are here is because of all of you,” Linda Kabrins said. “The only way I could convince Howdy to reopen the restaurant was because of your support. We were still in South Africa when [developer] Steve Soboroff called and said Howdy had to put a Howdy’s here. At first, Howdy said, ‘I won’t do anything, I’ve got a broken heart.’ However, I begged him and forced him to open this restaurant. Muchas gracias!”