Oliveto executive chef Paul Canales (who not long ago landed on the Food Chain with his squab), is parting ways with the well-established Oakland restaurant after fifteen years, in what’s described as an amicable separation, as the Scoop reports. His replacement will be Jonah Rhodehamel, who’s already been on board to make for a seamless transition and who previously worked at La Folie and Americano. Canales’ last day will be Saturday, December 4, and he’s got a solo project in the works, elsewhere in Oakland. Update: Grub Street spoke with Canales, who says he’ll definitely be taking some time off, and he’s still contemplating several possible spaces for the new venture.
“Over the holidays, I’m looking forward to seeing what decompressing feels like,” Canales says. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to. I’m a pretty high-energy person. But it’ll be nice to have Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve off. I haven’t had that in fifteen years.”
Canales says he wants his new project to incorporate several of his passions in one space — food, music, and even dance. “It won’t be a club, per se, but a place where you can potentially experience all of these things at once.” He’s been collaborating with musicians on some jazz events, and that’s served as an inspiration.
As for the ETA on the project, he doesn’t want to get too confident that it will come together within six months, but mid-2011 might be a fair estimate. He says not to expect any further details, or anything firm on a space, until the new year.
Oliveto and longtime chef Paul Canales part ways [Scoop]
Earlier: Oliveto’s Review Rebuttal Calls Out Bauer’s Methods [Grub Street]
