The industry rumor mill keeps churning, and the latest makes some sense: Following on the heels of Beard Award-winning chef Michael Mina’s announcement that he’d be re-taking the helm at Aqua (the restaurant that made his name) Eater catches wind from a tipster, who may or may not work for Mina, that he is planning to shutter Restaurant Michael Mina at month’s end.
The restaurant lost a Michelin star in 2010 due to inconsistencies in the food, and perhaps Mina is looking to start afresh back in a kitchen he used to call home. Will he move his eponymous, fine dining restaurant concept to the Aqua space, or will he hit the restart button and do something completely different, as he hinted he might when the announcement was made?
We’re waiting on official word from Mina’s publicist, and it’s perfectly possible that this is pure rumor, but like we said: kinda makes sense. File under: Developing…
Update: Still no response from the team, but we’re taking the rumor with a grain of salt at the moment, if only because some recent union fights have meant that a lot of rumors have flown back and forth in recent months.
5 p.m. Update: The Scoop is saying that Mina is merely pondering some concept changes at Michael Mina, and would only implement any changes once the revamped Aqua has taken shape. “He has every intention of hanging onto both prized spaces.” [Inside Scoop/Chron]
Rumormongering [Eater]
Earlier: Michael Mina Retakes Helm at Aqua [Grub Street]
