It’s fun to have foodie friends. It’s even better to have vaunted French chefs as friends: see Christopher Trela’s page 20 suggestions on preparing a blowout celebration meal, courtesy of Chef Pascal Olhats, who has turned to catering private events after his two decades-long tenure at Café Jardin at the Sherman Library and Gardens in CdM.
Gary Jabara can attest. The OC wireless exec says he has long known Bay Area Chef Philippe Jeanty; Jabara previously owned the famed building that once housed San Francisco’s Jeanty at Jack’s restaurant in the city’s financial district. The landmark Sacramento St. property, built in 1863, was reported to be SF’s second-oldest restaurant.
Jeanty at Jack’s is now closed but the chef still has another site, Bistro Jeanty, in the Napa Valley city of Yountville, and it’s directly across the street from the 22-acre The Estate Yountville.
Jabara said that keeping up with Jeanty helped him keep tabs on the city’s prized resort property, which is set to be added to his growing commercial real estate portfolio; see page 1 for more on that estimated $300 million deal, a Business Journal exclusive.
Irvine Co. is going big at Fashion Island, announcing plans earlier this month to build a four-story, 80,000-square-foot store for RH, previously known as Restoration Hardware.
Among the design flourishes planned for the project, located on the ocean-facing side of the shopping center, are a rooftop restaurant and wine bar enclosed by glass.
It’ll be the first such RH project of its type in OC. The Corte Madera-based retailer’s been aiming to up the experiential aspects of the shopping experience with its newest iterations of its stores. Irvine Co. said the new site, opening in 2024, will offer an “integrated hospitality experience.”
Want an idea of what type of vibe the new design center will offer? Go to Yountville, where a similar (but smaller) RH opened in 2018; Jabara bought the multi-building site a year later for a reported $23.5 million, among his first big acquisitions in the city.
Expect fine dining at the new Fashion Island spot. Jabara says the eatery on-site at the Napa Valley RH, the chain’s first stand-alone restaurant, does well enough on its own to nearly cover the rent for the traditional retail-portion of the property.
Change of another kind for OC’s largest shopping center: David Grant, South Coast Plaza’s general manager and the company’s current longest-standing employee at over 44 years, last week announced his retirement.
Grant was invited in 1977 by his father-in-law, the late Henry Segerstrom, to join the family business. Grant became GM in 1995, and never stopped changing with the times. In the early days of the pandemic, he developed The Pavilion, an open-air shopping area that was located in the Hermès valet parking structure.
Said Katrina Foley, OC Supervisor and the former Mayor of Costa Mesa: “Only David could turn a parking lot into a luxury brand pavilion.”
