Our Fifi Chao worked right up to deadline on this one, reporting that Brasserie Pascal—the Fashion Island fixture owned by one-time Taco Bell boss John Martin—has closed its doors for good. Word is that Chef Pascal Olhats—who has several other kitchens to mind around OC—hadn’t consulted there in several months …
Fifi’s other scoop— Dieter Hissin has gone from the Balboa Bay Club & Resort to the Island Hotel in Newport Center as GM—came in time to make her monthly Executive Dining column on page 12, by the way. Former Island Hotel GM Donald Stamets apparently has moved on to a managing director’s post at Omni Hotels’ Amelia Island Plantation Resort near Jacksonville, Fla. …
Much of the rest of this issue is given over to our Business People of the Year honors, a last bit of coverage for 2013 and a springboard into 2014 (see page 1, related stories inside). John Krafcik’s recent departure from Hyundai Motor America—just as the company gets set to move into its interesting new headquarters along the 405 in Fountain Valley—is a reminder that recognition doesn’t come with any lifetime passes. Krafcik shared top honors with Byung Mo Ahn, CEO of Irvine-based sister company Kia Motors America, for 2011. Not much being said by either party about Krafcik’s ouster, and newly appointed David Zuchowski is mostly mum. The auto press has been pointing to a recent $200 million settlement Hyundai made on exaggerated mileage claims for some models, as well as a plateau it hit on sales in 2013. Not so fast—the mileage snafu tracked entirely to engineers who didn’t report to Krafcik, and the leveling off of sales came after three years of records and an unwillingness of the parent company in South Korea to boost production capacity to meet demand. Other clues point to the likelihood that Krafcik and Hyundai had settled into a bad marriage, and both sides spent a good bit of the past year working out a divorce settlement …
There ought to be plenty of opportunities for Hyundai and Krafcik despite their falling out. That’s what we take away from the 2014 outlook sent along by OC mega-dealer David Wilson, who expects a 10% increase in sales at his lots, taking total revenue over the $2 billion mark for the year. And that’s despite Wilson’s expectation that healthcare reform will cut into disposable income, costing dealers some sales and trimming margins. Our Vita Reed has more on the outlook for healthcare insurance prices in her column on page 82 …
From car sales to race cars: In-N-Out heiress Lynsi Torres isn’t the only fast-food CEO with a need for speed, as Kari Hamanaka’s report on Wienerschnitzel boss Cindy Galardi Culpepper indicates …
Gamers and developers aren’t the only ones keeping a close eye on Irvine-based virtual reality headset developer Oculus VR Inc. The company, which recently raised $75 million in venture funding, got a nice plug on the Dec. 29 broadcast of Face the Nation. Contributor Seth Fletcher, a senior editor at Scientific American, picked the startup as one of his top technology stories to follow in 2014 …
2-Paper Town, Christmas Day edition: LA Times—“222,000 in State to Lose Jobless Aid” … OC Register—“Merry Christmas” with full-page image of Santa delivering presents on the beach …
Lineup change: Rex Bossert from assistant dean for communications and public affairs at UCI School of Law to chief executive for communications for the California State Bar in San Francisco.
