Breaking EaterWire: Ron Siegel and Co. Drop Myth Deal
Hot news off the wire from the ongoing Pacific Avenue saga known as the Myth sale: the Chronicle is now reporting that Ritz-Carlton Dining Room chef Ron Siegel, sommelier Stephane Lacroix and Carl Pascarella have cut bait on the pending deal to buy Myth. From SFGate:
The three have been in negotiations to buy the restaurant from owner Tom Duffy and K2K Development since late last year and had hoped to take over this fall. But when that didn't happen, and the economy took a turn for the worse, the trio became concerned that a new venture would be too risky...
The option to buy the restaurant expired at 5 p.m. Tuesday, said Duffy, who would not elaborate on the future of Myth.
According to the report, Siegel will (happily) stay on at the Ritz—is it too late to add it to the
Top 100, MB?—and Duffy says that Myth's scheduled closure and renovations will take place as previously planned, though uncertainty continues to continue down in Jackson Square.
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Siegel group bails out of deal to buy Myth restaurant [Chron]
Bauer 100 Aftermath: Last Restaurant In, Plus Reactions
The 100, sorted by cuisine: Pescheria present, Firefly left off.
As usual, Michael Bauer's list of the top 100 restaurants in the Bay Area has provoked plenty of discussion. While there might be some eyebrow-raisers among the newcomers and remnants from '07, we'd venture to say that this year, there might be more buzz surrounding those restaurants that didn't make it, particularly since one currently holds a perfect four stars (the Ritz), another had four stars until recently (Fleur de Lys) and La Taqueria has been the cheap eats delegate since the Top 100 was started in 1996.
The last restaurant in, list discrepencies and the agony of Michael Bauer >>
MythGate: The Rumor Mill Continues to Continue
On the gossip front, the rumor mill keeps on churning regarding the future of Myth. The latest entrant in the race to find out what exactly is happening down on Pacific Avenue comes from the Chron, who spoke to former Myth honcho Tom Duffy. Here's what Duffy had to say, directly via the BauerBlog:
Ron Siegel and Stephane Lacroix, the touted chef and sommelier of the critically acclaimed the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, have joined forces with Carl Pascarella, the former CEO of Visa USA and a regular on the San Francisco social scene, to buy and run Myth and its sister cafe, says Tom Duffy, former owner of the popular restaurant.
Pascarella, the financial architect on the project, signed a purchase agreement on Friday afternoon, according to Duffy.
However, in the same
post, Michael Bauer and Company also ran a quote from Siegel in which the chef emphasizes that he has merely been approached by Myth and "
nothing is finalized." In other words, Myth's story is far from complete, and only the next couple weeks/months will tell if the rumors remain rumors (Sidenote: and how appropriate is its name now?). Stay tuned.
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The truth about Myth [Between Meals]
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Ron Siegel Leaving the Ritz For Myth? [~ESF~]
[Photo courtesy]
EaterWire: Ron Siegel Leaving the Ritz For Myth?
[Photo: Flickr/violetbloom]
JACKSON SQUARE—From Food & Wine's (transfixed) Kate Krader comes news a rumor of a massive chef shuffle involving some local biggies: "I could go on about so many other great meals and drinks, but I'm transfixed by the big news I heard: Ron Siegel ... is leaving the Ritz Carlton—along with sommelier Stephane Lacroix—to take over the kitchen at Myth from another of our great [Best New Chefs], Sean O'Brien." This just goes to show you that if you let a F&W senior editor run loose in this town for a week, she'll uncover some juice. Background reading on last month's Myth ownership change can be had over at the BauerBlog; more details on Siegel at Myth as they come in, natch. [Mouthing Off]
**UPDATE 1/9: Staying true to its name, Mouthing Off apparently jumped the gun a bit on this story, as we've now learned that nothing has been made official. Siegel and Lacroix have indeed been contacted by the Myth people, but at this point, there's nothing to report beyond a standard preliminary courtship. Repeat: just a rumor; nothing close to official yet.
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