Richard Blais 'Loves' SF But Won't Be Moving Here [Update]

That rumor that Top Chef All Stars champ Richard Blais had his sights set on the Bay Area appears to be pure rumor. As Eater San Diego reported last month, he's opening a restaurant down there, due later this year, and he told Zagat in Aspen that he's heading to Mexico and Peru to do some research for it. Also he adds, vaguely, "As a chef/restaurateur I love SF, it's one of my favorite cities. I'm a native New Yorker and I say that." So maybe SF is still in the cards eventually? For what its worth, his reps have not been able to confirm or deny whether he was looking for property in the Bay Area, and he has ignored our emails asking about it. Update: A rep confirms that he is, in fact, relocating to San Diego. So that's that.

· Aspen 2013: Richard Blais on Expanding to San Diego and Summer Travel Plans [Zagat]
· Here Is Richard Blais' Future Restaurant Site [~ESD~]
· Richard Blais OUT of Atlanta, Moving to the Bay Area? [~EATL~]