California Chef David Kinch Is 'Probably Doing Another Restaurant'

It's only been about three months since a two alarm fire brought operations at the two Michelin-starred restaurant Manresa in Los Gatos, CA to a halt, but chef/owner David Kinch is already looking towards the future. Today he told Eater that along with rebuilding his restaurant and working towards a proper space for the Manresa Bread Project (both before the end of the year), he's also "probably doing another restaurant."

Kinch — who has previously said he has "a couple of other projects in me and I'm working on that" — credits the need to provide his staff with opportunities to grow as the main reason why he wants a second restaurant.

"In the 12 years we've been open I've had really incredibly talented people come through the restaurant, and if I have any kind of regret it's that I haven't created the opportunity for these very talented people for when they reach the point where I can no longer challenge them or perhaps compensate them for everything they've done in our small little world, our one little restaurant. That's something I revisited with the tragedy that's happened and that's something I want to correct."

He says that the "concept or the theme" is still "more of a thought process" right now, but one thing is certain. If Kinch opens another restaurant, it will not be too far from Manresa. "I live in Santa Cruz," he says. "We own the land and the property where Manresa is. We're not going anywhere, it's our little corner of the world."

In regards to a second restaurant, Kinch says he's been "thinking about it for a long time." Back in 2011, he told Eater that he would one day like to open a "like to have a casual concept." Now he is most concerned that growth happens "in an organic way." Stay tuned for more.