Thursday Signore Lucchesi over at the San Francisco Chronicle confirms the growing suspicion that Aqua will be no longer at 252 California St.
He also shed light on something one of our audacious Eater commenters ferreted out: that the Whisk Group will be taking over the Aqua assets, meaning the name, Web site, furnishings, kitchen equipment, and liquor license. Whisk CEO Mark Weiss, who lives in DC, is currently in San Francisco to oversee the no doubt-laborious removal of the tangibles involved in the deal. But what's the real story with this Weiss character?
As it turns out, it's not too much of a shock that budding mega-restaurateur, Weiss would have his sights set on the Bay Area.
He worked at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay for five years before becoming regional vice president of the Ritz-Carlton and then moving on to found Whisk Group in 2009. And there's more than just Aqua in the air.
If you should glance at the Group's Web site, you'll see all of Weiss' other concepts, currently in the visionary stage. Again, a gastropub where local bartenders Josh Harris and Scott Baird consulted on the cocktail program, is currently the only one that's been realized in bricks and mortar.
Eater National reported on its October opening. Weiss actually intends to open several concepts in the Bay Area; so take a hard look at that Web site, because its quite possible one of those may surface at a street corner near you before Aqua returns from no man's land.
