Late Tuesday night, the ground-breaking news broke that Nate Appleman has ceremoniously left both A16 and SPQR. 7x7 first dropped the rumor, which was quickly followed by a Chron report, which was quickly followed by an internetstorm crying out like it was Armageddon Nateageddon.
The move comes in a year in which Appleman has garnered all kinds of national media love, most notably Beard's Rising Star and F&W Best New Chefs. Both local restaurants will pretty much stay the course, with chef de cuisine Liza Shaw moving up to exec at A16 and chefs Chris Behr and Hugh Thornton still running the SPQR kitchen.
No word yet on Appleman's next move, only that "he has a few things in the works, including options outside the Bay Area." Will he tackle NYC? LA? The Outer Sunset? Sundays at 9 p.m. on Food Network? We have some ideas (share yours too!); stay tuned.
