Press Release: Celebrity chef Michael Mina launches new group to open hotel restaurants

March 14, 2022

Michael Mina, one of the Bay Area’s most famous chefs and prolific restaurateurs, is behind a new company opening hotel restaurants.

Called TableOne Hospitality, the effort is a partnership between Mina’s eponymous restaurant group; Highgate, a massive hotel management group; and Patric Yumul, who spent 22 years with the Mina Group, most recently as president. Yumul is leading TableOne as CEO.

The vision combines the Mina Group’s expertise in running restaurants with Highgate’s many properties, particularly in major cities. Mina Group runs about 40 restaurants around the world and is known for buzzy, immersively designed spots that merge Mina’s high-end food with excellent service. TableOne’s first restaurant will be announced in the coming months.

Yumul described the new venture as an opportunity to pass on Mina’s formulas and systems to up-and-comers in the restaurant industry.

In a recent Chronicle review, critic Soleil Ho questioned what characterizes a Mina restaurant and found the chef’s culinary interests range too much to easily say. Meanwhile, Mina has said that he now finds the most joy in collaborations with chefs instead of opening new restaurants under solely his vision. Taken together, a new Mina restaurant group without Mina’s name makes a lot of sense.

 

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @janellebitker