Less than two weeks after closing North Park's Urban Solace and Solace & The Moonlight Lounge in Encinitas, Chef Matt Gordon has joined the team at Blue Bridge Hospitality, the Coronado-based restaurant group behind such concepts as Stake Chophouse & Bar, Leroy's Kitchen + Lounge, Liberty Public Market, and the incoming Little Frenchie.
A three way chef shuffle ultimately culminated with Gordon joining Blue Bridge. In early 2019, we announced that longtime Urban Kitchen Group Corporate Executive Chef Joe Magnanelli was leaving the hospitality company to take the helm at Brian Malarkey's incoming Animae luxury Asian fusion restaurant. Yesterday, we found out that former Blue Bridge Corporate Chef Tim Kolanko was filling the void left open by Magnanelli's departure. Now we have learned that Matt Gordon has been hired to be vice president of operations for Blue Bridge and will be in charge of managing front and back of the house positions at all of the hospitality group's 10 properties.
Gordon's first project will be spearheading the revamp of Blue Bridge Hospitality's West Pac Noodle Bar, which opened in early January 2018, to transform the space into a traditional Parisian bistro aptly named Little Frenchie. Located at 1166 Orange Avenue in the heart of Coronado's main thoroughfare and expected to open by mid-May, Little Frenchie will have a menu designed by Executive Chef Matt Sramek, who previously worked at Chef Thomas Keller's now-closed Bouchon in Beverly Hills. Sramek also was a consultant on the Smokeyard BBQ & Chophouse branch in UTC, as well as the Executive Chef of The Lot luxury cinema in La Jolla. Expect a menu of lightened up French food in a casual setting.
For more information about Blue Bridge Hospitality and its concepts, visit bluebridgehospitality.com.
