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In early December, at the 2022 Michelin awards ceremony in Los Angeles, David Kinch, the celebrated chef-owner of Manresa, responded to the applause that accompanied his final three-Michelin-star honors by praising the chefs and restaurateurs in the crowd for making it through the challenging pandemic years.
And then the man who would step away from his world-famous Los Gatos restaurant on Jan. 1, after 20 years in business, talked of the diverse California culinary industry’s boundless potential, adding: “You haven’t seen the last from me yet.”
Already, his next chapter is unfolding.
Kinch and his business and bakery partners will create the first restaurants for the North 40, the massive housing development rising up in Los Gatos on the northwest corner of Los Gatos Boulevard and Lark Avenue.
Harmonie Park Development announced Wednesday that it has agreed to terms with MB Partners — “spearheaded by world-renowned chef David Kinch, award-winning baker Avery Ruzicka and entrepreneur Andrew Burnham” — to lease a 7,100-square-foot building at The Junction, the name selected for a 66,000-square-foot culinary and retail center that will serve residents of Los Gatos’ newest houses, condos and apartments.
At this site, MB Partners will open:
— Their second location of Mentone, the Kinch restaurant with a France-and-Italy-meet-on-the-California-coast focus that opened in Aptos in 2020 during the pandemic’s early days.
— Another Manresa Bread bakery, the second for Los Gatos. MB was launched in 2013 as farmers market stands by Kinch and Ruzicka so that locals could buy breads they had enjoyed at the restaurant. The first brick-and-mortar opened in 2015. There are currently five: the Los Gatos flagship, Campbell (both are all-day cafes), Los Altos, Palo Alto and Santa Cruz.
— A yet-to-be-announced restaurant concept.
“Not only are MB Partners industry luminaries, but more importantly they were home grown right here in Los Gatos,” Don Capobres, principal and CEO of Harmonie Park Development, said in the press release. “They represent the artisanal ethos we are cultivating at The Junction. We are delighted to partner with them.”
On behalf of MB Partners, Ruzicka noted that The Junction “offers the vibe we seek as we selectively grow our brand.”
Besides a large culinary and retail hall, Harmonie envisions The Junction featuring plenty of open space, with community gardens and meeting places for residents.
The first phase of the North 40 project was approved by the Los Gatos City Council in 2017, after years of debate over housing plans for what was the city’s last walnut orchard.
Details: 15011 Los Gatos Blvd., Los Gatos; https://junctionlosgatos.com/
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