Chef Manny Torres Gimenez at Coco Frio last September. Photo: Russell Yip/The Chronicle
Hat tip to Eater for breaking the story, which reported that the closure of the Mission restaurant is due in part to an electrical fire that occurred back in early December at the chef’s other nearby restaurant, The Palace.
Inside Scoop spoke with Torres Gimenez earlier this afternoon, who confirmed the closure.
(For more background on the chef, check out Chronicle staff writer Jonathan Kauffman’s profile on Torres Gimenez and his wife Katerina De Torres from this past September.)
According to Torres Gimenez, the damage from The Palace fire was severe enough that it is going to take a year to fix and reopen. While the couple do plan to reopen The Palace, rather than keep Coco Frio open while repairs are being made, he and his wife decided to sell the four-month-old restaurant, including liquor license, to their landlord Enrique Rodriquez (who also owns the building where The Palace is located) and spend the next year travelling the globe.
Torres Gimenez, who has a glass half full attitude about the situation, feels that “all the stars have aligned” for him and his wife. Not only will their travels offer the chef a chance to “learn as much as I can” by staging in different restaurant kitchens around the globe, but it will also serve as an extended honeymoon for the couple, who have been so busy over the past five years opening their various Mission District restaurants that they haven’t had a chance to take one yet.
The chef will spend the next month wrapping up loose ends at the restaurants and then plans to depart — itinerary TBD. Torres Gimenez says that Rodriguez is currently listing the 2,000-square-foot Coco Frio space, which includes the liquor license, to potential buyers for $500,000.
Stay tuned.
Coco Frio, 2937 Mission St. (near 26th Street), S.F. (415) 341-0134. cocofriosf.com
Coco Frio
