California citys only fine-dining restaurant to close as chef plots to reopen in his homes garage

The top chef in a tough California town is packing his knives and going home — literally.Chef Michael Warring, who operated the only fine-dining restaurant in hardscrabble Vallejo for 14 years, will close his eponymous strip-mall New American eatery by year’s end, with plans to reopen next year — in his garage.“If our restaurant was a more intimate, close-knit thing, this is going to be that on steroids,” Warring, who works in tandem with his wife Ali Gulczynski, told the San Francisco Chronicle of the highly unusual move.

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By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story “I just wanted a space where I could be completely free.

Every limitation that we’ve had with a more traditionally styled restaurant is now gone overnight,” he said.Since he and Gulczynski are the only employees, the move will dramatically cut costs for the couple, who say they’ll now save big bucks on rent and childcare.“We’re imagining what it means to welcome people into our home.To create a restaurant that feels less like a place you visit and more like a place you’re invited into.

To make the experience smaller, more intentional, and even more connected to the people sitting around the table,” Warring wrote in a Facebook post about the move.First opened in 2012, Michael Warring is an unassuming 18-seat hole-in-the-wall in Vallejo’s Hiddenbrooke Plaza.Formerly an ice cream parlor, Warring cooked for guests in an open kitchen.

The restaurant offers two pre-fixed tasting menus, a 7-course meal at $94 per person, with dishes including cream of broccolini, crispy duck confit, wild mushrooms, and nectarine sorbet, and a 12-course meal at $134 per person.A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Warring has worked at some of the country’s top kitchens, including at Auberg...