Water Grill Picks Local Chef for San Diego Expansion

A name familiar with longtime San Diego diners has been selected as the chef who'll run our new Water Grill, whose debut is scheduled for January 2015.

Fabrice Poigin will head up the kitchen at the restaurant, which takes the place of The Palm steakhouse in the East Village. The French-trained Poigin, who was once the assistant chef in the official residence of the former French president Francois Mitterand, moved to San Diego in 1990 and worked at the La Valencia Hotel and Manchester Grand Hyatt before opening his own bistro called Vignola in the Gaslamp. From there, he served as executive chef at Bertrand at Mister A's before joining the Urban Kitchen Group to help manage their restaurants; since then, he's been a private chef and part of the chorus of Union-Tribune Superdiners.

The menu at San Diego's Water Grill will reportedly be fairly identical to its Los Angeles locations in Santa Monica and downtown LA, which hinges on a significant raw bar selection mixed with seafood-centric entrees that include whole fish and live lobster. Design-wise, the two-level restaurant will be similar in looks to Santa Monica; rep says there will be two bars, a private banquet room and a wall made out of oyster shells.
· Water Grill [Official Site]
· All Chef Shuffles on Eater [ESD]