SAN FRANCISCO Noted San Francisco chef-operator Arnold Eric Wong has joined Bluewater Restaurant Group, the company that operates the four-unit E&O Trading Co. chain, as a partner, signaling a possible expansion push.
Wong is overseeing culinary operations at E&O Trading Co. and would have a hand in new concepts, the company said.
Wong co-founded the Raison D'être Bakery here with his brother Richard in 1994. He won critical acclaim as a chef-partner in East-meets-West-flavored Eos Restaurant & Wine Bar, which debuted in 1995, and Bacar, which garnered attention after a turn-of-the-decade opening for 2000 with its menu of “American brasserie” foods. He is no longer affiliated with either operation.
“E&O Trading Co. is a popular and well-established brand, and we felt the time was right to take it to the next level,” Bluewater president and chief executive Mike Hadley said of Wong’s addition. “Our goals are to reposition E&O as a chef-driven kitchen, rejuvenate our menus, and develop a strong vision to maintain E&O’s viability well into the future.”
Hadley’s company manages branches of the concept, which is owned by E&O Development Co. Inc. in San Francisco. The concept has branches there as well as in nearby San Jose and Larkspur, Calif., and Honolulu. He said the company, with Wong’s help, also is “interested in launching a pan-Asian-inspired national fast-casual brand.”
E&O Trading Co., a full-service, Southeast Asian grill, was unveiled in Union Square here in 1997. It initially featured a brewery component that later was dropped, and a menu created with the help of famed local chef Joyce Goldstein.
Past E&O management said the E&O restaurants, which seat from 175 to 300 people, generated sales of $3 million to $5 million per year from average tickets of $15 at lunch and $32 at dinner.