About two years after taking over a massive Menlo Park restaurant space to open Bradley's Fine Diner, renowned chef Bradley Ogden has pulled out of the concept, citing "philosophical" and business differences with the parent restaurant group's CEO.
"I've moved on because they wanted to go in a certain direction I didn't want to go," Ogden said in a phone interview Wednesday.
"They" is Christopher Vestal, CEO of Ogden Hospitality Group, which owned BFD in Menlo Park as well as a location in Houston, Texas that also closed this month. Two spinoff concepts in Menlo Park and Houston — Bradley's Funky Franks, a hot-dog spinoff located in the same Merrill Street space, and Funky Chicken in Houston — have also closed.
In 2014, Ogden indicated that the company planned to open many more locations of both Bradley's Fine Diner and the spinoff concepts, but they never expanded beyond Menlo Park or Houston.
The Menlo Park restaurant at 1165 Merrill St., across from the Caltrain station, closed as of Jan. 1, Ogden said. Signs recently appeared in the windows stating the restaurant was closed for "winter break" with no indication of when it would reopen.
The dining room at Bradley's Fine Diner in Menlo Park, now closed. Photo by Veronica Weber.
Ogden said Vestal will be "rebooting the restaurant under a different name and company," but he was unsure what that would be. He estimated they would reopen this spring. Ogden did not know if BFD Menlo's executive chef, Lee Levig Jr., would be staying on or not.
Vestal did not return a request for comment. In a statement provided to Houston media outlets, he said the Bradley's Fine Diner and Funky Chicken spinoff there would be redeveloped into new concepts.
Ogden opened BFD in November 2014. The concept merged American diner food with the now widespread farm-to-table sensibilities he helped pioneer throughout his culinary career.
Chef Bradley Ogden prepares plates during dinner service at Bradley's Fine Diner in Menlo Park on Feb. 13, 2015. Photo by Veronica Weber.
Ogden, a James Beard award-winning chef, said he's now consulting for a boutique hotel in Lodi, relaunching a book he wrote in 1991 and generally "refocusing my goals and opportunities."
When asked if any of those opportunities will be local, he replied, "that's a good possibility ... we'll see."
Check back for more information on what will replace Bradley's Fine Diner.
