The Dave Chang Show From Chef to Restaurateur With Michael Mina
Nov 3, 2025
Michael Mina, an award-winning chef and restaurateur known for his influential restaurants like Aqua and Bourbon Steak, shares insights from his dynamic career. He discusses the inventive all-fish concept at Aqua and its impact on fine dining in San Francisco. Michael reveals how he revolutionized kitchen systems with his Recipe Exchange platform, enhancing consistency across restaurants. He also reflects on scaling his restaurant group, the importance of culinary vision, and evolving food trends, including experiential dining and neighborhood gems.
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Food Will Polarize Into Two Extremes
- Dave Chang argues food is polarizing into high-end experiential and fast, automated delivery with the middle under threat.
- He predicts social media scales experiential dining while ghost kitchens handle speed and convenience.
The Middle Needs Realistic, Good Food
- Chang argues the 'middle' of the restaurant market must aim for sensible, reliably good food rather than hyperbolic 'best-ever' dishes.
- He suggests scaling the middle without making it terrible is the key industry challenge.
Young Chef Reinvents Fine Dining
- Michael Mina recounts taking over Aqua at age 23 and running an all-fish restaurant that broke fine-dining norms.
- He describes mixing global flavors and a lively bar atmosphere that made Aqua influential and wild in the 1990s.