Newport’s Barbacoa Restaurant Sold

Orange County’s ubiquitous chef-restaurateur David Wilhelm has sold the Barbacoa restaurant to a Hawaiian company.

Barbacoa’s new owner is Jean-Marie Josselin, cookbook author and owner of the Pacific Cafe on the island of Kauai, said Greg Solomon, vice president of Wilhelm’s West Coast Restaurant Ventures in Newport Beach.

Barbacoa, on West Coast Highway at the bridge to the Lido Peninsula, closed after New Year’s Eve for renovations by the new owner.

The sale price was not disclosed. “They made us a good offer,” Solomon said.

He said that when Barbacoa reopens, by late March, it will have a new name and menu. Details are still being discussed, Solomon said, and it is possible that the restaurant will be operated as a joint venture with Wilhelm.

News of the sale comes less than a month after Wilhelm opened the 120-seat Topaz Cafe at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana. His company also owns Kachina, Zuni Grill, Bistro 201, Cancun Cafe and Diva.

West Coast Restaurant Ventures gave up its management interest in another restaurant, Kachina Grill, a few months ago, Solomon said.

Barbacoa, which had been open for two years, served Southwestern food with Island influences.

Its general manager, Mark Thompson, said the restaurant had been doing relatively well in an economy that has seen several high-end restaurants close their doors. “We had a great fourth quarter,” he said.