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Former Newport Beach Mayor Noah Blom hasn’t given up the restaurateur itch, with a long-awaited spot now moving ahead in his hometown, along Coast Highway.
Plans for ARC Carne & Cantina this month were filed with the city. The new concept, located at 2902 W. Coast Highway, “brings together classic Latin flavors, Argentinian & American-style steaks, all with a classic Spanish flare,” according to a letter sent to the city.
The new spot will be a sister concept to Blom’s ARC Butcher & Baker and ARC Balboa Island, both in Newport Beach. He also has a spot at SOCO in Costa Mesa. Blom remains on Newport Beach’s City Council.
“Noah has been working on this new restaurant for a while,” notes our restaurant columnist Christopher Trela. “He has had a temp sign on the Coast Highway building, across the street from The Winery Restaurant.”
The new location, a few blocks south of Newport Boulevard, is owned by Mobilitie founder Gary Jabara, under his Boardwalk Investments Group real estate umbrella.
Chef Andrew Gruel, the founder and prior owner of Fountain Valley-based fast-casual restaurant chain Slapfish, which at one point counted some 40 locations, is following Noah Blom by moving into politics.
Gruel, who currently runs Calico Fish House along Coast Highway in Surf City, on March 18 was appointed to the Huntington Beach City Council. He will finish the term of Tony Strickland, who is now a state senator.
“People probably look at my position and say, ‘What does a chef know about all that stuff?’” Gruel said at city council meeting, as first reported by Voice of OC. “Chefs are inherent at cutting waste. That’s what we do.”
Voice of OC notes that Gruel is “a frequent guest on Fox News” and “runs his own YouTube cooking channel with guests including former Congressman Matt Gaetz,” Palmer Luckey’s brother-in-law.
A lawyer by training, OC native Christopher Cox has counted numerous political-related hats over his career, including chair of the Homeland Security Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and senior associate counsel to President Ronald Reagan.
Cox recently became a Presidential biographer, with his recently published “Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn,” taking a new look at the 28th president.
The book, published by Simon & Schuster, “offers a panoramic reassessment of Wilson’s life, focused on his decidely regressive role in the movement for racial equality and his long standing opposition to women’s sufferage,” according to Cox.