The renamed Kent Hospitality Group has reshuffled staff, brought in the chef of Clover Hill and made plans for the future.
When the chef and restaurateur James Kent died suddenly of a heart attack last month at 45, the looming question was who would lead his kitchen and restaurant group. In the culture of his company, no single person is considered to be a replacement. As when Mr. Kent was alive, team effort drives the group.
“He trusted the people around him and he left a blueprint as to what the company was going to be,” said Danny Garcia, who will be the executive chef of Time & Tide, the seafood restaurant that Mr. Kent planned to open this year.
One prominent change is the Saga Hospitality Group name. On June 16, the day after Mr. Kent died, the company best known for the restaurants Crown Shy, Saga and the bar Overstory (all in the landmark Art Deco skyscraper at 70 Pine Street in the financial district) became Kent Hospitality Group. The renaming was decided upon by the partners. Kelly Kent, Mr. Kent’s wife and partner in the company, seconded it.
“If it were up to Jamal the name would not have been changed,” Mr. Garcia said. (Mr. Kent, whose full name was Jamal James Kent, is referred to as Jamal by many.)
Also new is the addition of Charlie Mitchell, the executive chef of Clover Hill, in Brooklyn Heights, which has a Michelin star. He announced his departure Wednesday from Clover Hill after two years and will now assume the reins as executive chef of Saga, the tasting menu restaurant with two Michelin stars on the 63rd floor of 70 Pine Street.
What has happened at Kent Hospitality echoes what happened 30 years ago at Le Bernardin, when the chef and partner Gilbert Le Coze died of a heart attack at 49. The chef Eric Ripert stepped into his shoes, maintaining and enhancing the restaurant’s world-famous luster, and making his name.
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