After standoff with Michelin-starred chef over gas ban, Palo Alto relents – By Alec Regimbal (SFGATE) / May 18, 2023
World-renowned chef José Andrés may end up opening a new restaurant in the Bay Area after all, now that the city of Palo Alto has reversed its earlier decision not to allow the cook to link his forthcoming eatery up to a natural gas line that was built specifically for him.
The brief standoff between city leaders and a property group that owns the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto was the result of a new building code that the city council adopted last year, which requires all new buildings to be fully electric and prohibits linking any appliances to gas infrastructure. Andrés had been planning to open a location of his Mediterranean restaurant, Zaytinya, in one of the three new buildings set to be constructed at the shopping center, but the city — pointing to the new building code — indicated that he might not be able hook up to a gas line.
Unwilling to cook without gas, Andrés considered pulling out of the venture. That led the Simon Property Group, which owns the shopping center, to threaten the city with a lawsuit if it didn’t make an exception for the chef.
