“I’ve got one more in me—just one,” says veteran restaurateur Bill Lee.
That one is Kona Steak & Seafood, a Pacific island concept, most likely. Lee and his wife Teresa haven’t really started honing a menu. Only this week did they visit a restaurant auction to pick up a few pieces—small one’s. Lee doesn’t want to get ahead of himself.
“I’d like to get the business side down first,” he explains.
That includes hashing out a lease agreement, which he hopes to complete in two weeks for the old P.F. Chang’s location in Monterey’s Del Monte Center. It’s a sizable space that will, Lee points out, require only some interior design work to be ready for opening.
But that’s still in motion. What the couple have settled on is steak, seafood, a full bar and a lunch and dinner schedule, seven days a week.
“It should be a lot of fun,” he adds.
Kona will be Lee’s 12th restaurant in a career spanning 52 years. Institutions like Billy Quon’s and Sur are part of the couple’s legacy. They sold Sur a year ago.
“I should be retired, but I can’t,” Lee says. “It’s our passion.”