Bosscat Kitchen and Ten will move from Newport to Irvine in 2022
Bosscat Kitchen Management partners-founders JT Reed and Leslie Nguyen have announced that Bosscat and Ten are moving to Irvine and that they are bringing a new concept to Newport Beach. Reed and Nguyen are seen here at Bosscat Kitchen & Libations Orange which has opened in the former Rod’s Liquor on Chapman Avenue in Old Towne. (Courtesy of Wales Communications)
By ANNE VALDESPINO | avaldespino@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: May 7, 2021 at 6:18 p.m. | UPDATED: May 10, 2021 at 1:29 p.m.
Popular night spots Bosscat Kitchen & Libations and the adjacent Ten Asian Bistro — rebranding as Ten Sushi + Cocktail Bar — are moving from Newport Beach to Irvine.
The change was announced by BCK Management, the company behind Bosscat/Ten, which was founded by partners Leslie Nguyen and JT Reed. Both restaurants will relocate to Lakeshore, at 18191 Von Karman Ave., Irvine.
“I feel blessed for this opportunity. This is a blank slate for these brands, a new canvas to create something really modern and advanced,” Nguyen said in the announcement. “We’ve grown so much.”
Both will be new and built from the ground up by BCK Management and Platinum X Construction, which has worked with BCK on all its California based concepts including the new Bosscat at the former Rod’s Liquor in Orange, which opened on Tuesday, March, 30. AO Architects, which worked on that project, will also be engaged for this latest venture.
Bosscat will be a 5,000 square-foot “modern whiskey focused eatery” with a 1,200-square foot patio. Ten will be a 2,800-square foot sushi restaurant with an 850-square foot patio. Bosscat Kitchen will have seating for more than 160 diners, including a central bar, Ten will seat about 110 and will include sushi bar seating.
Nguyen, creative director of BCK Management, will redesign Ten which will also be undergoing a brand change. The look of both concepts will be tweaked to fit the new space. At Ten diners will see “indoor cherry blossom trees (symbolic of ‘rebirth’), high ceilings, recessed party pink lighting …” At Bosscat, they’ll find “intimate booths nestled into private spaces, rustic whiskey barrel decor, kitsch neon signage and of course a grandiose private room illuminating their most important item: whiskey.”
The adjacent outdoor space, dubbed “The Park at Lakeshore,” will be available to BCK Management for special events such as parties, brunches and live music. “Lakeshore will really be a big stepping stone for the company,” said Reed. “What initially began with Leslie and I has grown to now involve six other partners that each have a unique expertise in the hospitality industry, thus, making each project better and more efficient than the last.”
Bosscat Kitchen and Ten will remain at their current location at 4647 MacArthur Blvd. until the move to Lakeshore in early 2022. In the meantime, hours of operation will remain the same for both brands and there will be “no downtime between locations.”
The existing property in Newport Beach is scheduled to be redeveloped and will stay under the ownership of Reed and Nguyen, who will be bringing “another unique and lively concept” there once the transition to Lakeshore is complete for Bosscat and Ten.