One of SLO County’s top restaurants is being sold to new owners
One of San Luis Obispo County’s most top restaurants will be under new ownership early next year.
Ember, a rustic, farm-to-table restaurant on East Grand Avenue in Arroyo Grande, will be sold in early 2024, owners Brian and Harmony Collins announced in a post to the restaurant’s Facebook Monday.
The Collinses opened Ember in Brian’s hometown of Arroyo Grande in February 2014, but after a decade of food and awards, it’s time to turn the page, he said.
“Running and owning small family-owned businesses is a lot of work — a lot of gratifying work, but nonetheless, it takes a lot of time,” Collins told The Tribune.
However, while the restaurant’s founders and original creative voice are leaving for their next chapter, Collins said the vibe and team they built will stick around long after they’ve moved on.
“To open a restaurant like Ember, it takes another decade prior of experience,” Collins said. “We’ve been fully immersed in the industry and our craft for about the past decade, so it’s time to pass the torch.”
Original owners ‘could not be prouder’ of Ember
Collins said opening his first restaurant in his hometown was always his dream, and he said the food and atmosphere he and his staff created at Ember was shaped by the community that supported it.
“We just tried to make a really good neighborhood restaurant — nothing more, nothing less,” Collins said. “We wanted to be unpretentious and do fun, rustic, flavorful food.”
During Ember’s first nine years in Arroyo Grande, the restaurant has been listed among the area’s best eateries by the Michelin Guide, Forbes, The New York Times and Food & Wine magazine.
Collins said he “could not be prouder” of the all the restaurant has accomplished but is ready to take a break from the restaurant once the sale is completed.
He said he and Harmony plan to travel and get inspired, looking to “fill the well” creatively by touring new restaurants along the way.
“For the first time in decades, I don’t have something necessarily planned out for six months or longer in my life, so I’m just looking to get out there, gain some new experiences and inspiration, and be OK with the thought of not having a solid answer for what’s next,” Collins said.
Collins said he and Harmony intend to continue living in Arroyo Grande for the foreseeable future, and will be involved in Ember’s transition to the new owners, along with providing any guidance they need.
David Marks, the chef de cuisine at Ember, will succeed Collins as the chef, Collins said.
“(Marks has) seen it all here at the restaurant — he knows the food, the kitchen and the customers really well,” Collins said. “I think it was important to (Harmony and I) to create new opportunities for growth with the staff that we have here once we step away.”
New owners to be announced next year
While Collins said he couldn’t reveal the new owners yet, and won’t until the sale is completed early next year, he said they are a young family who will maintain the Ember experience fans have come to expect.
Collins said the incoming owners are moving to the area to run Ember and have previous experience owning restaurants.
“For all of our Ember fans out there, that’s good news, because what they know and love about the restaurant is not changing,” Collins said. “There might be some tiny little tweaks here and there, but by and large, the restaurant’s going to be what it is now.”
This story was originally published December 7, 2023 at 3:03 PM.
