Aaron Petersen, owner of Chomp on the Rocks, is in talks to sell a majority of the restaurant at the Santa Barbara Harbor.
Petersen, who will maintain ownership of the Solvang Chomp, is talking with Amy Rose, who is originally from Santa Barbara and owns several other restaurants in California.
Petersen about 18 months ago acquired the ground space for Chomp and the upper-level space, which he named Salty at the Beach. The restaurants were formerly called the Endless Summer Cafe and Chuck’s on the Waterfront.
A year ago, Petersen decided to bifurcate the lease and start a new business or form a partnership with a new entity to occupy the Chomp space.
In December and January, the Chomp space was used for special events only. Now, Rose is looking to acquire the lease and is in talks with the city. Rose has not discussed specifics of her plan for the restaurant.
“I just want to come back home,” said Rose, whose father once owned Harry’s Plaza Cafe. “This is going to be a passion. I want to get back to Santa Barbara.”
Petersen said he plans to remain a partner, a 25% owner, on the new venture.
“She’s coming up with a brand-new concept, and I’ve got Salty,” Petersen said.
Petersen was born and raised in Solvang, went to college and law school in Seattle, is a former attorney and prosecutor for the U.S. government, and now lives on a boat in the harbor. For the past 22 years, he has been focused on running restaurants, and also owns Mortensen’s Bakery in Solvang.
He said there were some Internet reports about Chomp that he wanted to clear the air on because his employees were thinking his Solvang restaurant was closing, or that there was no place for the Salty’s space at the harbor.
He said cooks were calling him, and he even got a call from his mom, asking what was going on.
“I am getting calls from people saying, ‘Chomp in Solvang is closed,’” said Peterson, who has about 200 employees.
He’s still paying the lease on the Salty’s space, and a new restaurant is near, he said.
The space is listed with a broker for backup offers, just in case, but Rose appears ready to make the deal.
Petersen said when they met, he told Rose, “I have the perfect turn-key restaurant, come up with a concept.”
He said that had he not found a buyer by February, he would have come up with a new concept. He was considering fish, a deli and other ideas, then Rose came along.
Petersen acknowledged that Chomp struggled and is now closed.
“The burger concept did not work in the harbor,” he said. “Schools are out. City College is out. Or do burgers just not work in the harbor? I don’t know. It works famously up there (Solvang); down here it just didn’t.”
Petersen said upstairs, Salty’s is a hit.
“Salty’s does fantastic,” he said. “It’s a sports bar. We’ve got the big-screen TVs. We do live music up there. We found our niche.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
