Following a tip saying Sea Harbour in Rosemead was closed, I drove by today to find the parking lot empty, the restaurant closed and a homeless woman lounging on the porch, with two signs on the door saying without explanation that they were closed. No health department notices either. Not to engage in rumormongering, but I made a couple of social media posts asking if anybody knew anything. Fact is they were closed by the health department at the end of June, but reopened after several days. Also fact is they subsequently closed again at least a week ago. Supposedly they told their employees to return to work this week, but then that was superceded by the directive to file for unemployment.
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I wonder if Chef Tony in Arcadia is affected?
if you look they were closed twice by the health department for vermin in the past 6 months. I think they need to do a complete facility overhaul, it seems.
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Well there was no such activity when I went by yesterday. And if the report that they laid off their staff is correct the lack of further remediation would make sense.
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What a loss! Yes the current SGV dim sum scene is lacking but this place was one of the best of the mediocre options.
I wonder if their downfall ultimately stemmed from the revenue lost from taking out several banquet rooms in order to put in a new kitchen for the prepared/take out for barbecue meats etc.. and then this led to sanitation headaches?
Any chance they’ll clean it up, just slap a new name on the door and reopen soon?
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To what end? When the health department shutters a spot for vermin infestation, you’re allowed to reopen as soon as you rectify the issue and pass a new inspection. Many places do so in a couple days. A paper ownership change would have no bearing on the ability of the restaurant to pass an inspection. It sounds like Sea Harbour’s repeated health department struggles were caused by (or evidence of) financial issues, rather than the other way around.
A lot of strange stuff there the past year. Both Sea Harbour and Chef Tony were opened in Vancouver by Chef Tony the man. He subsequently opened branches of both in the SGV. À year ago Chef Tony withdrew his name from the Monterey Park branch of Chef Tony. The restaurant became Crystal Palace though the menu, staff and apparently ownership stayed the same. At the same time it was announced that à branch of Chef Tony would be opening in Las Vegas. OK, Chef Tony wants to devote his efforts to opening the new branch. But then months later it was announced that Chef Tony would not be opening in Las Vegas. Rather the space, which was pretty much built out, would be opening as Sea Harbour. Of course that has yet to open even thought it looked almost ready to open last fall. Oh, and the last time I ate at Sea Harbour earlier this year all the employees were wearing shirts that said “Chef Tony.”
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Despite my stated disdain for rumormongering there’s enough out there to derive a reasonable possible conclusion. Management calls Yelp and Google designations of permanent closure “fake news” and feels the closure is temporary. Apparently the lease is expiring and the landlord is asking too much. According to a supplier they’ve are hoping to relocate to Alhambra under the name Chef Tony. The same supplier also said the last check he got from them bounced, so we shouldn’t necessarily hold our breath to see the new Chef Tony.
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Wow, this is sad. It’s the go to dim sum place for when I’m in town. I’d go to other places, but year in year out SH would hold on as the best overall.
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