Big changes are coming for Kru owner Billy Ngo, scoops the Sac Bee's Blair Anthony Robertson.

Already considered one of the most innovative chefs in town, Ngo is looking for a larger building to move Kru. Though he would not provide specifics and said a lease has not been signed, it appears he is close to sealing a deal.

When Kru moves, Ngo explained, he will keep the current location (2516 J St.) and renovate it in preparation for a new sushi-only concept that is intended to showcase the craft at the very highest levels. This new restaurant will be given a new name, yet to be made public.

Further, Ngo is in line to open a new “grab-and-go” sushi eatery in the artist lofts building under construction on R Street (at 11th Street). He expects that project to open by the end of the year. It will feature hand-crafted sushi made in advance and packaged for take-out. The restaurant will be called Fish Face.

Yap, who has already started at Kru, has ambitious plans of his own to work in conjunction with Ngo to bring Kru to a new level with sushi. That is saying plenty. Kru earned four stars (out of four) in The Bee and is widely considered one of the best and most exciting food experiences around.

Read the entire story in the Sac Bee.

Robertson also reports that Ngo has hired a new chef for Kru, Ricky Yap, who left San Francisco's Akiko's Restaurant in July. Akiko's has been named one of the San Francisco's Chronicle's Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants.

I wish Ngo good luck, but he has a spotty track record when it comes to additional ventures beyond Kru. He opened Red Lotus in 2010 in the spot now successfully occupied by Red Rabbit, only to have Red Lotus shut down in Sept. 2011.

He and Aimal Formoli's jointly opened Pork Belly Grub Shack in Nov. 2011, only to sell the restaurant in 2012.

Ngo is one of the nicest chefs I've ever encountered both at his restaurant and at food events around town. Hopefully things are different this time. The economy's better now than it was when he opened his last two ventures and he's hired a new chef for Kru so he can spend more time on his new venture.

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