MISTER A’S IS SOLD TO LONGTIME STAFFER

Remodel expected for 57-year-old iconic Bankers Hill restaurant

Mister A’s, a fine dining mainstay in San Diego’s Bankers Hill for nearly 60 years, is being sold to a longtime employee who has plans to upgrade and remodel the penthouse restaurant.

Restaurateur Bertrand Hug, who will soon be turning 74, says it was time to hand over the reins to someone else who can carry on the legacy of a dining destination where locals have celebrated special occasions for the last five decades. Purchasing the restaurant is operations director Ryan Thorsen, who Hug said was instrumental in overseeing the restaurant in recent years when he was undergoing treatment for cancer.

“Somebody gave me an opportunity 50 years ago to open my first restaurant and the rest is history, so I thought karma is good, you know, do unto others,” said Hug, who will continue to own his French restaurant, Mille Fleurs, in Rancho Santa Fe. “And Ryan seemed like the perfect solution and he was the one who kept the place going while I was going through chemo. It was a pretty difficult period of my life.

“I thought, I made money, it should be time for me to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I truly believe that

Ryan is the man for the job.”

Known for its panoramic views of the downtown skyline, airport and Balboa Park, Mister A’s is located on the 12th floor of the Manchester Financial Centre on Fifth Avenue. Opened in 1965 by founder John Alessio, the storied restaurant will still be partly owned by the Alessio family, which will continue to retain its 20 percent stake, Thorsen said.

Both Hug and Thorsen declined