CK Chin and George Thomas Depart Imperia

When Imperia at 4th and Colorado debuted a few years back with its ultra chic “vibe dining” concept, the idea was to clone the wildly successful Tao in Las Vegas. I doubted whether Austin was ready for the Vegas idea of uber cool dining and partying but the restaurant itself certainly became one of my favs.

However, CK Chin, the amiable and public face of Imperia has recently departed along with the talented George Thomas, the chef who replaced founding chef Joe Tellus. I don’t know what these changes mean for Imperia but I’m not overly optimistic. Hard to lose two talented folks like that and keep things hopping. But we shall see. Perhaps Imperia will stay the course: personally, I’m rooting for the place.