There are few details and zero confirmations so far from the hotel or the MINA Group, but all signs point to an impending return of celebrity chef Michael Mina to the grand space off the lobby at the Westin St. Francis, after an ongoing renovation is complete.Restaurant Michael Mina, which once held two Michelin stars, was in the early and mid-aughts a fine-dining destination inside the Westin St. Francis at Union Square. Mina later relocated his eponymous restaurant downtown to the Financial District when the former Aqua space became available over a decade ago — Aqua being where he first cut his teeth as an executive chef — and the St. Francis space transitioned to the more casual Bourbon Steak in late 2010.Bourbon Steak closed six years later — there are still nine other US locations, including one in Las Vegas — but the MINA Group continued to operate Clock Bar across the lobby. Both spaces have been closed to the public while the hotel has been undergoing a major renovation, but the SF Business Times suggests that those renovations may be nearing completion. The main evidence is that MINA Group has posted a job listing for an unnamed "New Project" in San Francisco, opening in "mid 2025," and experience in a "hotel and union environment" is preferred. And, the Business Times had previously reported on a fancy new bar and restaurant from Michael Mina coming to the hotel, originally planned to be open by late 2024.The details in that earlier report were also slim — and neither the hotel nor the restaurant group would comment on specifics — but the Westin did make public a rendering of a square or rectangular, central "island" bar in the new lobby off Powell Street, with steps that would lead up into the former Michael Mina space, where the new restaurant is likely to be. It sounds from the plans like the former Clock Bar will become a private dining room and lounge space.We await details like a name, concept, and opening date. But it does sound like this could be a return to Michelin-worthy form for Mina, whose sprawling restaurant empire now primarily leans casual, with the exception of his Michael Mina restaurant inside the Bellagio in Vegas. The Vegas restaurant held one Michelin star in the two years (2008-2009) that Michelin published a guide there.In addition to this being exciting news for foodies, it is great news for Union Square as well, which could certainly use a few positive developments.MINA Group continues to operate Pabu Izakaya and International Smoke in San Francisco, and Bungalow Kitchen in Tiburon. Mina's Greek concept, Estiatorio Ornos, closed in the former Michael Mina space at 252 California Street last year, and nothing else has moved into the space.Top image: Chef Michael Mina prepares dessert at the #Culinary Kickoff at Spoon And Stables Restaurant on February 1, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for #Culinary Kickoff ) ...read more read less