Crime & Safety

Eat Chow Owner Killed in 3-Car Crash While Driving Hot Rod

Eric Doran of Newport Beach and his wife, Kat, were in a T-Box roadster when the accident occurred. Doran's uncle owns Haute Cakes on 17th Street.

Newport Beach chef Eric Doran, a co-owner of Eat Chow, died Friday while driving his hot rod in Ventura County.

Doran, 36, was fatally injured in a three-way collision on U.S. Route 101, according to the CHP.

Flowers were left outside his Costa Mesa restaurant, which was closed Saturday.

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Doran's wife, Kat, a passenger in the Model-A "T-Box roadster'' when the accident occurred about 5 a.m., was critically injured. They were headed to a car show in Santa Maria.

California Highway Patrol officers told the Orange County Register that traffic had slowed because of construction, and Doran's car rear-ended a Honda Accord. Then a Dodge Ram crashed into Doran's car.

Find out what's happening in Newport Beach-Corona Del Marwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Doran was planning to open a second restaurant. His uncle owns in Newport Beach on 17th Street, a breakfast spot where Doran worked for years before striking out on his own.

Doran, a Culinary Institute of America graduate, opened Eat Chow with his business partner Brian McReynolds in 2009.

Funeral plans are pending.

—City News Service


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