If you don’t get a promotion and a piece of the pie, what is the one of the best and most satisfying ways to climb the corporate ladder?

Leave, and get a job somewhere else.

Then, come back — as top boss.

Michael Mina must be feeling mighty satisfied. He started his career at Aqua in San Francisco, recommended by Charlie Palmer to work with George Morrone, who had been hired by Charles Condy. When George Left, Michael took over as very young executive chef to lead Aqua to a top spot in the San Francisco dining scene. Michael left in 2002 to run his own company with Andre Agassi, which expanded to included 17 restaurants. The flagship is the restaurant Michael Mina at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco. Now, has has singed a lease with the Bacchus restaurant group to run his old haunt, Aqua, as a yet-to-be-decided restaurant.

“I think it’s one of the three best restaurant spaces in the United States,” he told Stacy Finz on the San Francisco Chronicle.