Mario Cortez

After more than 10 years of serving French pastries, the owner of a popular Bay Area bakery is ready to open a new restaurant. Buvette de Marais opens Tuesday at Larkspur’s Marin Country Mart, with a menu that includes crepes along with quiches and coffee. It is the newest project from Patrick Ascaso, who owns bakery Le Marais, so naturally there will be plenty of croissants and other French-style pastries brought in fresh daily. Plans are to initially offer baked goods and crepes 8 a.m.-3 p.m.,…

A Bay Area restaurateur will serve two and a half years in prison after admitting he misused COVID-19 relief funds intended for restaurants. The Northern California U.S. Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday that David Tai Leung, a co-owner of Tomi Sushi and Seafood Buffet in San Jose, pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud related to loans he received illegally from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RFF) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The government assistance programs pro…

The James Beard Foundation awards, considered the “Oscars” of the food world, named its winners from the Lyric Opera of Chicago on Monday evening, and Bay Area restaurants and chefs walked away empty handed for the second year in a row. The best chef California award had two Bay Area finalists: Geoff Davis of Burdell in Oakland and Rogelio Garcia of Auro in Calistoga. In the end, Lord Maynard Llera of Los Angeles’ regional Filipino restaurant Kuya Lord took the award. Six other San Francisco che…

San Francisco got a diverse spread of new restaurants in May. New offerings include Indian and Thai tasting menus, along with a Peruvian sandwich shop and an Italian takeout-focused spot with fresh pizza and porchetta. There are also new spots offering egg sandwiches in the Sunset District and frozen treats in Golden Gate Park. Click here for a list of notable restaurants that opened in San Francisco in April. Trendy egg sandwiches in the Sunset Sunset District newcomer Toast’N Egg is attractin…

Casual Mexican and fish taco chain Rubio’s Coastal Grill will no longer operate in the Bay Area. The company headquartered in Carlsbad (San Diego County) abruptly closed 48 stores, around one third of its total franchises, on Friday. This included two outlets in the South Bay, a company spokesperson told the Chronicle. A company statement said it cut “underperforming” locations and cited the “rising cost of doing business in California.” Assembly Bill 1228, known as the FAST Act, went into eff…

This is a list of notable restaurants that closed in April. For a list of restaurants that closed in March, click here. Buck Wild Brewing announced it would close on April 28 after three years of creating gluten-free beers in Oakland. In an Instagram message, the brewery thanked its patrons for their support and business. The taproom offered more than 10 beers from its tap system or in cans in a range of styles from saisons to Kolsch-style ales and IPAs. Instead of using barley and wheat, the gl…

A chef with experience at Michelin-starred restaurants in Thailand will soon serve the longest Thai tasting menu in the Bay Area at an ambitious new San Francisco restaurant. Hed 11 at the Kimpton Hotel Enso, located at 1800 Sutter St. in Japantown, will go beyond the ubiquitous a la carte pad thai and green curry. Instead, it will offer a seasonal 11-course dinner tasting menu ($169) with diverse regional dishes that “are hard to find even in Bangkok,” according to owner Billie Wannajaro. The r…

A reality TV star just opened her latest, extravagantly showy restaurant in Lake Tahoe. Wolf by Vanderpump at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe is now open at 18 Hwy. 50, in Stateline, Nev. The restaurant is the latest from Lisa Vanderpump, best known for her appearances on reality TV shows “Vanderpump Rules” and “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” Vanderpump’s Beverly Hills restaurants, such as SUR, are the backdrop for “Vanderpump Rules,” and its employees are the stars. Last year’s scandalous season ma…

It’s the end of the week, and you want to celebrate at that new spot you’ve been hearing about. The meal is great, fantastic even. Perhaps you pay and head home — it’s getting kind of late. But maybe you stick around and order another cocktail. Maybe you linger, chatting until the lights turn on. Then the check arrives without you asking. The Chronicle conducted a survey of how 20 Bay Area restaurants handle their closing times and lingering guests, inspired by a recent experience Chronicle cri…

Chinatown staple Hing Lung — beloved for its expertly roasted Cantonese duck and pork — closed its historic space on Sunday, but San Francisco didn’t go long without the shop’s succulent meats. Hing Lung owners Eric and Simon Cheung opened their long awaited Bernal Heights restaurant, Go Duck Yourself, on Wednesday. The new business at 439 Cortland Ave. still offers roasted Hing Lung’s sought-after duck and pork, along with new menu items like steamed buns, Teochew specialties and desserts, thou…

A leading San Francisco restaurateur is closing one of his flagship downtown restaurants. Michael Mina will close his upscale Greek restaurant Estiatorio Ornos on April 11, a representative for the Michael Mina restaurant group confirmed. The group decided not to renew its lease at 252 California St., previously the site of Mina’s eponymous, Michelin-starred restaurant Michael Mina, which closed during the pandemic and became Estiatorio Ornos. (Before that, it was the landmark local restaurant A…

This is a list of notable restaurants that closed in March. For a list of restaurants that closed in February, click here. The Michelin-recommended North African supper club Berber served its last dinner with a show on March 2. Owner Tony Garnicki told Eater SF the business has not recovered since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a delayed return of conventions and tourism has made recovery difficult. The restaurant opened in 2018 with dance and acrobatic shows in its main dining room, al…

A Southern California hot spot known for New England-style seafood dishes and its raw bar is now ready to serve diners at a San Francisco landmark. Broad Street Oyster Co. opens Wednesday, March 27, at Ghirardelli Square, offering the lobster rolls that have made the Los Angeles-area restaurants a sensation, along with raw bar offerings like freshly shucked oysters, seafood towers and other warm dishes like clam chowder. The company operates four other locations: one in Malibu, its first; anothe…

For a few days now, the manager of a 7-Eleven store in downtown San Francisco has been hearing from confused customers hoping to bite into onigiri, a popular, triangular rice ball snack available at Japanese 7-Eleven locations. They’ve heard, via a widely shared post on X (formerly Twitter), that it was finally available in San Francisco — with a photo of Mayor London Breed on the packaging. “Many people asked me about it yesterday and today,” said Dharm Singh, the manager of the 221 Sansome St…

A vendor specializing in Hawaiian-style stuffed doughnuts is coming to the Ferry Building. Ocean Malasada Co. will be taking up a kiosk inside the historic San Francisco structure. There it will offer its popular doughnuts filled with tropical flavors like haupia (coconut pudding) with passion fruit, guava and pineapple. The San Francisco Business Times first reported the business had filed a registry for a kiosk near Gott’s Roadside, signaling a potential move. Ferry Building General manager Ja…

One of the Bay Area’s top barbecue restaurants will not reopen at its West Oakland location. Last year, a fire caused extensive damage at Horn Barbecue, forcing the restaurant to shut down temporarily. Owner Matt Horn announced on Instagram Thursday morning that he is leaving his Mandela Parkway location, citing fire damage along with other stressors like vandalism and crime in the area. The decision was “made with a heavy heart,” Horn wrote in his message, adding he is searching for a new loca…

This is a list of notable restaurants that closed in February. For a list of restaurants that closed in January 2024 click here. Ono Bakehouse in Berkeley, one of the Bay Area’s few specialized Hawaiian bakeries, announced its closure on Instagram. The business will carry on with catering and preorders for events. The Instagram post also mentions “a new concept” without further details. The Chronicle reached out to Ono Bakehouse to learn more but did not hear back. Ono Bakehouse opened in 2020…

A popular Hawaiian frozen treat shop is gearing up to open its first mainland U.S. location in San Francisco. Banan, known for its dairy-free soft serve made with pureed Hawaiian bananas, has plans to open a location this spring at 3862 24th St. in Noe Valley. Banan operates three Honolulu locations, where customers can get banana soft serve, in flavors like ginger, chocolate and acai, atop bowls of fruit or granola with nut butter. Smoothies, matcha drinks and cold brew coffees are also availab…

After more than 40 years in the Bay Area, one of the region’s largest tortilla makers is packing up production and moving out of California. La Tortilla Factory in Santa Rosa will produce its final batches of corn and flour tortillas at its 75,000-square-foot plant in the coming weeks before relocating production to Moundridge, Kan., on March 31, as announced by Idaho-based parent company Flagship Food Group. It purchased a majority stake in La Tortilla Factory in January 2021. The North Bay Bu…

One of TikTok’s most popular food influencers is coming to the Bay Area. Mixed martial arts pro turned online restaurant reviewer Keith Lee announced to his 15.6 million followers that he is kicking off 2024 by touring the Bay Area. He ended his almost two-minute-long video asking his followers to recommend local “mom-and-pop” spots that could use some attention. “We coming,” he said in his instantly recognizable, quick-tempo voice. Followers left several suggestions in the comments of the vide…