San Francisco, CA

One of California’s most famous chefs is coming home to San Francisco

Published

1 month ago

January 31, 2026

One of California’s most famous chefs is coming home to San Francisco

“Why on earth would you want to open in San Francisco?”

This was my first question to Christopher Kostow, the Napa Valley-based chef, as we sat outside at a cafe table on the corner of Pacific and Montgomery in Jackson Square. Along with his wife and business partner, Martina, Kostow announced plans last week to open a third location of Loveski, the couple’s modern Jewish deli. By the beginning of March, they will take over the Postscript space. (In good news, the popular, bougie cafe (opens in new tab), which has been roasting coffee there since 2023, will continue to provide beans to Loveski and a small list of retail partners.)

My question was obviously loaded: San Francisco is expensive, full of red tape, and — for restaurateurs — famously unforgiving. It’s the kind of place chefs expand to once they’ve earned their stripes, luxuriating in the more forgiving burbs, at properties that have amenities like parking lots. What is not as common is the country-to-city trajectory. But in this and other ways, Kostow is different.

“Well, to start, in 2002, when I was 25, I had the good fortune of working around the corner from here as a line cook. Remember Elisabeth Daniel?” he asked. The restaurant, located where Ver Jus is now, was owned by the divisive chef Daniel Patterson, who went on to earn two Michelin stars at Coi.

“It was a fine dining restaurant with beautiful food. But I was a whipping boy,” Kostow laughed, recalling that cooks weren’t allowed to smoke cigarettes or drink coffee because it would ruin their palette. “You had to run down the alley and hide behind garbage cans to smoke or take a shot of espresso. It was crazy. I didn’t enjoy that work experience, but I loved this gorgeous neighborhood.”

Loveski makes its own sourdough bagels. | Courtesy Kelly Puleio

Kostow’s rise to fame began in earnest after he left Elisabeth Daniel — and San Francisco — to take over The Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena in 2008. Meadowood earned a rare three Michelin stars before being destroyed in 2020’s Glass fire.

In 2022, the Kostows opened Loveski in an 800-square-foot space in Napa’s Oxbow Public Market. A year later, they opened a second location in the Marin Country Mart in Larkspur.

As the couple inched closer to San Francisco, they began circling the idea of returning to the city proper. Their daughters are older now, allowing the couple to travel from their St. Helena home more easily. “Another chapter of life unfolding, and I think it’s compelled us to start pursuing projects outside of Napa Valley,” he said.

And then, a few months ago, the Postscript deal dropped into their laps.

The timing and Jackson Square location were pure kismet. “With Jony Ive right here, it’s at the intersection of design, tech, and capital, and VC stuff,” Kostow says. “I don’t think we could have found a more dynamic place.”

Jackson Square is indeed enjoying a culinary renaissance. Michael and Lindsay Tusk, the owners of Quince, Cotogna, and Ver Jus, arguably made it what it is. But in the past few years, they’ve been joined by chef Brad Kilgore’s Ama, Cafe Sebastian, and MadLab in the Transamerica Pyramid. Peter Hemsley, who earned a star at his seafood-centric fine-dining restaurant Aphotic, is planning an opening on Jackson Street, in the space that used to house Kells Irish Restaurant and Pub.

Loveski Deli, which is in tribute to Kostow’s pre-Ellis Island family name, might not be catering to his younger self — the minimum-wage line cooks of the neighborhood. It will serve the hood’s well-heeled denizens fare the website calls “Jew-ish.”

Yes, there will be the signature sourdough bagels made with honey in the boil and matzo ball soup. But there will also be croissants, as well as smoothies, juices, and salmon bowls — things that famed Jewish delis like Canter’s in L.A. wouldn’t be caught dead serving. Kostow is also prepping items to sell in the larder, including miso made from day-old bagels, goji rice, water and salt; tamari made from that miso; and chile crisp made with everything-bagel seasoning.

A bowl of clear broth soup with three large matzo balls, diced carrots, herbs, and a spoon, served on white plates with blue rims. — Matzo ball soup will be on the menu. | Source: Courtesy Kelly Puleio

The mini bagel-and-lox empire has kept Kostow busy, but, with Meadowood’s reopening date undetermined, it hasn’t quite filled the fine-dining hole in his heart. “I do want to work in that kind of focused environment again,” he says. “I was almost embarrassed by the fanciness of it, but it was built to create beauty every day — that was pretty cool. But the expectations out of the gate are going to be three stars, or it’s a failure. That’s going to be super challenging — but I enjoy that kind of challenge.” (At this, Martina, the CEO of their empire, piped up: “Yeah, that’s when I go on hiatus.”)

Loveski, meanwhile, is a personal, focused concept in its own way. Kostow’s not looking to make the deli into a “museum piece — a faux shtetl,” he said. He wants to keep it real. “We’re trying to do something that we feel enlarges the concept. We’re not trying to pin our hopes and dreams on a massive pastrami sandwich.”

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San Francisco, CA

Floats for San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade get finishing touches

Published

1 hour ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Floats for San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade get finishing touches

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — ABC7 Eyewitness News got a sneak peak as crews put the finishing touches on the floats you’ll see at Saturday’s San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival and Parade.

Since it’s the year of the fire horse, you’ll see a lot of horses and fire symbolism on the floats, housed at Pier 19.

“So Year of the Horse, it’s energy, it’s passion, it’s momentum so a lot of things that we’re really hoping to embody in the new year,” said Stephanie Mufson, owner of San Francisco-based The Parade Guys, which designs and constructs the floats.

She said they’ve been building them for about three months, with the designs starting in November.

MORE: Bay Area artist brings Year of the Horse statue to life for Golden State Warriors

“We’re in the home stretch,” she said. “We’ve got a couple of days left and we’ve got a nice little team that’s cranking out all the finishing work that needs to go into it.”

Derrick Shavers was sanding some wood that will be painted and become cherry blossom trees on a float.

“It’s exciting,” Shavers said. “I look forward to coming every year and just creating and making things shine and sparkle.”

Bon was painting mountains for a float, making sure everything is perfect in time for the parade.

MORE: Meet the 2026 San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade mascot, Maverick

“It’s one of the few parades that actually happens at night still,” Bon said. “So we got to make sure all the lighting is in check, and people are safe on the float. It’s all in the details, just for it to walk by you for 10 seconds.”

Ten seconds that bring so much joy to those watching the parade.

Here’s how you can watch the parade on ABC7 Eyewitness News on Saturday, March 7.

Coverage starts at 5 p.m. wherever you stream ABC7.

SF Chinese New Year Parade 2026: How to watch ABC7 Eyewitness News live coverage

If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

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San Francisco, CA

Celebrated San Francisco historic landmark, the Huntington Hotel officially reopens

Published

13 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Celebrated San Francisco historic landmark, the Huntington Hotel officially reopens

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — First opened as apartments in 1922 and converted into a hotel two years later, the Huntington was once a playground for socialites and Hollywood stars.

It shut its doors in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and remained shuttered until this week, following new owners and a million-dollar, top-to-bottom renovation.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for The Huntington Hotel in San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood Monday.

The hotel officially reopened on Sunday.

Mayor Daniel Lurie attended the celebration for the hotel on California Street.

“This is another sign that San Francisco is on the rise, when you have major institutions and major hotels reopening,” Lurie said. “We’re seeing it in Union Square. We’re seeing it now up here on Nob Hill. This is an exciting moment for San Francisco.”

What doom loop? Downtown San Francisco showing signs of economic rebound, experts say

The hotel, known for its iconic sign, will be restoring the landmark sign to its former glory.

Many say it’s a symbol of what’s going on in San Francisco.

MORE: Nordstrom making return to San Francisco with new concept, mixed reactions

“It came to symbolize San Francisco’s decline during COVID when it shut and it now, I think, symbolizes San Francisco’s rebirth,” said Greg Flynn, Flynn Group Founder, Chairman, and CEO. “It’s sort of the perfect symbol of it because it’s coming back better than it ever was.”

Alex Bastian, President and CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco, said hotel occupancy rates are up in 2024.

“Our data team crunched the numbers, and the four-week rolling hotel occupancy rate for San Francisco Bay Area hotels is 55.1 percent as of January 17 of this year. Compare that to January 17 of 2021, during the pandemi,c when it was 13.1 percent.”

Of course, the Super Bowl helped.

Here’s what Super Bowl LX visitors are saying about San Francisco

“There’s no marketing campaign better than what we achieved as San Franciscans,” Bastian said. “The mayor and his team really elevated the game. They did an incredible job. We are so fortunate, as a city, because so many came here and they left their hearts here in San Francisco.”

Eyewitness News wasn’t allowed to gather video of the hotel’s features, but the hotel provided renderings of a sample room.

Matthew de Quillien, The Huntington Hotel General Manager, said the hotel has 143 rooms, many of them suites. Also, the Nob Hill Spa, Arabella’s Cocktail Salo,n and a reopening of The Big Four Restaurant, featuring its famous chicken pot pie.

“Our owner was able to find the original recipe from the 70’s and we remastered it and we’re … serving it to our guests,” de Quillien said.

He said rates range from $600 a night to $7,000 a night for its Presidential suite.

The restaurant opens to the public on March 17.

If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

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San Francisco, CA

Vigil held for 2-year-old girl killed in SF Mission Bay crash

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Vigil held for 2-year-old girl killed in SF Mission Bay crash

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Walk SF and Families for Safe Streets held a vigil Monday evening to honor a 2-year-old girl who was struck and killed by a driver Friday night in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood.

The crash happened just before 9 p.m. at Fourth and Channel streets near Oracle Park. Police said the child’s mother was also injured and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver remained at the scene, and authorities said drugs or alcohol are not believed to be factors.

Community heartbroken

Community members gathered at the intersection Monday to light candles and lay flowers. Among them was the Howard family.

“We’re just heartbroken and sad,” said Hidelisa Howard.

“I was thinking about heartbroken parents, someone who cannot get their daughter back,” said John Howard.

The intersection is designated as part of San Francisco’s 2022 High Injury Network, identifying streets with the highest concentration of severe and fatal traffic crashes. Speed cameras were recently installed in the surrounding neighborhood.

Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk SF, called the crash a tragedy, noting a previous fatal collision involving a child at Fourth and King streets several years ago.

Traffic intensifies

Parents in the area said traffic has intensified with nearby events and development.

“We love having people here in the neighborhood, and it’s brought a lot of life to the area,” said Hidelisa Howard, who lives nearby. “But at the same time, we have people coming in from out of the area. They’re not familiar with the streets, they’re running the lights, they’re running the crosswalks.”

District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey said the intersection has been problematic.

“Sometimes people go too fast. I don’t know that this was the issue here, but we need to do everything we can to make our neighborhoods and our streets safer,” Dorsey said.

On Monday, crews with the SFMTA repainted crosswalks and re-timed traffic signals at the intersection.

“It just feels like there’s so many young children in this neighborhood that there should be improvements made to the way that the traffic flows around here,” said Aanisha Jain, a San Francisco resident.

San FranciscoNews

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