Allegro Romano, a Russian Hill Celebrity Hot Spot, Has Closed

Russian Hill’s Allegro Romano has shuttered after 16 years in business.

When tipster Howard Reifs contacted this reporter with a photo of the papered-over windows at Allegro Romano, the worst was feared — and a visit to the Roman restaurant’s Facebook page confirmed those worries, as the page’s most recent post is a video featuring San Francisco Giants announcer Renel Brooks-Moon bemoaning the retirement of Allegro owner Lorenzo Logoreci.

Tablehopper reports that Logoreci — who was cited for battery in 2013 after he allegedly slapped an inspector with SF’s Department of Public Health in a dispute over a code violation — is likely passing the business (and its liquor license) to Maurizio Bruschi, the chef/owner of North Beach Roman trattoria Idale.

Allegro Romano opened in 2004, and, despite a panoply of Yelp reviews that complain bitterly about the spot’s service, became known as a hot spot for celebrities like “Brad Pitt, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher and William Baldwin,” the Chron reports. It was also a good place to find local power players like Willie Brown, Gavin Newsom, and loads of behind-the-scenes string pullers who are presumably lying low this week. The closure marks the last restaurant in Logoreci’s portfolio: Ala Romana, a planned spinoff of Allegro’s, closed in 2015 after only 18 months in business.

And in other news...

• Alley Kitchens, a three-in-one restaurant near UC Berkeley, seeks to replicate the Japanese food alley scene in the East Bay with a chirashi and donburi restaurant, a ramen spot, and a matcha cafe. [SF Chronicle]
• As of Monday, February 3rd, Che Fico Alimentari the restaurant will be open seven days a week (right now, it’s closed on Sundays and Mondays). [Eater SF Tipline]
• Castro sweetspot Hot Cookie will open a second location at 1817 Polk Street on Saturday. [Hoodline]
• San Francisco’s classic Buena Vista Cafe will be pouring their famous Irish coffees in Miami, all part of a pop-up bar at Sunday’s Super Bowl. [NBC Bay Area]

• Cache Bouren, the owner of San Jose craft cocktail lounge Haberdasher, is a contender for the Whisky Magazine Awards’ “Icons of Whisky Bartender of the Year.” [San Jose Mercury News]
• SF-based ZBiotics, which says it genetically engineers probiotics that fight hangovers, is now available for Postmates delivery in San Francisco. [SF Business Times]
• Sarah Frier, a social media reporter for business-focused news agency Bloomberg, made a bad business decision regarding bagel toppings while dining in SF. (And, no, she doesn’t name names.) [Sarah Frier/Twitter]