Bay Area Authorities on the Hunt for Woman Who Stole $4K Bottle of Cognac From a Restaurant

A sticky-fingered patron at Mt. Hamilton Grand View Restaurant in San Jose left with quite the prize: a 100-year-old bottle of Louis XIII cognac valued at $4,000. Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office posted surveillance video and photos of the theft on Facebook. In the video, a woman dips behind the bar of the GrandView and, aided by a male accomplice-slash-lookout, quickly picks up a bottle then leaves the restaurant with cognac in hand. The theft took place on March 8, and KTVU reports the couple was part of a dinner party of 10 that ate at the restaurant before taking the alcohol. And no, there is no credit card for police to chase in this instance — the group apparently paid the $1,600 dinner tab in cash. [KTVU]

Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office

Legacy BART car reimagined as beer garden and pizza spot

In 2021, BART solicited ideas from riders on how to reuse its “legacy fleet” (older BART cars being retired and replaced), and now the transit agency has given the green light to eight ideas, the Mercury News reports. Unsurprisingly, one of those bids is restaurant-related: Arthur Mac’s Tap & Snack snagged a BART car and plans to use it in its 2023 expansion into Hayward. The car will serve as both outdoor seating and “time capsule” with a retro video-game arcade to boot. [Mercury News]

Mina Group attempts to find Michael Mina 2.0

Is it possible to clone a successful business person/model? That’s what the Mina Group president and co-founder Patric Yumul is attempting to find out with a new venture, TableOne Hospitality. Yumul is leaving the group to launch TableOne, telling the San Francisco Business Times the new company is meant to be a “platform for talent to grow.” “It was tough, because no matter how hard we’d try to position chefs on their own (within the group) they’d always fall under the Michael Mina shadow,” Yumul told the Biz Times. “This was born out of a desire to grow chefs, creators, mixologists, and give them a chance to shine on their own.” Mina will remain with Mina Group as CEO, and serve as a board member and advisor at TableOne. [San Francisco Business Times]

San Francisco’s Bayview to get a new grocery store

When a 30-year-old Walgreens shut down in the Bayview in 2019, it left behind a business vacancy, and Save Mart Cos. is looking to enter the neighborhood. The grocery brand behind Lucky supermarkets recently filed a proposal with the San Francisco Planning Department to take over the 9,550-square-foot retail space, according to the San Francisco Business Times. The space was previously slated for a cannabis dispensary but received pushback from locals and businesses. [San Francisco Business Times]