Inner Sunset favorite Caché is taking its French bistro act downtown this fall, as owners Simon Mounier and Florent Thomas prepare to open a second location in San Francisco’s Financial District. The new restaurant is set to be larger than the original neighborhood spot, with a bigger kitchen, a private dining room and full liquor service. The partners say the FiDi outpost is tailored to catch daytime office traffic as well as evening diners.
They are also asking regulars and curious investors to help fund the jump. The duo has launched a Small Business Bonds campaign on the SMBX marketplace and is aiming to raise roughly $450,000 for renovations, equipment and a liquor license, according to The San Francisco Standard. The founders told the outlet they chose SMBX in part because Caché, which opened in March 2025, did not yet qualify for many SBA loans. They have declined to reveal the exact FiDi address while the lease is being finalized.
How the bond sale works
On its site, Caché points supporters to an SMBX Small Business Bond offering that lets investors buy “CACH” bonds starting at $10, with monthly payments at 10% interest over a five-year term. The restaurant frames the sale as a way to involve neighborhood diners in its expansion while raising capital without a traditional bank loan, according to an announcement on Caché. The move follows a broader wave of operators turning to community-backed financing to cover expensive downtown buildouts.
From the Sunset to FiDi
Mounier and Thomas opened Caché in the Inner Sunset in March 2025 at 1235 9th Avenue, where chef Mounier’s seafood-forward plates and Thomas’s natural-wine program quickly caught the attention of neighborhood diners, as reported by Eater SF. The original room runs on beer-and-wine service only, and the team says the larger FiDi kitchen and full liquor license will support a broader French-California menu. They are betting that a downtown address will be an easier weekday draw for office lunches as well as private events.
Design, scale and the team
The Financial District dining room is expected to seat about 75 to 80 people and will include a private dining room, the owners say. They have tapped Lundberg Design, the studio behind Quince, Flour + Water and other high-profile restaurant projects, for the buildout. Thomas told The San Francisco Standard that “it’s the right time to invest in downtown San Francisco.”
Pastry chef Chloé Pasquier, who hails from Brittany and previously owned Pâtisserie Gâtelier, will oversee desserts at the new location. Gâtelier highlights her Brittany roots and classical pastry background. For a sense of the aesthetic, the team points to the restaurant work of Lundberg Design as an example of the kind of fit-out they are hiring for.
What to expect and why it matters
Caché’s downtown push lands amid a broader rebound in San Francisco’s dining scene, with a steady stream of new French and neighborhood restaurants opening or expanding in recent seasons. The San Francisco Chronicle and other outlets have noted that French bistros are among the city’s most talked-about openings, a trend Mounier and Thomas hope will carry them into a smooth fall launch. For now, the SMBX listing and the restaurant’s updates on its own site remain the places to watch for lease details and a confirmed opening date.
