Cotogna, the Cal-Italian restaurant that has drawn lunch regulars including Mayor Daniel Lurie, Laurene Powell Jobs, Jony Ive and Stanlee Gatti, will close Jan. 15 for a kitchen renovation expected to take about three months. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner seven days a week; the work will temporarily interrupt that schedule.
The renovation addresses a mismatch between the kitchen’s original capacity and the restaurant’s current footprint. According to The San Francisco Standard, the kitchen was designed for a 36-seat indoor dining room, while Cotogna now serves roughly 100 diners when its outdoor parklet is included. The Tusks said they plan to double the cooking and prep space and replace the pizza oven. “We're planning for construction to take three months, but we hope it'll be shorter,” the owners said.
A Parklet That Outgrew Its Kitchen
The parklet, which was added during the pandemic, occupies four parking spaces on Pacific Avenue and serves Cotogna and sister restaurant Quince, The San Francisco Standard reported. It is made with wood salvaged by Evan Shipley, known in the trade as the “wood whisperer.”
Downtown recovery and outdoor dining
The parklet sits within a downtown area where recovery has been uneven. According to the Downtown San Francisco Partnership, 2025 weekday foot traffic in the Financial District and Jackson Square had recovered to roughly half of 2019 levels. That area-wide measure does not establish Cotogna’s own customer patterns.
Cotogna’s all-day à la carte menu has made it a regular midday meeting spot. That routine will pause during construction, with the expanded kitchen intended to give the restaurant more room to support its current dining operation.
Bar Coto Still Waiting in the Wings
The kitchen work is happening alongside the Tusks’ build-out of Bar Coto, an all-day cafe planned for 596 Pacific Ave. that will combine a coffee shop, wine bar and gelateria. The project was announced in 2023, but had not opened by the Wednesday publication of The San Francisco Standard report; a debut date remains unclear.
The Tusks’ other projects have also taken time to reach customers. Their wine bar, Verjus, reopened in fall 2024 after being closed for four years. Lindsay Tusk told The San Francisco Standard that they waited for the neighborhood to recover before reopening. Verjus currently opens at 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
Where to Get Your Tusk Fix in the Meantime
During the closure, diners looking for a Tusk restaurant lunch can visit Quince, the couple’s three-Michelin-starred flagship. It serves a four-course lunch with a choice of entree on Fridays and Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
