A cherished San Francisco specialty food store that went dark last year will soon get a second life from two restaurant industry veterans.
Kitchen Commons, whose opening was first reported by Tablehopper, will carve out its own niche, Hanak and Bruce said. The store will be stocked with new and vintage cookware, such as cast iron pans and local ceramics, as well as some pantry staples, cookbooks and more. Like the Spanish Table, there will be a small café inside serving coffee and prepared foods. The owners also envision Kitchen Commons as a community space and plan to regularly host cooking classes, talks and events, such as cookie or cookbook exchanges. Both Hanak and Bruce are Richmond residents and Spanish Table regulars who didn’t want to see the Clement Street space sit empty. (They also lamented the loss of Cookin’, a much-loved San Francisco vintage cookware store that closed in December after four decades.)
“It was important that this space not just be a retail space,” Bruce said. “The food world has so much knowledge in it with chefs and producers and makers and farmers. We wanted a place where that knowledge could be shared.”
The pair met years ago at Nopalito, where Bruce was a server and bartender, and would often discuss ideas for future business partnerships. Hanak also helped open and was previously a partner at San Francisco’s Nopa before launching the acclaimed Liholiho with Ravi Kapur and April Storm in 2015. The owners of Liholiho, along with late chef David Golovin, went on to open Eastern European restaurant Dear Inga in the Mission District in 2019, which closed during the pandemic. Hanak, Kapur and Storm then flipped the space into Good Good Culture Club in 2022. Bruce has worked in restaurants on and off since he was 15 years old, as well as in photography and social media management, he said. He also worked as chef for two years at Tahona Mercado.