Short as we mostly are on celebrity sightings here in NorCal, I thought I'd alert you to a couple that happened this week in local restaurants.

First off, as we learned last month, Hugh Laurie is starring in a new SF-set Hulu series called Chance, and the shoot has clearly begun because Tablehopper got a tip that Laurie was dining at Foreign Cinema on Monday evening. The series features the former Dr. House in the role of a different kind of doctor, neuropsychiatrist Dr. Eldon Chance who becomes embroiled in a noir sort of mystery involving a patient, and it's based on a 2014 novel by author Kem Nunn.

Also on Monday night, according to an SFist tipster, newly engaged Oscar winner Hillary Swank was seen dining with a male companion at Liholiho Yacht Club and reportedly "looking fab." (According to her Instagram, Swank was visiting with family over the weekend to celebrate her dad's birthday.) Liholiho's chef, Ravi Kapur, was recently honored as one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs in the country, and he'll appear in the July issue of the magazine along with a second SF chef, David Barzelay of Lazy Bear.

And in related news, for Big Lebowski fans and Jeff Bridges fans alike, The Dude himself was spotted eating at Penrose in Oakland, per Tablehopper. He was apparently here for a benefit concert at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley last Friday.