As was promised, the former KIS Cafe in Hayes Valley has been reborn a couple weeks on, with a fresh off-white paintjob out front, as Bosque.
The restaurant at 609 Hayes Valley is back open, with the name Bosque on a front window, with the same warm wood interior and almost the same menu it had when it first opened in May.
Owner Eric Lin has expressed a desire to move on from a recent controversy involving his former partner, Luke Sung, who also formerly owned Domo Sushi around the corner. Sung became unwittingly embroiled in a conflict three weeks ago with a micro-influencer on TikTok named Karla Marcotte. Marcotte is one of a cadre of twentysomethings who dine about town, take videos of themselves enjoying food, and give casual ratings to restaurants that are generally positive, and some have followings that qualify them for comped meals — or "collabs" — with new and established restaurants seeking some Gen Z love.
Marcotte went on TikTok, and tearfully described being hurt by Sung when he made a collab turn awkward, asking whether she'd researched him or the restaurant, and how many followers she has. With only 15,000 followers on TikTok at the time — she now has over 400,000, thanks to this attention — and not nearly as many on Instagram, Sung essentially told her she'd been invited by mistake, and her video expressed her humiliation.
It's not clear why this was a slight so great that a TikTok mob decided to review-bomb Sung's restaurants — both Domo and KIS Cafe — but that is what happened. And it led to KIS Cafe immediately closing, and Domo temporarily closing as Sung has reportedly stepped away from that business as well. (SFist walked by the 17-year-old sushi restaurant today, and it appeared back open for business under the same name, Domo.)
Bosque's menu is below, and a special on the board featured yellowtail. It features Spanish-style tapas items like olives, anchovies, and tinned fish like Ortiz brand tuna conserva and sardines. Larger plates include a hangar steak with green peppercorn sauce, "not fried" calamari, and a roasted chicken thigh and potato dish with garlic and herbs.
A few new wine selections have been added as well.
It is purely coincidence that SFist, just earlier today, was reporting on another restaurant about to open with a similar name, Bosco — Italian for "forest." That is an Absinthe Group venture coming to the Airbnb building (888 Brannan), and a replacement for a former Spanish restaurant, Bellota.
Bosque is Spanish for "forest," and it also happens to be the name of Lin's dog. As the SF Standard noted earlier, this was a quiet nod by Lin to the restaurant space's longtime former tenant, Bar Jules, which was also named after a chef's dog.
Bosque - 609 Hayes Street - Open Monday to Saturday, 5 pm to 10 pm - Find reservations here
