Embattled former city fire commissioner Don Carmignani has launched plans to open a new Italian restaurant in Downtown San Francisco.
According to a state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control filing last Thursday, Carmignani applied for on-site beer, wine and catering licenses on behalf of Il Porcellino Grasso LLC at 214 California St. in the Financial District. Both 12-month licenses were listed Monday as pending.
The California Street address was formerly licensed to Homage from June 2019 by David Kurtz, who ran the farm-to-table, fast-casual eatery on the first floor from July 2019 through early 2020. The block is full of heavy hitters in the dining world, including longtime high-end Greek restaurant Estiatorio Ornos and Tadich Grill, the oldest continuously operating restaurant in California.
City building inspection listings show an approved permit request on July 17 for a hoodless oven and panini grill at the same address.
A change-of-use permit approved June 23 will allow a cannabis business on the building’s second floor to serve as a wholesale distribution outlet with no on-site consumption. Nearby Carmignani-owned businesses include 2One2, a cannabis dispensary.
Carmignani became the focus of a national media spotlight after a metal pipe beating on April 5 in the up-scale Marina District.
Police later arrested homeless Garrett Doty on suspicion of attacking the marijuana businessman, which exposed tensions in the neighborhood around issues of homelessness and public safety, but later released him from custody.
Soon after, Carmignani was accused of being part of a series of bear-spray attacks on homeless people, but his lawyer insisted his client had no involvement, as police commissioners expressed concern about the department’s investigation into the incidents.
In May, Carmignani spoke out about the beating in court but said little about the attacks before offering an alibi for one incident. By early July, a police officer testified that Carmignani bears a “strong resemblance” to the man caught on video spraying a sleeping homeless person in the face one night in November 2021.
But San Francisco Superior Court Judge Linda Colfax ruled that prosecutors had presented enough evidence for Doty’s case to head to trial, finding that a jury should decide the self-defense issue.
Colfax ordered Doty’s release ahead of his next court date on Tuesday and placed him on electronic monitoring, and ordered him to get treatment for anger management and substance abuse issues.
Carmignani’s law firm Colla & Ray had no comment to add when reached Monday.
Correction: This story was updated with the proper spelling of Garrett Doty’s name.