It pivoted once, then twice. Now this Russian Hill restaurant is closing for good

Less than 18 months after it returned from a two-year, Covid-era hiatus, Russian Hill restaurant Lord Stanley announced Tuesday morning that it would permanently shutter this spring.

Owners Carrie and Rupert Blease, a husband-and-wife team, posted to Instagram that they’d deliberated over the decision for more than a year. In contrast to other, feistier closure announcements posted to social media in recent months, the message was positive and filled with shoutouts to collaborators over the past decade. “We plan on our last few months to be nothing short of a celebration,” the duo wrote.

Reached by phone, Carrie Blease confirmed there were two reasons for the closure. First, she and her husband opted not to renew the lease as it approached the 10-year mark. Second, Nathan Matkowsky, who had begun as chef de cuisine before taking over the kitchen in 2023, will relocate to the East Coast to pursue other projects. The final night of service will be May 31.

A wood-filled, “casual fine-dining” restaurant occupying two floors on the corner of Polk Street and Broadway, Lord Stanley opened in 2015. It quickly won acclaim for its bistro atmosphere with a California-style emphasis on seasonality. With a tasting menu and à la carte dishes alike, it earned a Michelin star nearly out of the gate — a distinction it held through 2020. The pandemic brought several pivots, including a takeout window and, later, a series of chef residencies called Turntable at Lord Stanley. 

When it reopened in late 2023 under the direction of Matkowsky — who was born in Korea and raised by adopted parents in New Hampshire — Lord Stanley seemed to find its groove again, serving clever, Asian-inspired riffs on continental classics like “cod au vin” alongside humbler fare like a spin on McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish.

Blease maintains that the operation was always profitable, and it was simply the right moment to go out on a high note. The couple, who have an 8-year-old daughter, are rooted in San Francisco and have no plans to leave. “We love it here,” Blease said. “We have another project in the works. But we want this to be Lord Stanley’s moment. It was time.”