Once one of SF’s rising stars, this chef just snuck a wine bar into Hayes Valley

As of last week, one of San Francisco’s top chefs from the early 2000s is back in action, cooking small, French-inspired plates like local black cod with piquillo peppers and eggplant gazpacho bruschetta. Luke Sung, who made waves both locally and nationally with his Cal-French restaurant Isa, has quietly opened a casual wine bar called Kis Cafe in the Hayes Valley space that was formerly home to Dominique Crenn’s Petit Crenn. 

Sung has joined forces with Eric Lin, a first-time restaurant owner and longtime friend. They hope the wine bar will be a “third place” for the neighborhood, a “hangout joint where you can get a bite to eat,” Sung says. They worked with designer Michael Brennan to transform the austere, white space into a warm living room, complete with a fireplace in the front corner and vibrant custom artwork hung on wood- and cork-covered walls. 

The name, an acronym for “keep it simple,” underscores the ethos behind the menu: approachable, sharable plates that use whatever produce is in season. 

Sung says he envisions Kis Cafe as “more casual and realized” than the cooking he offered at Isa. As an older chef, he’s less interested in overwrought cuisine and committed to letting ingredients speak for themselves. Already he’s dreaming about when the weather warms and Early Girl tomatoes and peppers come into the kitchen, and when fall brings mushrooms to the market. 

For now, he’s building off a recipe for chicken liver mousse ($15) he picked up while working at acclaimed French restaurant La Folie that uses cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and black pepper, plus a shot of cognac butter. An aged hanger steak ($18) arrives ruby-red at the center, with a delicate crust and robust, gamy flavor. Notably, everything on the menu comes in under $20, including steak carpaccio with Italian butter beans ($17) and Catalan-style pork and trippa ($16). 

Wines are similarly value-driven, with 13 selections by the glass, most priced between $14 and $16. Focusing on Old World offerings, including a robust roster of white Burgundy, the bottle list offers six in the $50 range and 13 for less. It’s all part of the strategy to make Kis Cafe into a true neighborhood hangout, where customers can afford to split a bottle and linger throughout the night over a lineup of small plates. 

It’s been two and half decades since Sung — who was nominated as James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2000 and 2003 — sold his Marina District restaurant and moved with his wife and three kids to Taiwan. With the kids grown up, he was looking for a creative outlet. So they returned to the States, and Sung found his way back into the kitchen. “I think I still have a little bit of juice left,” he says. Still, he’s cautious about reentering the industry — one where he achieved success but also had burnout from working long days and nights. 

This time around, he’s hoping to find a better balance. “We’re the people with the American dream,” Sung says. “Now we’re just slowly climbing toward the sunset.”