San Francisco, renowned for its vibrant food scene and culinary diversity, has unfortunately been grappling with a series of closures due to various economic and social challenges. In the face of adversity, it is heartening to witness the resilience of entrepreneurs who refuse to succumb to the prevailing circumstances.
Two hotly anticipated San Francisco restaurants are bucking that trend officially by opening their doors last month. Judging by their robust reservations, Chotto Matte and Blue Whale are already serving up success.
Chotto Matte is the city’s biggest rooftop restaurant and the first West Coast location for the global chain that has locations in London, Miami and Doha. The massive venue which offers Japanese-Peruvian food or Nikkei cuisine has spectacular city views, a wrap-around terrace, sushi bar and DJ lounge.
The concept restaurant atop the former Macy’s men’s department store in Union Square has been two and a half years in the making. “It takes entrepreneurs and creative thinkers to take situations like this and be confident and do new things and that’s what’s going to stimulate the economy,” said Chotto Matte Owner and Founder Kurt Zdesar. “We can’t talk about it, we have to do something right and we’re employing 150 people. We’ll be paying taxes, of course, so this can only be good, surely. And it offers a new fresh perspective for everyone.”
Chotto Matte seats 400 people and it’s Kurt Zdesar’s company’s largest restaurant and first rooftop venue. “I think timing has been very good for us, because mostly everyone is quite nervous to come here. It means that we’re the only ones that have and, I think, that’s why we’re getting the reaction we are,” he said. “Just growing up and always had San Francisco as a special place in my mind as a child, watching movies as a kid, having heard about it and, later, on visiting, I always felt that this would be perfect for us and we’ve yet to learn if it was the right decision but, so far, all indications are that we’ve made a good choice.”
Kurt Zdesar was born in Australia of an Austrian father and came to the UK when he was 14 years old. In 1988, aged only 16, he began to work for fast food giant McDonald’s. Although he held a junior position, he regards his 18 months there as a lesson in efficient management, work ethic and organization that has proved invaluable throughout his career.
In subsequent jobs at Perfect Pizza and then Kentucky Fried Chicken, Zdesar made rapid progress, at the age of only eighteen becoming the youngest manager at the KFC franchise, Southern Fast Foods. His appointment in 1992 to manage an Italian restaurant at the five-star Britannia Hotel, Canary Wharf gave him the opportunity to demonstrate his entrepreneurial flair. He generated so much extra business for the restaurant that he was asked to run the hotel room service division of 440 rooms.
Zdesar then began working with Nobu where he established Nobu’s first European restaurant in London which received a Michelin star within 10 months of opening – the UK’s first Michelin star for Asian cuisine. Nobu London was voted ‘Restaurant of the Year’ in 2003 and 2004 by the world-renowned Restaurant Magazine and remains Nobu’s most profitable restaurant per sq ft. in the world. He played a pivotal role in establishing Nobu as the world’s most successful restaurant groups, and, as Director of Operations Nobu Europe, oversaw seven successful restaurant openings with two restaurants receiving and maintaining Michelin star recognition.
Zdesar also lent his abilities to Alan Yau and established London’s second restaurant to receive a Michelin star, Hakkasan, developing a Chinese fine dining concept. Zdesar helped select key employees, embedding operational procedures and managed the business during its critical opening phase. Following his passion of restaurants and his golden touch in business, he established his brainchild Ping Pong as a highly successful global brand, that was recognized as one of the United Kingdom’s fastest growing companies. Ping Pong continues to be one of London’s most successful Asian restaurants.
Selling his stake in Ping Pong, Kurt then continued as a restaurant consultant and concept developer, where he used his successfully leveraged industry knowledge and experience to build three further fine dining restaurants: Mews of Mayfair (London), Les Bains Douches (Paris), Block 338 (Bahrain), as well as three further concepts that opened around the world. In each one, Zdesar embeds profitable business models and manages all aspects of the restaurant design and promotion. Kurt expanded his operations in Europe, opening restaurants in Sweden and Switzerland. He then opened Chotto Matte, in London’s Soho which is a 6000 sq ft restaurant and par serving Nikkei cuisine (Peruvian/Japanese).
The line to get inside its grand opening celebration stretched down the block on O’Farrell Street. Zdesar said that, within 30 minutes of opening its reservations, 3,000 requests came through for bookings over the next two months. Blue Whale on Union Street comes from chef Ho Chee Boon, who first opened Hakkasan and later Empress by Boon in 2021 in San Francisco.
“This city — for the chef who’s a newcomer … this city means so much to all of us and he really wants to give back to the community,” said Director of Operations at the Boon Group James Minch. “This is another opportunity to give back and show the city that it’s worth the investment.”
Zdesar said he’s spent weeks in San Francisco gearing up for the opening and didn’t experience the “doom loop” scenarios he’s read about. He said he’s found San Francisco to be a welcoming and friendly city. “We only hear the negative. We never hear the positive and there are so many great restaurants in San Francisco,” said Zdesar. “I have yet to find one that I haven’t enjoyed thoroughly.”
