"According to ABC News, Luchin slid notes demanding money to bank tellers at locations in and around the Central District of the city on September 10, 2025. Descriptions from witnesses helped police to quickly identify Luchin, and he was arrested without incident. Investigators have not revealed how much money he stole, but bail has been set at $200,000 and Luchin is currently in police custody awaiting charges."
"Amazingly, this is not the first time Luchin, who worked at some of San Francisco's best restaurants, has been arrested for robbery. Back in 2018, he was arrested for stealing $15,000 from a bank in the suburban East Bay community of Orinda. After that incident he pled guilty to second-degree robbery and was sentenced to one year in jail and three years of probation."
"His most prominent role was as executive chef at a restaurant called Rose Pistola, which was known as one of San Francisco's best Italian restaurants for over two decades. Rose Pistola, which won a James Beard Award for best new restaurant in 1997, closed back in 2017, but by then Luchin had left to open his own restaurant, Ottavio Osteria, in the town of Walnut Creek in 2010."
Valentino Luchin allegedly stole money from three San Francisco banks on September 10, 2025, and was arrested after witness descriptions led police to identify him. Bail was set at $200,000, and investigators have not disclosed the total amount taken. Luchin previously pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery in 2018 after stealing $15,000 and received one year in jail plus three years of probation. He emigrated from the Veneto region of Italy in 1993, specialized in regional Italian cooking, served as executive chef at Rose Pistola, and opened Ottavio Osteria in Walnut Creek before that restaurant closed in 2016.
Read at Tasting Table
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]