In a lengthy Instagram post on Friday, chefs David Fisher and Serena Chow Fisher shared that their last day in service at Marlena was June 30, citing a “conflict with the owner.”
“We poured our hearts, souls, and resources into the restaurant as if it were our own, even naming it Marlena as a homage to David’s late mother,” the post read in part. “We would have loved nothing more than to continue our dream of operating the restaurant in her honor.”
However, they wrote, disagreements with the restaurant’s owner made continuing in their roles at Marlena difficult.
“As it has come to an impasse, our only option was to depart from the restaurant,” the post said.
Following their departure announcement, Marlena’s business website indicated that the restaurant will remain closed through July and is expected to reopen in August under new leadership. SFGATE reached out to the chefs for comment but did not hear back by publication.
Marlena opened at 300 Precita Ave. in San Francisco during the first year of the pandemic on August 2020. A year later, it earned its first Michelin star.
A customer waits to enter Marlena in San Francisco on May 16, 2023.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE“The most rewarding part of earning our first Michelin star was receiving recognition for many years of hard work,” Serena Chow Fisher told SFGATE in 2022. “… To be recognized by the Michelin Guide is validation that the hard work came to fruition and that those trying times played a meaningful part in a larger accomplishment.”
The chefs ended their message on Instagram by sharing that they anticipate opening a new restaurant called 7 Adams in the fall in partnership with the Hi Neighbor Hospitality Group.