Sierra and James Clark are shutting Bar Brucato, their amaro-driven restaurant at 275 S Van Ness, after Saturday — a proactive exit from a well-reviewed room before something goes wrong, while the Brucato Spirits distillery below keeps running.

Bar Brucato, the amaro-driven restaurant Sierra and James Clark opened atop their Brucato Spirits distillery at 275 S Van Ness Ave., will close after Saturday, June 21 — 14 months after it launched. The Clarks own the building. No lease dispute forced this; they chose to close before the math turned against them.

The couple launched Bar Brucato in April 2025 as an extension of the distillery they've operated under Chenery, LLC since 2019. The menu — seasonal California cooking, loosely Italian in spirit — was designed to showcase the house portfolio: four amaros (Fields, Woodlands, Orchards, and Chaparral) and Mission Gin. The room caught on quickly; the SF Standard named it one of its best new restaurants of 2025.

What proved unsustainable was overseeing both operations at once. "In terms of oversight and energy, juggling both businesses was incredibly hard," Sierra Clark told the Standard, which broke the news Monday. She gathered her team Tuesday. "I told them, 'This place has been fantastic. There's nothing I'm not proud of here, but let's not wait until something goes wrong. Let's recognize what an incredible thing we built and move on.'"

A deliberate exit at a high point, from a room that hadn't visibly failed, is unusual enough to register. The distillery beneath it stays open. Adam Hall, who ran operations and facilities at Hotaling & Co.'s distillery on Pier 50, takes over day-to-day management. Tours continue. So do the distill-your-own-gin classes.

Brucato Spirits is active: the kumquat liqueur Oro y Fierro just won 99 points and a double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, a Blenheim apricot liqueur is next in the pipeline, and a custom Woodlands Amaro bottled for two-Michelin-starred Lazy Bear — a few blocks away in the Mission — reflects the kind of partnership the brand has been building.

As for the Bar Brucato space itself, Sierra Clark isn't leaving it empty. "Pop-ups, a tasting room, visiting bartenders — a true celebration of Brucato and the neighborhood," she told the Standard. The building is theirs to reuse.