Valentino Luchin, 62, a former executive chef at the famed North Beach restaurant Rose Pistola and owner of the now-defunct Ottavio in Walnut Creek, arrested Wednesday, Sept 10

Once-celebrated Bay Area chef known for his refined Italian cuisine and high-profile restaurants was arrested midweek after allegedly for a string of bank robberies

He is booked into the San Francisco County Jail, awaiting formal charges on multiple counts of robbery and attempted robbery

SFPD said on Sept. 10, he serially robbed three separate banks in the city’s Central District passing handwritten notes to tellers demanding cash, he took the bag of cash and fled

Cops linked same suspect to two additional bank robberies within the area that same day, and acting on Tips, identified Luchin who lives in the neighborhood

Back in 2018, Italian born Luchin was arrested in Orinda on suspicion of robbing a Citibank and walking out with $18,000 in cash

Arrested t home that same day cops recovered the cash and the robbery weapon, a BB gun, but

Interviewed while in custody he had offered an excuse and acted remorseful

‘I thought it was a good plan… but it was not. My action wasn’t aggressive. It was a fake gun. I don’t even know how to load a real gun’

Famed bay Area chef, Valentino Luchin, [photo], has been arrested after allegedly robbing three banks all on Wednesday. He’s held at the San Francisco County Jail awaiting formal charges on multiple counts of robbery and attempted robbery

A yet to be explained mid-week crime spree marking a low point for a man once hailed as a rising star of California’s culinary scene.
Valentino Luchin, a once-celebrated Bay Area chef, known for his refined Italian cuisine and high-profile restaurants was taking into custody by San Francisco police who accused the restaurateur of of a series of of bank robberies in San Francisco’s central district.
Luchin, 62, a former executive chef at the famed North Beach restaurant Rose Pistola and owner of the now-defunct Ottavio in Walnut Creek, was taken into custody by San Francisco police after allegedly holding up three separate banks, all on Wednesday, September 10.

Luchin, [photo], former executive chef at the famed North Beach restaurant Rose Pistola and owner of the now-defunct Ottavio in Walnut Creek walked into three separate banks in San Francisco and handed cash demand notes to frightened cashiers

Police say Luchin struck three banks last Wednesday, September 10, one after the other in the city’s Central District passing handwritten notes to frightened tellers demanding cash.
Witnesses at one of the targeted banks, located along the 1100 block of Grant Avenue near Chinatown, told police the suspect handed a teller a note that simply demanded money. 
Out of fear, the teller complied, handing over a bag of dollars before the suspect fled. 
Within hours, police linked Luchin to two additional bank robberies that day, all within the Central District, which includes North Beach, Russian Hill, and Union Square.
Investigators spotted similarities in the suspect’s description and robbery style.
The suspect was taken to custody shortly after, thanks to community tips and San Francisco Police Dept. ‘ambassadors,’ who identified Luchin who cops said, lives in the same neighborhood as the robberies. 

San Francisco Police posted some of the alleged stolen loot from Wednesday’s heist on the department’s Facebook page

Luchin was booked into San Francisco County Jail on multiple counts of robbery and attempted robbery and remains in custody as he awaits formal charges.
It has been reported that this is not Luchin’s first brush with the law or indeed a bank robbery. Back in 2018, he was arrested in the city of Orinda in Contra Costa County, on suspicion of robbing a Citibank.
On that occasion he allegedly walked out with $18,000 in cash. Surveillance footage showed a man in black sunglasses, white gloves, and a hoodie, reportedly brandishing a semiautomatic rifle while demanding ‘large bills.’ 
Similarly, Luchin was apprehended the same day at his home. Arresting officers recovered the cash and the weapon, which turned out to be a BB gun.

 Arriving from Italy in 1993, Valentino Luchin made a name as executive chef at Rose Pistola restaurant, considered the best for fine Italian dining in San Francisco, The restaurant shut down in 2016

Luchin was also the executive chef and owner of Ottavio Restaurant in Walnut Creek which closed in 2016 – after six years in business

While in, Luchin granted a jailhouse interview at the time, to a local paper, in attempt to mitigate his actions.
His excuse? ‘I thought it was a good plan… but it was not,’ he told the East Bay Times. 
‘My action wasn’t aggressive. It was a fake gun. I don’t even know how to load a real gun.’ 
He even claimed to have written an apology letter to the bank teller he threatened.

Police say chef Luchin [photo], serially robbed three banks last week Wednesday in the city’s Central District passing handwritten notes to frightened tellers demanding cash

Luchin reportedly has a history of bank robbery. In 2018 he reportedly was arrested in Orinda, California, on suspicion of robbing a Citibank, grabbing $18,000. Arrested same day, the cash and BB gun used in that robbery were recovered from his home

Luchin, who immigrated to the United States from Italy in 1993, earned praise early in his career for his work at Rose Pistola, a restaurant once recognized as a cornerstone of San Francisco’s Italian dining scene. 
He later launched Ottavio in Walnut Creek with his wife. But after six years, the restaurant shuttered in 2016, leaving the couple in what has been described as ‘dire financial straits.’
Bankruptcy filings show the couple defaulted on a Chapter 13 repayment plan in 2015. At the time, they owed over $110,000 while reporting assets totaling just $27,000.

After making a name at Rosa Pistola restaurant, San Francisco’s premier Italian restaurant, Luchin, who immigrated to the US from Italy in 1993, launched Ottavio Restaurant in Walnut Creek in 2020. It’s closure in 2016 crew dire financial consequences

In the 2018 jailhouse interview, Luchin blamed his decision to rob the bank on a spiral of desperation and financial ruin following the restaurant’s collapse.
‘Desperation leads you to do things you never thought you were capable of,’ he said at the time.