With the establishment of Sotto Mare Oysteria, Chef Gigi Fiorucci is back on Green Street in colorful North Beach.

Gigi was an owner of the popular Montclair Restaurant at 550 Green Street from 1967 to 1973. He has been a restaurateur ever since and has owned and operated many San Francisco eateries including Caesar's Italian Restaurant near Fisherman's Wharf, Maye's Oyster House on Polk Street and the Double Play Bar and Restaurant near the old Seal's Stadium.

A native of Marche, Italy, Gigi came to America when he was 12. He acquired the 100 year-old building at the corner of Green Street and Jasper Alley about five years ago, and brought it back to life. The exterior facade was completely restored to once again look the way it did around 1919, when the building housed the R. Petri Wine Company.

The reconstruction also brought back a residential hotel (rooming house) to the second and third floors, which is named the Pensione Dante Benedetti. Sotto Mare occupies the west side of the ground floor.

After being involved in 13 other restaurants, Gigi says emphatically that Sotto Mare is his last, and he's giving it his all.