Lorenzo Logoreci, a prominent San Francisco restaurateur, was cited by San Francisco police last Friday for slapping a city health inspector and faces battery charges.

Logoreci, owner of Allegro Romano, a Russian Hill restaurant popular with city officials, is accused of smacking the environmental health inspector for the Department of Public Health when confronted about a violation at his new restaurant, said Carlos Manfredi, an officer with the San Francisco Police Department. Logorecitook over the former Rue Saint Jacques (1098 Jackson St., at Taylor Street) and is in the process of remodeling and reopening it as an Italian restaurant.

The inspector, whose name has not been released, was en route to a different location, but along the way observed that there was an environmental health violation at the under-construction restaurant. The inspector, according to police, tried to talk to Logoreci about the problem, but the restaurateur got abusive. “The owner then got into a verbal argument, and the inspector cited the owner for the violation,” says Manfredi. “The subject then basically slapped the inspector and the inspector then filed a police report and pressed charges against the owner.”

Police officers were sent to the restaurant, and cited Logoreci for battery. He has been issued a court date, and a judge will hear the court case.