Matt Dillon Closes Bar Sajor
Image: Olivia Brent
Bar Sajor, Matt Dillon's wood-fired restaurant that helped usher in a new era of Pioneer Square dining, served its last meal Saturday night.
Dillon declined to go into details, except to praise his staff mightily. "It's my own fault for not being more on the mark," he said.
When Dillon opened Bar Sajor in early 2013, on the heels of winning a James Beard Award, the idea of a new destination restaurant in Pioneer Square was remarkable. Especially one that passed up the traditional gas range in favor of a wood-fired oven and custom rotisserie. Bar Sajor was also the first place many Seattle diners encountered the talents of one Edouardo Jordan, who was chef de cuisine before going on to open the much-acclaimed Salare in Ravenna.
Since then droves of new bars and restaurants have arrived in the neighborhood; Dillon later opened big and little iterations of London Plane just across Occidental Avenue's pedestrian mall.
Though the chef rejects the label people sometimes apply, the one where he swooped in and saved Pioneer Square, he describes the decision to open in a neighborhood where many daytime workers scuttled home before dark as "a conversation I was having with my city."
A lot has changed since then, he acknowledges, in Pioneer Square and elsewhere. "Things move, but they don't always move with you."
This is the first time Dillon has closed one of his restaurants; he says that beautiful, airy space, which he built out with a few friends and partners, will soon have a new owner. He's not yet ready to share details, but says he's excited for what's in store.
