Hungry for news? Welcome to our Friday Feed, where we run through all the local food and restaurant news this week—and maybe help you figure out where to eat this weekend.

Davy Jones’s Locker

Sea Creatures, better known as “Renee Erickson restaurants,” announced that Fremont’s the Whale Wins will close when its lease runs out at the end of October. This comes on the heels of the temporary closure of her Capitol Hill restaurants, Bateau and Boat Bar. Around the same time, the group plans to open two new restaurants in Pioneer Square’s RailSpur development. This has led to a lot of questions about what they are up to—were the Capitol Hill closures union busting? Is the Whale Wins closing related? Is this the fall of Renee's empire?

I have no answers (sorry!) or inside information. Observationally, though, the Whale Wins was a concept that floated by in a boom-time for that type of restaurant—it looked good and it tasted good, so people would spend money. But as the economy tightened and costs went up, it got hard. The big space and small plates made it labor-intensive when labor was at a premium, and the focus on ingredients as those prices skyrocketed couldn't have helped.

Ch-Ch-Changes

• Au revoir: Renowned chef and author Greg Atkinson posted that he has sold Bainbridge Island’s Restaurant Marché. It’s the end of an era for the longtime chef, who’s been pivotal in shaping PNW cuisine. He noted this will be his first summer not working in a kitchen.
• Downgraded: After its brief time as a farm-to-table restaurant, Shoreline’s Drumlin will be operating solely as an espresso bar, per its website. The neighbor and sibling of Ridgecrest Pub, with industry veteran Zephyr Paquette at the helm, made it barely five months.

Now Open

• Ladies first: Women’s sports bar-plus Pitch the Baby opens today, in the one-time Kingfish Cafe space in Capitol Hill. The joint venture includes Monica Dimas, who recently sold Westman’s Bagel and Coffee and plans to resurrect a version of her Tortas Condesa in its place. She’s joined by Anais Custer, partner in La Dive and related bars, and Kim Flanery-Rye of Inclusion Equals.
• Heating up: Pike Place Market cocktail bar Radiator Whiskey opened in the former Ballard Cut space, with a meaty menu like its older sibling, along with a bit of seafood, and one notable difference: It’s open for all ages.

Opening, Not Yet

• Matcha watcha: Last week we reported on Conscious Hospitality Group’s expansion of Mercer Island’s Sano Cafe, this week, they’re helping Bellevue’s Matcha Magic go big time, with a Redmond location opening August 9, followed by Capitol Hill, South Lake Union, and one in New Orleans, Louisiana. Sure, why not?
• Cursing the Eastside: Portland-based chain Voodoo Doughnut announced that it will be opening in Bellevue, but hasn’t yet confirmed when that will actually happen.
• Brewing on the Waterfront: Ballard’s Urban Family Brewing will open a second taphouse in early 2026, this one on the downtown waterfront and with 4,000 square feet inside and even more on the patio. It joins fellow Ballard brewery Reuben’s, which moved to the neighborhood earlier this summer. Years ago, there was a movement to call this area the “West Edge.” It never caught on, but “Little Ballard” has a nice ring to it, no?
• Pie time for pizza: Alex Kim, who has baked at Seawolf and Oxbow, let the world know his pop-up, known as both Kim’s Pizza and A.K. Pizza, will be going permanent this fall. The pizzeria landed in the Willow Crossings Apartments building in Othello.

Oh, BTW, here’s what you missed last week.