The once and future wine bar.
Image: Instagram/McKenzie Powell
A Chophouse Row Changeover
Barely a month after Sitka and Spruce served its final dinner on New Year’s Eve, Matt Dillon’s Bar Ferdinand announced it would cease operations on February 1. While you could write thousands of words on what this means, and the economic forces that make this industry untenable for a singular Seattle chef like Dillon, there is, at least, an upside. Dillon has handed the space over to a pair of his former employees, chef Eli Dahlin and sommelier Ezra Wicks. Dahlin says they are in the process of remodeling, and the end result will debut this spring—a new wine bar “with the same commitment to transparency, small production, and ecological responsibility as Bar Ferdinand,” plus retail bottles and an adjacent bottle shop that also sells charcuterie and cheese and such. I’m disappointed, if not surprised, about Bar Ferdinand, the last holdout of Dillon’s own personal brand of culinary iconoclasm, not to mention a great place to eat dinner (Yelp really wasn’t into it, which perhaps endeared this place to me even more?). But Dahlin’s a tremendous talent, so I’m here for this next chapter.
More Closures
The grim times continue with Phinney’s excellent vegan sweets closet The Cookie Counter, Ballard’s Brunswick and Hunt, and—to the chagrin of college football watchers across the city—the Attic in Madison Park. Eater Seattle also says Thai Curry Simple is closed, temporarily, after a small fire this weekend.
More Meat
Capitol Hill Seattle says the food truck Seoul Bowl has bloomed into a full-on fast casual restaurant on 12th Ave, with build-your-own bowls piled with things like bulgogi, spicy pork, and kimchi. Speaking of CHS, they called it: 2020 is the year of meat on a stick.
Meanwhile, on Seattle Met…
Ye olde Valentine’s Day restaurant listicle.
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