SEATTLE — This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com
A collection of restaurants and eateries run by James Beard Award-winning Seattle chef Renee Erickson is set to close, with some locations closing either temporarily or permanently.
Bateau, a contemporary steakhouse, and Boat Bar, a French-inspired oyster bar, are shutting down temporarily on June 19. Both restaurants are expected to reopen in the next three to six months.
“We’re incredibly proud of what Bateau and Boat Bar have brought to Seattle’s dining scene,” Erickson said in a prepared statement. “This closure will allow us the time and space to refresh and retool these restaurants after a long 10 years, so they can evolve and continue to inspire.”
Multiple General Purpose cafés to close permanently
However, Beataeu’s next-door neighbor, The General Porpoise café, also owned and operated by Erickson, is set to close permanently in order to be converted into a private dining room. The General Porpoise location in Laurelhurst is also closing permanently by June 24.
These restaurants fall under the umbrella of Sea Creatures Restaurants, a network of eateries locally owned and operated by Erickson and partners. Sea Creatures Restaurants also owns Willmott’s Ghost, The Whale Wins, The Walrus and the Carpenter, Barnacle Bar, Deep Dive, Westward, and Lioness.
The closures, both permanent and temporary, came after a unionization effort led by some Sea Creatures employees earlier this year, according to The Seattle Times.
“We are comfortable with the union,” Sea Creatures Restaurants co-owner Jeremy Price told The Seattle Times. “That’s an employee’s right, and we are all good with that.”
Erickson and Price’s goal is to relocate all doughnut shop employees working at the now-permanently closed General Porpoise cafés to the remaining locations.
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