Seattle Restaurant Zheng Cafe Closes Permanently After COVID-19 Challenges | Eater Seattle

"After being among the first restaurants in Seattle impacted by COVID-19, South Lake Union’s beloved Zheng Cafe is closing permanently. Co-owner Gregory Wetzel, who ran the Chinese restaurant with his wife Jing, says they’re “taking a break from the biz for awhile,” and the couple is in the process of selling the restaurant along with a Greenwood property that was a short-lived expansion. Opened in 2017 after about a year as a food truck, the menu included fluffy steamed buns filled with barbecue pork and curry chicken, but the main attraction was the “Wuhan style” dry noodles — Jing says the restaurant was the first to bring many dishes influenced by Wuhan cuisine to Seattle. Those noodles, Greg’s favorite from his time teaching in Wuhan where he met Jing in 2010, were continually tweaked by the couple and served with house-made chili oil and sesame paste, topped with pork; before the pandemic the spot was often packed with students and local tech workers, many from Wuhan who found a taste of home there. Concern for Jing’s family in Wuhan led to a temporary January closure, and as COVID spread and Washington’s stay-at-home order took effect the Wetzels attempted a couple of restarts but ultimately decided to shut down for good; South Lake Union’s loss of foot traffic as Amazon workers remain remote and Wetzel’s move to a “desk job” in Los Angeles make a Seattle revival unlikely, though a California offshoot remains a possibility." - Gabe Guarente