49th Street Beast and Cleaver Is Closing - Eater Seattle
"Seattle’s burger scene suffered a blow last week, when Beast and Cleaver announced on Facebook that it was closing 49th Street Beast and Cleaver, the restaurant’s outpost inside Fair Isle Brewing. The last day of service will be July 28. 49th Street, which opened in September, didn’t really bill itself as a burger joint. It had a full menu of meat dishes, vegetable sides, and treats like spotted dick pudding (Beast and Cleaver co-owner Kevin Smith is British). But the burger was the thing that received by far the most hype. Before 49th Street’s opening, Beast and Cleaver’s dry-aged burgers were only available at infrequent pop-ups. The dry-aging process can last up to 130 days and the butcher shop–slash–restaurant didn’t have the space to store much ground beef for that long, the Seattle Times wrote. Moving into the kitchen at Fair Isle allowed the team to age and sell more burgers, but they were still only available in limited quantities and tended to sell out. The burgers, which come cooked medium-rare, are topped with only American cheese, ketchup, and beef garum; the star here is the beautiful beef and nothing is allowed to obscure its place in the spotlight. (Well, unless you add bacon.) In its Facebook post, Beast and Cleaver was vague about why the 49th Street Beast closed, saying only “some things just aren’t meant to be.” Co-owner Polly Yakovich didn’t provide any more details when reached by Eater Seattle, saying, “We are incredibly proud of the team we had at 49th Street Beast and we think that they are some of the best cooks in the city. They produced delicious food that we were proud of, and customers loved.” The team at 49th Street won’t be retained by Beast and Cleaver, the spokesperson said. The kitchen is run by Jaimon Westing, previously of the Willows Inn and No Anchor." - Harry Cheadle
