Acclaimed Seattle Restaurant the Whale Wins Is Closing Permanently  | Eater Seattle

"A celebrated Fremont restaurant and pantry is closing permanently on Tuesday, October 28 because its lease is expiring and Sea Creatures is choosing not to renew. Erickson said in a press release, "This was not an easy decision," and added that the spot has meant a great deal to the team and to many diners who “celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and ordinary Wednesdays at its tables,” but that rising costs have outpaced sales and the restaurant has seen fewer guests. Sea Creatures co-owner Jeremy Price said the restaurant “has been losing money for a number of years now,” and that despite efforts—“We’ve tried just about everything there to turn things around—adding a larder / taking out seating, streamlining the bar program, adding lunch / brunch, taking away lunch, many different happy hour promotions, wine events, a wine club, and on and on. We just haven’t been able to make it work, unfortunately. It is a fantastic restaurant, but is older, and we find that many diners gravitate to what’s new, rather than becoming regulars at established, mature restaurants.”—the business couldn’t be made profitable. Opened in 2012 to widespread acclaim (Bon Appetit named it one of the best new restaurants in the country and Eater placed it on a national best-restaurants list), the restaurant also helped earn Erickson a 2016 James Beard Award in the Best Chef: Northwest category. Price noted this closure is consistent with the group’s history of shuttering locations that aren’t working, that it is not connected to the temporary Capitol Hill shutdowns, and that workers from the closing kitchen are being offered positions at three new Railspur restaurants the group plans to open in Pioneer Square later this year; he also cautioned, "It is a really difficult time for many restaurants." - Harry Cheadle