The Whale Wins
Permanently Closed
European & NW dishes from wood-fired oven in cottage room
European & NW dishes from wood-fired oven in cottage room
"The Whale Wins is pretty much the epitomy of northwest food. It also happens to be one of the most beautiful spaces around. If the weather permits, try and get a seat outside." - Wintr
"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
"One of the group’s celebrated restaurants that helped earn the founder a James Beard Award in 2016 is part of the company-wide shift from tips to a 22% service charge retained by the house. That change has prompted organizing by employees who argue the service-charge model is opaque and, in practice, has reduced many front-of-house workers’ earnings compared with the previous tip-pooling system; management counters that the service charge funds wages and benefits that make compensation competitive across locations." - Harry Cheadle
"Part of a restaurant group known for rustic European country cooking via seasonal Pacific Northwest ingredients, representing one facet of a local chef’s influential culinary empire." - Eater Staff
"A prominent star in the constellation of Renee Erickson’s restaurant empire, the Whale Wins provides what may be the platonic ideal of a classic Seattle brunch experience. Sunny, airy environs located in a bustling, walkable part of Fremont; a tight menu that elevates breakfast classics with iconic local ingredients (the egg-and-cheese sandwich comes on the best English muffin in the city and the buckwheat crepes are filled with Beecher’s); and damn good cocktails. Don’t miss the filled donuts, either. There’s an adjoining bottle shop and larder which is fun to poke around, particularly if you’re visiting from out of town. For those looking to get their weekend started a little early, you can get brunch Fridays here." - Sophie Grossman
