Acclaimed Steakhouse Bateau Is Closing for a ‘Planned Reimagining'
The acclaimed Sea Creatures restaurant group is navigating some choppy waters. On Thursday, June 5, the group, co-owned by famed chef Renee Erickson, announced in a press release that starting June 19, it will be temporarily shuttering the connected restaurants Boat Bar and Bateau as 'the company begins a planned reimagining of both restaurants.' The Capitol Hill location of its doughnut shop chain General Porpoise — which shares the space with those two restaurants — will close permanently, as will the Laurelhurst General Porpoise.
The closure of Bateau and Boat Bar is expected to last three to six months, Sea Creatures said.
'We're incredibly proud of what Bateau and Boat Bar have brought to Seattle's dining scene,' Erickson said in the press release. '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.'
Erickson is more associated with seafood than steak — her Walrus and the Carpenter is one of Seattle's most famous oyster bars — but Bateau has been a critical darling, attracting a lot of attention (and even a New York Times profile) for its use of unusual cuts of meat. In 2017, Eater national critic Bill Addison named it one of the 38 best restaurants in America. Even a temporary closure is a surprise.
Co-owner Jeremy Price said in an email that part of the reason for the closure was that chef de cuisine Taylor Thornhill and general manager Jamie Irene happened to give notice at around the same time. 'After a decade of working together and becoming friends, we are happy for these folks, wish them the best of luck in their new roles, and can't wait to visit them in their new restaurant homes,' Price said. The release added that their departure created a 'natural transition point' for some 'long-considered changes.'
Those changes will include the closure of the Capitol Hill General Porpoise, which was the company's first doughnut shop. 'We'll do our best to find positions to displaced General Porpoise Capitol Hill staff at our remaining cafés in the Amazon Spheres and Pioneer Square,' the press release said. The Laurelhurst cafe, near University Village, is being replaced by another tenant, and Sea Creatures said that all staff members there have positions at the other General Porpoises.
Sign up for our newsletter.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Eater
2 days ago
- Eater
Workers at Seattle's Most Prestigious Restaurant Group Have Unionized
In December 2024, the employees at the Sea Creatures restaurant group were called into a meeting. Sea Creatures, founded by acclaimed chef Renee Erickson, runs some of Seattle's most celebrated restaurants, including oyster bar the Walrus and the Carpenter, innovative steakhouse Bateau, and the Whale Wins, which earned Erickson a James Beard Award in 2016. At the meeting, ownership announced there would be changes coming. After years of accepting tips, Sea Creatures restaurants would be switching to a service charge model. Starting in January, every guest check would explain that 22 percent of the bill (about what the average customer tipped) would be added to the total. This 'is retained entirely by the house,' the checks would say. 'Revenue from this service charge is used to pay operating expenses, including labor.' At the meeting, employees learned that what this meant in practice was that about half of the service charge would be paid out to hourly workers, who, before this change, all shared in the tip pool. (Back of house employees, including dishwashers, were part of the tip pool.) The hourly rate would go up to a base rate of $25 an hour. While in theory it might appear roughly equivalent to the pre-service charge take home, workers say that in practice it spelled a sharp reduction in income from tips. It was 'a huge pay cut for all of us,' says Jeff Kelley, who was a front-of-house worker at the time. 'They said, you either hear what we're saying and decide to continue to work here, or you quit and you go somewhere else... We immediately were like, 'No, there's a third option.'' They could form a union. In the months that followed, Sea Creatures employees won union elections at the Walrus and the Carpenter and Bateau — Sea Creatures' biggest and most famous restaurants — as well as the doughnut shop chain General Porpoise. United Creatures of the Sea is an unusual union for several reasons. It's not affiliated with any larger union, doesn't collect dues from workers, and really only has one issue it's arguing with management about: the service charge. 'We needed a way to force Renee Erickson to listen to her employees,' says Ford Nickel, a former server at Sea Creatures. The union says hourly workers across the board have seen pay cuts as a result of the new service charge. Unionized employees at Walrus made a combined $140,000 less so far this year than they would have under the old tipping model, according to the union's calculations. Jeremy Price, a Sea Creatures co-owner, disputes this — some workers have made less under the new system, but some have made more, he writes in an email. 'We're seeing that back-of-house workers at less busy restaurants are generally making a little more now, including dishwashers. Servers, especially at our busier restaurants, are making a little less now.' At Walrus specifically, hourly workers make between $28.14 and $56.81 per hour, Price writes. 'We believe these wages, along with the benefits we can fund through the service charge, are among the most competitive in the industry.' United Creatures of the Sea is now negotiating a contract with Sea Creatures. The union is represented at the bargaining table by Kelley and Nickel, both of whom no longer work for the restaurant group and volunteer their time to the union. (The union also has pro bono legal counsel.) They're hoping to get management to reduce the service charge to 10 percent or lower and encourage customers to leave tips once again. To make the math work for Sea Creatures, union employees are willing to reduce their hourly rate. 'We just want to work for our tips' — Jeff kelley In part, this conflict reflects the shifting, complicated debate over tipping in American restaurants. Some in the industry feel that tipping is inherently inequitable, which has led to a shift to service charges, with some restaurants spelling out on receipts which portion of the service charge goes directly to workers. But in Seattle, several restaurant groups have been sued for not distributing this money precisely as promised; today many restaurants, including Sea Creatures, say the house retains the entirety of the service charge, which according to the Seattle Met shields them from lawsuits. This makes the whole process opaque from the customers' perspective. Ford and Nickel argue that a tip pool, where all hourly workers share in tips earned during their shift, is a more fair and transparent way of working. 'We just want to work for our tips,' is how Kelley puts it. 'I don't want restaurants to be able to operate this way. It's deceptive.' Nickel and Kelley have also been frustrated by the recently announced temporary closure of Bateau and its attached General Porpoise. Price said the steakhouse is closing so it can 'refresh and retool,' and United Creatures of the Sea doesn't believe the decision was motivated by the unionization of the restaurant. Still, the closure harms the union by cutting its membership in half. If Bateau reopens as a brand-new restaurant the union might have to hold a whole new election. Nickel and Kelley say that Sea Creatures is required by the National Labor Relations Act to negotiate with the union over the terms of the layoff, including which employees would be rehired once Bateau reopens. If they don't reach an agreement, they say they will file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. They say management's reticence to engage with them about that issue — and the slowness of the overall negotiation process — is what motivated them to reach out to local media. Price says that management has been 'emailing back and forth all the time,' adding that they had just increased the frequency of meetings and were 'bargaining in good faith' when it came to layoffs at Bateau. 'We believe everyone is working in good faith and with the best interest of staff and the businesses in mind.' In a statement, Erickson said, 'We have a lot of pride in the restaurants that we operate, and that starts with having great staff. The well-being of employees at every location is a real focus for us. We are supportive of our union locations and will continue to collaborate with and listen to them.' The union thinks that this listening process has been disappointingly slow. 'I was hoping that if I'm the owner of a restaurant and all my employees think that what I'm doing is wrong,' says Kelley, 'I would maybe listen.' See More:
Eater
3 days ago
- Eater
The Best Early Prime Day Kitchen Deals That Are (Already) Live
Fasten your aprons, folks. J*ffrey B*zos has climbed out from under his rocket (ok, not really) to announce that Amazon Prime Day, which is arguably the behemoth's biggest sale event, will span a whopping four days this year, from July 8 to 11. It feels like the doorbusting deals event lasts a little longer every year, and slings even more price-slashed Bissell Little Green Machines, Echo Dots, and thousands more bestselling items than the year before, which is good news for the budget-mindful consumer, albeit a little overwhelming; all of this (saving money) sounds nice (necessary), but it requires a bit of machete chopping through a jungle of mid-15-percent-off deals (boo) to find those enticing, 20-percent-off-and-above deals on aesthetic juicers and Ooni pizza oven dupes. That's why the shopping team at Eater has momentarily steered itself away from testing olive oils and comparing heritage cookware brands to see what the best early kitchen deals are actually worth their salt (ideally, Jacobsen Salt Co.) in anticipation of Prime Day. Plug in your most relaxing scent diffuser, put on some Enya, and let's shop for the best early Amazon Prime Day kitchen deals in truly unbothered fashion. A generous 5.8-inch feed chute and 400 watts of horsepower await you and your farmers market bounty. We love Ooni's high-powered pizza appliances, but the company's price tags can easily run into the hundreds of dollars. This sleek model from Big Horn, however, is on sale for 24 percent off and boasts a speedy cooking time of 18 minutes per 12-inch pizza. If you can't head to Europe this summer, bring the bistro feel to your own kitchen table with this set of Spanish glassware that's perfect for juice and wine. There's an Eater guide dedicated to the best non-plastic food storage options beloved by our staffers, and this set of BPA-free glass containers definitely makes the cut. Great knives don't have to cost you hundreds of dollars, and this German steel paring knife is a particularly gift-able option with its rustic cloth sheath. … And this Mod, mushroom-shaped option is 20 percent off. Hydro Flask's insulated canteen is 30 percent off, and even comes with a trusty loop for hooking on your backpack or purse. Stay tuned for more Prime Day updates. In the meantime, please go have an Aperol spritz.
Eater
7 days ago
- Eater
Michelin-Starred Gwen Is Closing in Hollywood and Moving to the Westside
Gwen, the Michelin-starred restaurant, butcher shop, and bakery in Hollywood from Australia-born chef Curtis Stone, is closing in Hollywood after eight years and looking for another location on the Westside, according to a statement emailed to Eater. Stone opened the restaurant with his brother Luke in 2016 as a follow-up to his Beverly Hills tasting menu destination, Maude, which debuted in 2014. According to Stone, he and his brother, who will remain business partners, have a few different locations in mind but haven't settled on one yet. The last day of business for Gwen will likely be in early-to-mid August, depending on negotiations with the landlord, giving fans almost two months to visit the restaurant before it leaves Hollywood. In 2016, Eater awarded Gwen 'Most Beautiful Restaurant of the Year' for its gorgeous modern Art Deco design, soaring ceilings, and blend of industrial features. The menu incorporated tasting menu elements and a la carte options but centered around the wood-fired grill, which was fully visible from the dining room. Eventually, it settled into a high-end steakhouse with meats dry-aged on the premises. Over the years, Stone expanded the butcher shop to become one of the top destinations for meat in the city, with house-made charcuterie and salumi, pastries, and sandwiches. The restaurant was featured in an Eater video earlier this year as one of the world's top steakhouses.. Gwen's move from Hollywood signals an overall weakness in the neighborhood's dining scene as a result of the 2023 writers' and actors' strikes and the January 2025 wildfires. In the emailed statement, Stone said, 'We've made the difficult decision to move the restaurant because we believe there's an even greater opportunity to grow, develop, and evolve. The heart of Gwen will never change, but we're always seeking ways to refine, reimagine, and raise the bar.' The chef also thanked front and back-of-house staff as well as loyal regulars. Stone elaborated to Eater over text that 'Hollywood is still such a challenge.' Stone also closed Maude in 2024 after a 10-year run and morphed the Beverly Hills space into the Pie Room, a casual daytime pastry, cafe, and wine bar. Over the years, Stone has been busy with television projects in addition to operating his LA restaurants, serving as a judge on Crime Scene Kitchen on Fox, Field Trip with Curtis Stone on PBS, and hosting My Kitchen Rules on Fox. In 2024, he also opened Woodend by Curtis Stone at the Maroma resort in Mexico's Riviera Maya near Cancun. See More: LA Restaurant Closings LA Restaurant News
