James Beard-nominated chef leaves Seattle for Bainbridge Island, citing poor enterprise setting

A James Beard-award-nominated chef, Brendan McGill, has closed his closing two Seattle eating places and is leaving town over a poor enterprise setting.

After working within the metropolis for greater than a decade, McGill shuttered Café Hitchcock and Oyster Cellar on May 31 as he eyes a transfer again to Bainbridge Island, in line with The Puget Sound Business Journal.

“When I look back through the last couple of years of what we’ve been through, it feels a little bleak,” McGill informed The Puget Sound Business Journal. “But when I look at the whole arc of it, I feel really pleased with what we put forth.”

15-year Seattle run ends as McGill turns his focus to Bainbridge Island

As the proprietor of Hitchcock Restaurant Group, McGill will proceed to function three eating places and a brand new wholesale firm on Bainbridge Island. The three eating places will embody Café Hitchcock, Bruciato, and Kingfisher.

McGill famous that Seattle is not a “no-brainer” for doing enterprise, however mentioned he isn’t on board with the concept Seattle is on the decline.

“I’m not sure that my love for [Seattle] and my long history of being here can justify unsound business decisions at this point,” he mentioned. “The smarter business move would be to open in a place whose business environment is rolling, like Bellevue or even Tacoma.”

McGill talked about a number of different favorable markets for growth outdoors Seattle, similar to Spokane, Boise, and Edmonds, in line with The Puget Sound Business Journal.

In 2010, McGill opened his first restaurant within the Puget Sound space on Bainbridge Island, and 4 years later expanded to Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood with the opening of Hitchcock Deli. In 2014, McGill was named a James Beard Award semifinalist for the Best Chef Northwest class.

Shortly after, he opened Café Hitchcock in 2016 on the Exchange Building in downtown Seattle, and later opened and closed three of his different ideas.

McGill’s pizzeria and bar, Bar Taglio, opened in 2019 and later closed earlier than it was was the Oyster Cellar in 2024. Café Hitchcock Express was one other of McGill’s café ideas that opened in 2018 however shuttered in the course of the pandemic.

‘The flow has changed’: McGill on downtown Seattle’s shifting foot site visitors

McGill famous that foot site visitors downtown has not been what it was in prior years, with many neighboring retailers selecting to depart supporting his view. Across from the Exchange Building, a number of retailers have left the Coleman Building within the final six years, together with Starbucks, UPS, the Contour nightclub, Fadó Irish Pub, and Quiznos.

McGill’s eating places are the most recent to exit the 97-year-old Exchange Building, which misplaced its anchor tenant, Slalom, in late 2023. McGill mentioned the once-strong movement of individuals downtown has shifted, with different components of Seattle now higher positioned for fulfillment.

“Some places, like near the waterfront or Seattle Convention Center, are probably better positioned now than before,” McGill informed The Puget Sound Business Journal. “The old thing of people strolling First Avenue to Pioneer Square when you visit Seattle, that flow has changed. There are winners and losers with the way things got shuffled.”

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