Two New Restaurants, Saint Helens And Great State Burger, Opening Next Month

 

Saint Helens and Great State Burger

under construction

(brown and blue building behind brown tarp)

 

 

Construction has been steady for the last year for the two new restaurants at the previous site of the 2-story wood frame building that housed Bill the Butcher and the 1-story wood frame buildings next door, formerly housing Coffee Crew, Bakker Dry Cleaning, and Chelsea Estate Services.  

The property is owned by Seattle and Bellevue developer Ron Sher, an avid cyclist and owner of Third Place Books in Bryant and Lake Forest Park.

He was also involved in revitalizing the Lake Forest Park Shopping Center and Bellevue's Crossroads Mall in the late 1980's and is involved with Cascade Bicycle Club.
   
Last April, Ron announced to the Laurelhurst Blog Staff that he signed a deal with restaurateur Josh Henderson, founder of Skillet Street Foods and owner of Huxley Wallace Collective.

Lesa Linster, Director of Marketing, with Huxley Wallace Collective, recently announced to the Blog Staff the names and menus of the new restaurants opening next month at 3600 NE 45th Street.

The first is called Saint Helens, an American style brasserie, which will open on February 15.

The menu is not posted, but in its place pictures of various foods to be offered.

Lesa said about the restaurant:

It will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with brunch on the weekends. Expect a number of sharable and family style menu items.  

It will be a place to gather, to eat, and to come together in a casual cafe setting.  It will have a full dining room with a cafe counter, an expansive outdoor area complete with fire pit, and a private event space for intimate gatherings. 

 

The second restaurant is called Great State Burger, opening on February 22, and is "our take on the classic burger joint," Lesa said.

The menu offers three types of hamburgers, as well as a kids hamburger.  Shakes, beer and soda are also on the menu. 

The description on the website says:

We continue the tradition of providing an amazing burger, a rich milkshake and fast service for the 21st century customer.  

We offer the highest quality ingredients, serving grass-fed organic beef, organic milk shakes, Yukon Gold crinkle cut fries, fresh American cheese, lettuce and tomato. We use all compostable packaging, and offer online and mobile ordering.

 

Chef Josh Henderson, owner of the restaurant group, Huxley Wallace Collective, told the Blog Staff that the idea came about to have the two types of restaurants in the neighborhood as the "building kind of lent itself to two separate spaces so we felt like it was natural to do it that way rather than to break up one concept. We had been looking to add another Great State Burger, so this was a perfect opportunity to do that as well as an all-day brasserie."

He said that he chose this area of Seattle for his new restaurants as he is familiar with and has lived in the vicinity  for many years.

Lesa told the Blog Staff that Josh "thought this area could use something like this, and that people would be supportive of the new additions.

She added:

Josh had spent a fair amount of time in Ron’s place and knew the neighborhood would welcome a place with good intentions and solid food. We’re excited to bring both and connect with the community.

 

The new space will also have bike parking for an easy stop off the Burke Gilman trail and Lesa said that down the line they are looking at doing a trail side walk up window for espresso.

Ron also owns the buildings directly to the North including the Laurelhurst Professional Center, which used to house Ciao Bella. 

The Blog staff asked Ron if more changes are coming to those buildings and he said:

You are right to perceive that more will be happening. Our intent is to remodel all of buildings including the Laurelhurst Professional Center.  

We plan to extend the depth of the single story building ,remodel the store fronts and to add a partial second story. We are also planning to remodel the Professional Center replace the restaurant and remodel the patio.

Ron cancelled his original plan last May, for a small European style bike hotel, which was to be called the Country Inn.  

Ron's goal "was to create a bicycle oriented community hub to stimulate cycling tourism, provide an amenity for all users of the Burke Gilman Trail, encourage greater use of bicycles as a mode of urban transport, provide a prototype example of cycle-oriented development and create a sustainable neighborhood commercial project."

Michael Whalen, an architectural consultant, told the Blog Staff in November that a number of improvements were being made to bring the buildings into conformance with current building codes, so the look would be changed, but the basic building massing would be much the same as it was.

The Huxley Wallace Collective also owns other restaurants and spaces in the Seattle area, including Little Gull Grocery, Quality Athletics and Westward. Most restaurants offer catering for small and large groups.

Josh published his first cookbook in July 2012 called The Skillet Cookbook – A Streetfood Manifesto.

The website says the restaurant group is "dedicated to supporting nonprofits locally and nationwide through financial contributions, product donations, volunteer hours, and chef appearances. To date we have given more than $35,000 to more than 100 organizations."

Ron recently told the Blog Staff: "We are very excited about the project and feel it will be a great addition to the neighborhood."

 

Chef Josh Henderson
Huxley-Wallace Collective
(courtesy of Huxley website)