Blind Pig Set to Close in November

Blind Pig Bistro—the acclaimed Eastlake eatery where diners are encouraged to order the whole daily-changing menu, prix fixe-style, for the table—is celebrating its fifth birthday in November. But rather than blowing out some candles and cutting the cake, owners Charles Walpole and Rene Gutierrez are closing Blind Pig’s doors for good.

A little backstory: Chef Walpole has been the creative culinary force in the kitchen, earning applause from critics and loyal neighborhood regulars alike. He and Gutierrez met more than a dozen years ago when both worked at Mistral Kitchen. They opened Blind Pig together in 2011, taking over a tiny spot in an unattractive strip mall with a storied past—it housed the original Sitka & Spruce, and then Nettletown.

Now, Walpole and Gutierrez have decided not to renew their lease. Gutierrez told me that they’re in the process of looking for another space and neighborhood that will be able to better support Blind Pig’s tasting menu concept. (Please guys, somewhere other than Capitol Hill or Ballard or South Lake Union.) If you, like me, immediately worried that Babirusa, the duo’s bar next door, was next on the chopping block, fear not: Gutierrez assures me that Babirusa is “still fighting the delicious fight.” The two spaces are under separate lease, and the owners have no plans to shutter the bar.

Blind Pig’s last dinner service will be Nov. 12. (They’ve got a few special events, like their final Beastlake dinner—an all-you-can-eat goat and Caribbean flavors meal—on Oct. 24.) Babirusa will continue business as usual, serving drinks and dinner daily from 4 p.m. to midnight.