Eden Hill was never intended to be a destination for fine dining. When Maximillian and Jennifer Petty opened the 24-seat restaurant on Upper Queen Anne in 2015, the menu had a choose-your-own-adventure style uncommon at the time, offering plates of various sizes that encouraged coursed, family-style dining. “It was supposed to be a neighborhood spot,” says chef Maximillian. “Shared plates, edgy, but simple.”

Jennifer counters, with a laugh: “No, it was never simple.”

With dishes like a crispy pig-head “candy bar” (a bar of tender pork bits breaded, then fried) and cauliflower chilaquiles, simple isn’t the adjective most diners would use to classify the restaurant, even in that first iteration. Guests didn’t necessarily want to choose what to order—they wanted Maximillian to send out whatever was best. He added a tasting menu—five courses for $55—to the à la carte menu. Over time, five courses became seven. Then 20.

The Petty family

Last year, Maximillian started slinging burgers for the staff meal on Sundays. Regular customers picked up on it, and the Big Max became a popular “secret” menu item. Jennifer says they finally realized they were running three different restaurants out of the same 96-square-foot kitchen, and that they simply had too many ideas to be contained to one space. Instead of contracting, they decided to expand: In September, they opened Eden Hill Provisions, located just a few blocks down Queen Anne Avenue N from the first Eden Hill, in a corner spot with roll-up doors and long loved as a Cupcake Royale shop. The original establishment became Eden Hill Restaurant; its waiters are more dressed up, hours have been reduced, and tasting menus are now offered exclusively.

Salty-sweet kettle corn brussels sprouts

At Provisions, the Pettys are serving a menu anchored by Eden Hill à la carte favorites—such as sweet-and-savory kettle corn brussels sprouts ($9), delicate sea scallop and crab lasagna ($24) and those perfect cauliflower chilaquiles ($14), punctuated by lime crema and hot sauce. The more casual nature of the gray and pink space, complete with wooden rocking horses for kids to ride while their parents enjoy dinner, is reflective of the life the two have built since moving to Queen Anne four years ago. When the Pettys opened Eden Hill, they didn’t have a community here, hadn’t yet become parents (son Thomas is 3, and daughter Samantha is 1) and weren’t the neighborhood celebrities they are now. With one successful restaurant to flex his culinary creativity, Maximillian is now happy flipping burgers—many, many burgers, which are ordered “2 to 1” compared to other dishes on the menu, he says—a few nights a week at Eden Hill Provisions.

Provisions like wine, pickles and jam available for purchase