The Capitol Hill “new American” restaurant that replaced ye olde Canterbury Ale House is struggling with the oldest of business challenges: taxes and rent.
Meliora, which has been “temporarily closed” since February while the ownership said it was undertaking a restart of the concept, is behind on three months’ rent and owes more than $30,000, according to a notice posted last week by the building’s landlord.
Meanwhile, a King County Superior Court filing shows the business owed the state more than $40,000 in unpaid taxes.
Meliora’s Sukhdaljeet Singh declined to comment on the circumstances.
“In our unwavering commitment to providing you with the best possible experience, we have temporarily closed our doors for essential maintenance and enhancements. This break is aimed at ensuring your future visits are even more enjoyable,” a message posted in February by the restaurant reads. “Your understanding is greatly appreciated, and we eagerly anticipate welcoming you back to an upgraded dining experience.”
The Seattle restaurant veteran opened Meliora in the summer of 2023 to fill the 5,000-square-foot space with “a spacious main dining area with original wood paneling sourced from a local barn paying homage to the rich history of the building which first housed a tavern in 1976.”
The restaurant concept was brought in to replace the iconic Canterbury as affordable developer Community Roots Housing sought a new vibe for the ground floor of the 115-year-old apartment building. That transition was prelude to Community Roots selling the property in a $5 million deal that put the classic Capitol Hill apartment building in the portfolio of real estate investor Bryan Syrdal and Tributary Investments.
Now it looks like The Fredonia Apartments will need to start thinking about what is next for the ground floor food and drink space.
Meanwhile, there could be happier news for another empty food and drink space on 15th Ave E. CHS reported here on kinks in the real estate deal that had been lined up to bring in a new owner for the former Coastal Kitchen that led to the property being put back on the market. The restaurant is now under contract, according to the Kidder Mathews real estate firm listing the property. Here’s hoping this deal goes through.
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Capitol Hill is fine. It will be just fine once the pride crowd shows up. It’s just a slow start to the new normal.
Lol the gays fled Capitol Hill long ago. Go visit west Seattle.
OMG this headline! Chef’s kiss.
Bring back the old Canterbury! Or at least a casual place with stiff drinks and a great, affordable (hangover) breakfast!
Just not their former racist POS owner
Yes ownership politics is most important for my drinking dollar. I cannot selfie and signal to my many admirers if an owner has politics someone might dispute.
It’s hard to understand why this business, open only a short time, got so far behind on their rent and taxes. They must not have had any capital to get through the time between opening and when they were making a decent profit.
They’re squatters
I’m a longtime Seattle restaurant worker (line cook then sous chef then chef) and as I love to cook and would love my own place, man is it a difficult time/city to open one.
Even though I know what things cost including utilities I still can’t imagine how much money is required to open a place and ride out a slow start.
I ate at Meliora once. The food and service were great, commensurate with the price point and fine dining atmosphere.
“Death” is feminine in Italian, so it should be “la morte” ;-)
This comment is a solid B, but with your username it is elevated to A+ with extra credit. Thank you for your service, Captain!!!
I guess when jseattle looked up morte he came up with the French.. for whatever reason death undergoes a gender change and is, in fact, le morte using that language. It is however feminine in its original latin, and as you astutely pointed out, remains so in modern Italian.
P.S. if one really wants to nerd out – the d’, I think is incorrect no matter what Romance language you might be looking at… In French d’, I’m relatively sure is only used in front of words that begin with vowels.. in front of a consonant it would be de. In Italian it would be similar, di in front of consonants and d’ only in front of vowels, so really it should be La morte di Meloria…. But in latin (which is the only language of the 3 that actually uses the word Meloria as a noun – it means better) there wouldn’t be any D at all.. the death of Meloria would simply be Meloria mortem…
I get that the fine dining concept failed. But rather than simply close, wouldn’t it be better to reformat as a previously successful ale house?
No need for the dated medieval concept, either, just make it the “East 15th Ale House” or some such, have a limited but good menu of staples, and you’d likely find success with only minor (if any) interior changes needed.
We just don’t need more expensive fine dining. We need fast casual — at a decent price point. I probably eat out 1/2 as often as a few years ago, because the cost has simply gotten so crazy.