Chef Green (Image: L’Auberge Del Mar)

Details are mostly under wraps right now but paperwork does reveal a secret or two — including plans for a soft-serve ice cream machine

An empty food and drink space on Capitol HIll’s 19th Ave E is going back into motion with a chef-driven restaurant project featuring a native son of Seattle who made his name in fine dining in a legendary kitchen that burned bright in the Pacific Northwest food and drink scene before fizzling in a cloud of alleged sexual abuse and a toxic work environment.

Permit paperwork shows that construction now underway in the empty space at the southeast corner of 19th and Mercer is for an “Emilia” restaurant project from chef Nick Green.

Green has been leading the kitchen as the executive chef at Adelaide in the L’Auberge Del Mar luxury hotel overlooking the Pacific coast of Southern California.

But his stature as a chef grew on tiny Lummi Island overlooking the Puget Sound in the kitchen at the now-notorious Willows Inn where he was recognized as one of the top sous chefs on the rise in the nation a decade ago.

The inn’s legendary fine dining reputation was fully ruptured seven years later when the New York Times swung through the Pacific Northwest to document “sexual harassment and an abusive kitchen” under executive chef Blaine Wetzel. Willows eventually agreed to pay $600,000 to settle a class action lawsuit after a federal investigation confirmed accounts of wage theft and other unfair labor practices. The inn went out of business and closed in 2022.

Green’s career took him to new opportunities in Del Mar but the Seattle-born chef has now returned to his home city.

Green tells CHS it is too early for him to talk about the new 19th Ave E project but confirmed his involvement.

The new restaurant being built out by Dovetail contractors will replace the Capitol Hill location of the Bounty Kitchen which closed last year after limping through the pandemic.

CHS reported here in 2020 on Bounty’s plans as COVID-19 ravaged the industry. The location pushed its way through the delivery and pick-up only era and finally opened to more regular service but never was able to hit its stride with its healthful approach to comfort food like the Queen Anne original.

Bounty’s Capitol Hill aspirations were born of another unsuccessful attempt. In 2019, Tallulah’s made an ugly exit in a cloud of financial problems after new owner Brad Haggen took over the Linda Derschang creation only a year earlier.

Tallulah’s debuted in December 2013 in a lighter vision, veggie-friendly menu, and more modern design design that was partly a response to Derschang’s reputation for vintage and dive vibes.

The corner in new construction can be an expensive address. The “lease asset” for the space hit the market before the pandemic with its “trendy brunch café & bar” at “$8,108 + $2,555 NNN” levels.

The building recently celebrated  the 10-year anniversary of cookie shop Hello Robin. Next door, neighborhood grocery mart Cone and Steiner also marked a decade of success. Both debuted with Tallulah’s but have outlived the centerpiece restaurant.

Meanwhile, 19th Ave E’s dining scene also recently celebrated the anniversary of its eldest core as Monsoon marked 25 years on the street. Monsoon’s old friends like Kingfish Cafe have gone, replaced by new neighbors like Rocket Taco and Zeek’s Pizza. Laotian flavored Taurus Ox has also grown into a popular new destination on the street.

Green’s project is now set to join the mix.

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