(Image: Mint and Martini)

A big hole in the Capitol Hill restaurant scene is set to be filled by a new venture with far flung connections.

The arrival of Mint and Martini will illustrate both the resiliency of the neighborhood’s food and drink industry — and some of changing recipes for success here as a new wave of investors, entrepreneurs, and chefs move in.

Permits and business licensing records show the new Mint and Martini restaurant is being lined up to open in the shuttered 12th Ave space left empty by Barrio’s late summer closure there after 16 years of business.

It won’t be the first Mint and Martini on the planet. Records show ownership of the new Seattle project includes the family who opened a Mint and Martini boasting “fusion dishes like the maharani curry and a Tikka Vikka pizza” and cocktails — along with a chicken nugget-friendly kids menu — last year in lovely Grover, Missouri.

The owners haven’t responded to CHS’s inquiries about the new Seattle project.

The ownership also operates Red Chili Indian Cuisine & Bar in Chesterfield, Missouri and developed Mint and Martini to appeal to “a broader audience.”

The restart of activity in the relatively massive 4,500-square-foot restaurant on the street level of the Trace North apartment building on 12th between Madison and Pike is the latest in what is an ongoing ripple of turnover in some of the Hill’s largest food and drink venues.

CHS reported here on the ebb and flow of restaurants and bars in the neighborhood as we tallied 27 happy hellos and 18 sad goodbyes in 2024 Capitol Hill food and drink. Some of the most prominent shutterings are already gearing up for 2025 reopenings including Fire Tacos & Cantina set to expand from West Seattle in the former Coastal Kitchen space on 15th Ave E.

On 12th Ave, Mint and Martini’s challenge will be balancing the cost of the large space and doing business in Seattle with creating a quality experience that fits in with the area’s nightlife crowds and takeout demand. Barrio grew and lasted 16 years as an early pioneer in the growth of Seattle “restaurant groups” as part of the food and drink business family behind Purple Wine Bar,

As investors and ownership seek efficiencies and business opportunities, Mint and Martini is part of a “restaurant group,” too — but this one is spread halfway across the country. Will the math work out? Part of it will come down to the butter chicken, biryani, and melondrops.

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