Seattle Hospitality Group inks deal with Ethan Stowell Restaurants

This article originally appeared in the Puget Sound Business Journal on November 6, 2019.

Howard Wright (left) and Ethan Stowell (right); photo credit Geoffrey Smith.

Seattle Hospitality Group has invested in Ethan Stowell Restaurants, enabling the company to move ahead with expansion plans, Seattle Hospitality Group Chairman Howard Wright told the Business Journal on Wednesday.

The details of the long-term agreement were not disclosed.

The deal was signed Oct. 3, on the 16th anniversary of Ethan Stowell launching his first restaurant. Wright joined Stowell and Steven Hooper Jr., president of Ethan Stowell Restaurants, on the restaurant group’s board.

“I wasn’t looking for a place to make an investment, and Ethan wasn’t looking for an investor. We were just looking for partners,” Wright said. “I did not invest in restaurants. We invested in a business, in strong management. … The execution by this management team is really strong. I’m confident that will be long-term sustainability.”

Wright recently helped Stowell restructure the company’s debt portfolio, convincing various investors to forgo monthly payments in return for a stake in the company, thus freeing up the restaurant group’s cash flow, Hooper said.

Wednesday, Stowell was in New York City, where he debuted his restaurant Wolf in the new Nordstrom flagship store last week. He said he hopes the partnership with the Seattle Hospitality Group will help the restaurant group of more than 20 locations sustain and grow for generations to come.

Without naming specific projects or sites, Stowell said he's looking at rural locations in the Pacific Northwest such as the Eastside, Spokane and Boise, Idaho.

“Our plan is to grow,” Stowell said. “All that stuff’s on the table. It’s an exciting time for us. Our management team is rocking it right now.”

Stowell said he has about three or four projects in the works right now. He also has an agreement to run the food side of Flatstick Pub’s expansion sites, which have yet to be named.

It’s likely that Ethan Stowell Restaurants will pursue fewer one-offs and more replications of existing brands, like Tavolata, which has been performing well, Stowell said.

Hooper said in September that the company wants to be the "preeminent food and beverage experience curator" in Washington, Oregon and Idaho and will achieve that by expanding specific brands throughout the region, forming a network of sister concepts.

"Running one restaurant is hard," said Hooper, who was on of the PSBJ's 40 under 40 honorees this year. "But having a group of restaurants can take some of the pressure off and allow our group to afford the higher level talent in each market that will be required to ensure the success of the entire market."

In addition to Wolf in New York, Stowell recently opened a restaurant in the San Juan Seltzery in SoDo through a partnership with San Juan Seltzer.