Beecher's Head Honcho Opening Two New Restaurants

It's like the culinary version of "My Three Sons."

Kurt Dammeier, the man behind Beecher's, Pasta & Co., Bennett's and Maximus/Minimus is in the process of getting two new restaurants off the ground, both named after his sons. The first one scheduled to open is Liam's in U-Village. It'll be part of a new five-story parking garage complex near QFC that includes one floor of retail space. (It's rumored a Joey's and a Din Tai Fung will also be moving in). Dammeier says the 48-hundred square foot restaurant will have about 150 seats and a bar that is at least three times larger than Bennett's.

We'll serve all Northwest wine and our basic food I describe as 'upscale homestyle' — mostly dishes that are familiar or reasonably familiar to a suburban crowd, but made better.

He says because Bennett's (also named after one of his sons) has hit its stride, he thought the timing was right to open a similar concept.

I like U-Village. I think it's a great place. I like our Pasta & Co. there. I like going to U-Village. But pretty much all of the food there is kid-oriented. I felt like there was room for a place that offers the kind of food we serve at Bennett's.

If all goes according to plan (because construction and permitting always do), Liam's will be open this November.

But wait! There's more!

On the other side of town in South Lake Union across from Whole Foods and just south of West Elm, Dammeier is opening an 11-thousand square foot restaurant called Max's, which is named after his son Max. While inspired by, it is not a brick-and-mortar version of his food truck Maximus/Minimus:

It's kind of a derivative of that, but...we might have some pulled pork. It's going to be a meat-centric restaurant where we cook with fire. We'll have smokers and wood grills and we'll have every kind of meat including seafood. Other than the fact that we'll have smokers, it's an homage to barbecue in the sense that all of the meat you buy will be by the pound and everything will be a la carte.

Dammeier bought the former AutoSport Garage and is adding two floors of office space to it, so there are a lot of moving parts trying to get Max's open. Plus, he wants ample time to play around with the smokers once they're installed. He's targeting a February 2014 opening date.

· All Kurt Dammeier Coverage [~ESEA~]

[Photo: Kurt Dammeier/Facebook]