Spinasse Sibling Vespolina Will Shutter This Friday After Service

Poor Vespolina. It's been a rough ride all around for the downtown sibling of Spinasse and Artusi since it opened its doors 18 months ago, and now this Friday, July 24, it will close them.

Jason Stratton originally debuted the restaurant as the Spanish-themed Aragona in December 2013, then he revamped it as an Italian wheelhouse renamed Vespolina last September. Next, five and a half months later, Stratton shocked the city by announcing he'd be stepping away from all three of his restaurants in February, shortly after being named a James Beard Best Chef: Northwest semifinalist for his work at Spinasse. (In case you missed it, last week Eater learned that Stratton's latest move is to become the new GM of the Middle Eastern favorite mamnoon.)

In March, Vespolina brought on the 24-year-old Katie Gallego as head chef, who had learned under Stratton at Spinasse and Artusi since 2011. Three months later, the restaurant started lunch service, but apparently it wasn't sufficient to bring in the traffic it needed. Vespolina will maintain its regular hours through Friday of this week: lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., dinner from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and happy hour from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.,  and 9 p.m. to close.