Edouardo Jordan’s New Restaurant Will ‘Tell the Story of My Ancestors’

Chef Edouardo Jordan announced yesterday that his second restaurant, Junebaby, is in the works with the goal of opening early next year. The new business will be located in the former home of Heidelberg Haus on NE 65th Street, a couple of blocks from Jordan's wildly successful Salare restaurant.

Junebaby will draw on Jordan’s roots, pulling out the Southern thread woven into Salare's Italian-French-African-Southern blend. But expect a much deeper dive into the historical cuisine of the South, says Jordan, who was raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, and whose family also has history in Georgia.

"Junebaby will be singular restaurant focusing essentially on ingredients that are indigenous to the southern parts of America and the techniques that they are rooted from," Jordan told Eater. "Junebaby will focus on the humble ingredients but ingredients that shaped America’s culinary history (corn, peas, rice, pork, squash, grains and more). It’s like grandmother went to culinary school. The food will tell the story of my family and ancestors."

That translates to a menu of smoked meats, long braises, offals, classic Southern dishes and an incorporation of "newly found heirloom ingredients," Jordan says.

"It's like grandmother went to culinary school."

"This restaurant and the ideas behind it will be extremely dear to me and my heart. I’m thrilled that I will be able to present my food so openly to Seattle diners," he says. The restaurant’s name has history, too, as Jordan’s father’s childhood nickname.

Jordan will source ingredients from local farmers, working with them to grow many of the specialty, heirloom varietals he’ll need for the menu. He also expects to source ingredients from outside the Pacific Northwest when they can’t be found or grown here.

Junebaby will aim to imbue its 60-seat dining room with a sense of Southern hospitality. There will be a 12-seat bar serving classic Southern cocktails and house concoctions using moonshines, rum, bourbons, whiskies, and gins. The restaurant will serve dinner Wednesday through Sunday and lunch on the weekends.

Jordan has risen quickly to prominence with Salare, which opened last year and is a member of the Eater 38. Jordan was a semifinalist for a James Beard Award in 2016, named to Food & Wine’s list of Best New Chefs of 2016, and won Eater Seattle’s Chef of the Year for 2015. He also just won Nicky USA's 16th annual Wild About Game competition in Oregon.