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James Beard Award-winning chef Scott Carsberg shuttered his Belltown restaurant Bisato in 2012, but now he’s planning a comeback. Carsberg has found a new home for his Italian small plates restaurant in Pioneer Square, and he hopes to open before the end of the year. Fans of the original Bisato will recognize hold-over dishes like the beet blini and ravioli aperto.
Carsberg has signed a lease at 84 Yesler Way, the former home of Trattoria Mitchelli, which closed in 2009, reports Seattle Met. Since he closed Bisato, Carsberg has been hosting infrequent pop-ups while working at Fran’s Chocolates and as a consultant, all while looking for a new restaurant space. High rents scared him away from Ballard and Capitol Hill.
Carsberg first opened his restaurant as a fine-dining enterprise called Lampreia. In 2010, he transformed it into the more affordable Bisato. All told, his run in Belltown lasted 20 years, and earned him a slew of accolades. In addition to a 2006 Best Chef: Northwest James Beard Award for Lampreia, Bisato was named one of the 50 Best Emerging Italian Restaurants in the world by Restaurant Magazine, the same publication that propelled Noma and chef Rene Redzepi to their current renown.
This comeback feels reminiscent of Bruce Naftaly’s resurfacing after a six-year hiatus. Naftaly, himself a Seattle restaurant legend, closed his celebrated Le Gourmand in 2012 after a nearly 30-year run. He came out of retirement in February 2017 with the opening of Marmite on Capitol Hill.
