Ballard’s Once-Hyped Gluten-Free Restaurant Will Close After Less Than a Year

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Gluten-Free Lucky Santo to Bid Farewell Soon

There’s going to be one less option for those seeking a good gluten-free meal in Seattle. Lucky Santo — the well-regarded health-conscious restaurant in Ballard, above Golden Gardens — will close in December after less than a year of operation. Owner Nikki DeGidio (who was inspired to open the place after her own celiac disease diagnosis) told Seattle Met the biggest reason for the closure was the lack of “business volume” in the area. Lucky Santo had been one of a growing number of restaurants in the city addressing allergy sensitivities with a robust menu of options. The sea kelp papaya salad and celeriac bolognese helped it land on our list of Seattle’s best gluten-free restaurants.

New Site for Restaurant Job Seekers Has Amazon Pedigree

Shilpi Gupta — a former Amazon project manager and co-founder of the Indian food truck Kukree, which had a short-lived run in Seattle — is setting her sights on restaurant industry job seekers. She recently launched a website called Edizeven, which posts front and back-of-the-house positions available in the area. While the site is still in its early stages, Gupta hopes to fill a gap in an industry with a high attrition rate (around 70-75 percent across the country). While Craigslist and Poached account for many restaurant job listings, Gupta thinks there’s a need that remains to be tapped. “Our focus is to understand the needs of job seekers, bring them online and drive engagement,” Gupta tells Eater Seattle. “If that involves personalizing the content, investing in machine learning, then so be it.”

Locust Cider Continues to Spread Its Wings

One cidery is tapping new ground all over Seattle. Just two months after Locust Cider and Brewing Co. added an outpost in downtown’s Post Alley, comes word that there are two more locations planned for the area for 2020: one in Redmond and one in First Hill. Earlier this year, the cider maker merged with fellow Woodinville producer Dirty Bucket Brewing, adding beer to the lineup. Locust also aims to open taprooms in Vancouver, WA, and Spokane by the end of 2019.