Major San Francisco Chef Eyeing Seattle for His Rotisserie Chicken Hit

A Bay Area dining luminary may be coming to Seattle soon, bringing some brined chicken. Star San Francisco chef Evan Rich recently told the Califonia-based publication Alta that he is eyeing a new location for him and his wife Sarah’s hit restaurant RT Rotisserie in this area, and later confirmed the info to Eater Seattle. “I am in love with Seattle,” Rich says. “It is so beautiful, people are amazing, and I look forward to trying to open up there. I have not made much progress, because the holidays got very busy, but starting soon we’re gonna be up there seeing if we can make this happen.”

RT Rotisserie arrived in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley neighborhood in 2017 as a more casual, counter-service counterpart to the Rich’s Michelin-starred restaurant Rich Table — and has since opened a second location in the Bay Area. The menu consists of sandwiches, pork spareribs, and rotisserie chicken, naturally, with an array of sides and sauces. It also received a three-star review from the San Francisco Chronicle, which praised the chicken “brined for 24 hours in seasoned buttermilk then hung for two days to firm the flesh and concentrate the flavor.”

Whenever it arrives, RT Rotisserie will find a dining scene in Seattle with a proliferation of fast casual places, although local chef Josh Henderson halted plans for a revival of his own rotisserie chicken restaurant last year because of prohibitive costs, and the Peruvian-influenced rotisserie chicken spot Big Chickie in Hillman City recently closed. The Rich’s would also join fellow celebrated San Francisco chef Joshua Skenes (currently planning a Bellevue seafood restaurant for 2021) in making the trip up north soon.

UPDATE: January 21, 2020, 10:26 a.m.: This post has been updated with comments from Evan Rich, confirming the news.

Disclosure: Carolyn Alburger, the Cities Director for Eater, is the author of Rich Table’s cookbook. She has recused herself from involvement in any Rich Table coverage on Eater.

• Seattle Is Your Oyster [Alta]
• All coverage of RT Rotisserie [ESF]