At around 3 p.m. today, we heard through the grapevine commonly known as the blogosphere that street-food outfit Skillet [1] had been shut down by Public Health Seattle & King County [2]. According to the department's Web site, Skillet was closed Sept. 19 because they were operating without a valid permit, operating without an approved food business plan, did not have a working hand-washing facility and incurred "excessive red critical violations."
We were confused. Several NWsource employees had eaten at Skillet the day after the reported closure. A quick call to Skillet co-owner and chef Josh Henderson confirmed that the popular parking-lot phenom is still operating despite the health department's citations. Friday found them at their usual location in Ballard, next door to the Old Pequliar [2] on Northwest 56th Street. "We have state-of-the-art equipment and we serve safe food," Henderson says.
While waiting for the proper permits, Henderson and his partners have run Skillet as a private club -- diners are asked if they want to join, and they receive a free membership card with their meal. Henderson admits that it's a short-term loophole, but he thought it had been condoned by Public Health. So he was surprised when the agency arrived Wednesday "with guns blazing." "I was up front with them at the beginning, and I feel kind of blindsided," he says.
A call to the health department had not yet been returned by late Friday afternoon, but you can bet we'll be following the goings-on at Skillet (which reportedly will be featured in the January issue of Food & Wine magazine) in the weeks to come. An earlier story we wrote about the Airstream eatery caused quite a buzz [3], something Skillet seems to be developing a knack for in its short history.
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