Heavy Restaurant Group

With their new concept, a planned neighborhood café going into the old Tully's location in the corner spot of Hollywood Vineyards, Heavy Restaurant Group returns to its roots. Their first Northwest restaurant in 2001 was Purple Café & Wine Bar in a 1000 square foot space (9 tables) where Larry and Tabitha Kurofsky worked alongside their three employees. With six restaurants and a seventh on the way plus their private event space, Cast Iron Studios, they now employ over 400. It's been a busy 12 years.

Larry Kurofsky at downtown Seattle Purple

The Kurofskys opened a restaurant in residential Las Vegas in 1997 with an Italian menu and nice wine list. Deciding they didn't want to raise their family in Vegas, they chose to move to Seattle. "We'd vacationed in the Northwest and felt it was a good fit," recalls Larry. "We wanted to stay in the industry, but were unfamiliar with the neighborhoods here and wanted to start small and get comfortable. When we saw Woodinville with its wine focus, it seemed right. A bakery was going out of a small space in the Hollywood Vineyards, so we took that. We wanted to do Northwest cuisine with a global wine selection. After a year, we thought ‘we can do this,' and started looking for a second location." They found a former pharmacy in the Kirkland Park Place Center and opened a much larger Purple (3700 square feet) in 2003. In early 2004, they expanded their Woodinville location. "Kirkland is a good community and we were lucky with the location. It was busy from the get go."

In 2006, they opened a Purple in downtown Seattle. "We weren't looking to open in downtown, but Unico approached us. We were advised not to open this far south, but we've done well here," says Larry. In December of 2008, they opened Barrio Mexican Kitchen & Bar on Capitol Hill, with a focus on craft cocktails. "It may seem like we moved in a different direction, but what we're about is liquids and food and how they mesh. So it was our same approach, with a different cuisine and the same service style. We wanted to offer a fresh, lighter approach to Mexican food, with the bar being a big part of the whole."

September of 2009 saw the opening of Barrio Bellevue, followed closely in October by Bellevue's Purple. In May 2010, another new concept, Lot No. 3, opened in Bellevue. "We're basically interested in the whole culinary world," laughs Larry. "So Lot No. 3 is a little more masculine with leather sofas and brown spirits. It's a slightly lower price point than Purple with a more gastro pub style of food. You can go frequently and still get a variety of food and drink."

For a change, in July 2011 they closed a location: Barrio Bellevue. "There were a couple of things going on," explains Larry. "Market conditions in Bellevue and the Eastside weren't great and Barrio Bellevue wasn't performing as well as we'd like. Plus we'd always had a desire for a larger space for private events. At each restaurant, we have semi-private areas for larger groups and we have an event planning team. But we've been constrained in terms of capacity for groups. We were listening to our guests and they wanted private space; it was a natural use for that Barrio location. We gutted it, built a 20-foot bar and it has kind of an underground feel that's great for events." In addition to groups, they hold workshops in the space. "We come up with ideas like cocktail or pastry classes and people can sign up to come. More often, people use the space for team building events or a group of friends will come in together to do something fun." Cast Iron Studios opened in May 2012.

And in spring 2013, we can look forward to The Commons neighborhood cafe in Woodinville. The concept is a community space where people can pop in for a cup of coffee, chat with friends, do some computer work, hold a business meeting, have a quick lunch, grab something to go, or stop in after work for a cocktail and perhaps stay for dinner. "When Tully's went out, the landlord and I contacted each other at the same time," laughs Larry. "I've always liked that space with the street exposure and windows. Again, we've listened to our guests and know they want a casual, warm spot to call their own." Ordering will be done at the counter. Once seated, service kicks in. If you want to reorder, a server will handle it. "We're conscious of our other restaurant here and want to offer something different. We'll have local wine, craft beer and spirits."

Beyond this, there are no immediate plans for more restaurants, although if the right thing were to come up… "We want to grow in a smart way. This is a very good time for us. Bellevue's economic condition is better and there is lots of creative energy in the company. We enjoy what we do and like the creative process. Every day is different; you open the doors and who knows what will happen. We want to create opportunities for our staff, please our guests, and do more while staying authentic; we want to continue to get better at what we do."

Purple Café & Wine Bar
430 106^th Ave NE
Bellevue, WA 98004
425-502-6292

323 Park Place Center (closed temporarily)
Kirkland, WA 98033
425-828-3772

1225 4th Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
206-829-2280

14459 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE
Woodinville, WA 98072
425-483-7129

Barrio Mexican Kitchen & Bar
1420 12th Ave
Seattle, WA 98122
206-588-8105

Lot No. 3
460 106th Ave NE
Bellevue, WA 98004
425-440-0025

Cast Iron Studios
10650 NE 4th St
Bellevue, WA 98004
206-838-3858
privateevents@heavyrestaurantgroup.com

The Commons
14481 Woodinville-Redmond Rd NE
Woodinville, WA 98072
425-892-7012

www.heavyrestaurantgroup.com

Connie Adams/January 2013