Mollusk is the gorgeous, expansive South Lake Union reboot of Gastropod, a tiny Sodo brewery and restaurant with a devoted cult following. At Gastropod, chef Travis Kukull and brewmaster Cody Morris converted their faithful with boldly experimental beers and creative, unexpected food, which Kukull served up using a few burners and a convection oven. Naturally, the two were pretty optimistic for Mollusk, where they’d be armed with the state-of-the-art equipment and the space they’d need to really release their magic into the world.
But just seven months after Mollusk’s triumphant arrival on the SLU restaurant scene, Kukull announced that, to save the business, he was stepping down. He told The Stranger‘s Angela Garbes that, due to a tepid response from the area’s tech types, the restaurant was “dumping money out the window.” He added that while tech workers were coming in for after-work drinks and office parties, they really just wanted pub grub with their fancy beers.