'Crush' Is A Labor Of Love
The name seemed like a natural fit for the couple who both had "crushes" on each other before they hooked up in 2000. The two met while Nicole managed the apartment building Jason was living in at the time.
"A year and a half later we were married in Carnation at a small little estate," says Jason. "It was September 22, 2001, so it was during their crush. We were (catering) a lot of events for a winery at the time and so we said, 'gosh, there's something about this, you know?'"
You could also say it was love at first sight when Nicole found the restaurant space, a 102-year-old home on the cusp of Seattle's Central District, while she was house-hunting for her and Jason.
"She had a vision with the interior and she had a vision with how we could remodel and she saw the moldings and the floors and so forth, and just fell in love with it and said, 'this can be our restaurant.' "
While the interior accents are black, the rest of Crush is cream-colored in order to offset the food and wine, like an artist's palate.
"These colors just pop out," says Jason "The only decor we wanted to have was our guests and the food we offer our guests."
The "moderness" of Crush transcends into the Modern American Cuisine Jason and his crew cook up five nights a week.
"When someone reads the menu they can see mashed potatoes and short ribs and buttered carrots. And that modern approach is that we may present it in a different way, or we may shave on horseradish and dump truffles on top of it."
And getting a table at Crush can be - crushing - if you don't have a reservation.
"Generally on Tuesdays we come into about 115 reservations for the following week."
But Jason says if you can't get a table, just sit up at the bar in front of the open kitchen and watch "the dance." It truly is, in my opinion, the best seat in the house.
What started as a thriving catering business on South Lake Union is now one of the hottest tickets in Seattle.
Crush joins the ranks of young chef-run restaurants with mono-syllabic names, ala Veil, Crow and Lark. Jason has a theory on that:
"Maybe we're just not smart enough to think of more than one name. All we can think about is food!"
Jason, who opened the now defunct Stars restaurant in Seattle in 1998, still offers catering and private dining at his lakeside venue.
And he's still expanding his business - upstairs - adding another couple dozen chairs to Crush's second story.
It's like falling in love all over again.
Places Jason likes to Go Eat! - El Portal, Harvest Vine, Earth & Ocean, Lark, Union, Veil and Nishino.
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