(Image: acooknamedmatt.com)
The Conscious Hospitality Group is preparing the 11th Ave space formerly home to the flagship location of scuttled sustainable chicken sandwich concept Mt. Joy for a reboot as Char the Chicken, a “fire-grilled rotisserie chicken” concept that Instagram-famous Matt Broussard told the Seattle Times will overcome the challenging realities of the current Seattle dining economy because of his passion.
“Any other social media cook, they’re not gonna open a restaurant,” Broussard tells the Times. “Like, this is the dumbest thing you could do.”
The Conscious Hospitality Group backing will help.
CHG is a Bellevue-based restaurant collective and incubator led by co-founders Norman Wu and Danny Brawer. The company dedicated to “health, sustainability, and ethical business practices” pairs in-house concept development with operating partnerships, providing shared infrastructure, supply-chain scale, and administrative backing needed to expand sustainable, wellness-oriented food brands across the Pacific Northwest.
Privately held and so far free of institutional venture capital, CHG operates on an operator-funded growth-equity model. The company says it reinvests operating cash flows and savings from operational efficiencies from its high-volume, more mature concepts to self-fund earlier-stage ventures. The structure leverages buying power for things like certified sustainable proteins and 100% compostable packaging, while also reducing expansion risk as it tests new concepts.
CHG’s portfolio hits all the hours of the day, Its core expansion engine so far has been Just Poké while companion concepts like Sugo Hand Roll Bar and Hap’s Burgers adapt counter-service efficiency into urban sushi and comfort food. Complementing these are morning-to-midday wellness concepts like Sano Café and Matcha Magic, alongside low-overhead food hall testbeds like KODE Pizza, Club Seltzer, and EatDirt, which share prep logistics and validate experimental concepts before wider launches.
This framework played out on 11th Ave in March as the street’s Mt. Joy Chicken sandwich outlet suddenly shuttered ending long-term plans for aggressive expansion after a three-year run. Mt. Joy started with tech investor Robbie Cape’s plans to team up with prolific Capitol Hill and Seattle-wide restaurateur Ethan Stowell to launch Mt. Joy at 11th and Pine with the first of what they said they said would hatch into a 1,000 or more location chain focused solely on “pasture-raised” chicken. But early this year, CHG quietly pulled the plug.
Now with CHG executives on the paperwork, Broussard is the face of a new concept hoped to restore the 11th and Pine spot’s place in the restaurant group’s growing framework. The block is also home to another CHG brand, Matcha Magic, while the corner of 11th and Pine features the neighborhood’s location of Sweetgreen along with the salad chain’s “salad chutes” and “infinite kitchen” technology. Above rises the 2014-era preservation incentive-boosted Sunset Electric apartment building. The corner was famously at the center of the 2020 CHOP protests.
Broussard, known online as @acooknamedmatt, is a Texas-born, Seattle-based chef, cookbook author of Now We’re Cooking, and prominent food creator. After training at Le Cordon Bleu in Austin and working his way up through the Tom Douglas empire in Seattle, he gained a massive digital following during the pandemic with his energetic, ASMR-style videos and rapid knife work.
In media interviews earlier this year, Broussard said the new rotisserie chicken venture was hoped for a summer launch in time for Seattle’s host games during the FIFA World Cup.
Broussard tells the Times the Capitol Hill start of the Char the Chicken concept is now planned to launch in October.
Char the Chicken is opening at 1531 11th Ave. Follow @charthechicken for updates.
Visit capitolhillseattle.com/archive/food-drink/ for the latest cafe, restaurant, and bar coverage from CHS
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