Brian Clevenger
General Harvest Restaurants | Seattle
march 2020
Growing up in the coastal town of Anacortes, Washington, Brian Clevenger was met with two potential career paths: either work at the refinery or work in the fishing industry. With a knack for cooking and a taste for fresh, local seafood, Clevenger chose fish. At 16, he became a prep cook at the Flounder Bay Cafe, a job that mainly consisted of preparing clam chowder. Clevenger fell in love with the restaurant industry and decided to enroll at the Art Institute of Seattle, where he received an A.A. in Culinary Arts and a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management.
After graduation, Clevenger moved to Lyon, France, to cook and train at the two-Michelin starred l’Hotel de France in Lyon. In 2007, Clevenger returned stateside to work at San Francisco’s Delfina, cooking pasta during the restaurant's James Beard award-winning year. At 26, he returned to Seattle where he became executive chef of Cicchetti and also Serafina. Later, After becoming chef de cuisine of two Ethan Stowell restaurants—Tavolàta and Staple & Fancy—Clevenger felt ready to branch out on his own. In 2015, he opened his first restaurant, modern Italian Vendemmia. Clevenger established the group General Harvest Restaurants, and, within five years, opened five additional restaurants: East Anchor Seafood, Le Messe, Raccolto, Haymaker, and G.H. Pasta Co., quickly joining the ranks of great Seattle restaurateurs like his former boss, Stowell.
