After a three year slump, the Puget Sound area restaurant business is heating up again. Fueled by a strengthening local economy, as well as new opportunities for restaurant sites in Seattle’s far flung suburbs, nearly a dozen new eateries have been opened by well-known chefs and restaurant operator s so far this year.

 

In the meantime, restaurant consultants say many more openings are planned, a reflection of the widening perception that an industry badly shaken by the dot-com fallout may finally be recovering.

 

“No question about it – ’05 is going to be a good year for restaurant openings, and ’06 will probably be even better,” said Arnold Shain, president of consulting firm The Restaurant Group in Seattle.

 

This “progressive new American” restaurant, Veil, will feature typical a-la-carte dinners for around $35 in an atmosphere surrounded by cream, pink and dark-wood accents to offer a European feel to its customers. Veil is located in Seattle’s South Lake Union area and is slated to open in the San Marco property owned by Gibraltar, LLC in August of 2005.