Opening This Weekend: Holy Mountain Brewing's taproom in Interbay, with twelve taps pouring their “hop-forward, barrel-aged, and yeast-driven ales and lagers.” Their grand opening starts this Friday, January 23 at 3 p.m., and runs Saturday and Sunday starting at noon. The Skillet food truck will be serving food on Friday, and on Saturday they’ll be tapping a special brett-fremented version of their Astral Projection Double IPA.

Now Open: Casco Antiguo, a Mexican restaurant and cantina in Pioneer Square opened by Harvey Ward Allen (owner of neighboring Altstadt) and run by Rodolfo Riveron, former chef of Capitol Hill’s departed Saint.

Free Rigatoni! Tavolàta, Ethan Stowell's Italian restaurant in Belltown, is turning eight. To celebrate, they are giving every diner a complimentary bowl of rigatoni with spicy sausage, marjoram, and tomato on Thursday, January 22.

Renee Erickson to Open Two New Restaurants on Capitol Hill: Chef Renee Erickson, along with Jeremy Price and Chad Dale (her partners in the Walrus and the Carpenter, the Whale Wins, and Barnacle) will open two new restaurants under one roof this summer. One will be seafood-oriented, focusing on “French Atlantic flavors,” and the other will feature dry-aged beef prepared on site. The as-yet-unnamed restaurants will be located on Union between 10th and 11th avenues on Capitol Hill.

Gastropod Chef Plans Mollusk in South Lake Union: Travis Kukull, chef of Gastropod and co-owner of Epic Ales, is planning to open a significantly larger restaurant in South Lake Union, in the True North Building at Dexter and Aloha. Mollusk will have seating for 100 (plus a patio) and will house a seven-barrel Epic Ales (which Kukull co-owns with Cody Morris) brewing operation. The menu will feature Southeast Asian curries and, no doubt, the creative and unexpected flavor combinations Kukull deploys so well at Gastropod. Here’s hoping Mollusk will also serve Kukull’s ever-changing okonomiyaki.

Other Chef News:
Mike Robertshaw, the executive chef who opened Fremont’s Creole-influenced Roux, is leaving the restaurant—as well as Seattle. Robertshaw, who previously worked at Local 360, Hitchcock, and Toulouse Petit (among many others), is moving to the Ozark mountains to help open a “farm-driven restaurant” in northwest Arkansas. His last day is February 13; Roux is now hiring.

Chef Tarik Abdullah, the man behind Morning Star pop-up brunch and a recent contestant on ABC’s cooking reality show The Taste, has announced an eight-week series of kids' cooking classes at the Hillman City Collaboratory starting February 7. The classes, aimed at children ages 7-14, will teach knife skills, preparation of stocks and sauces, and kitchen awareness. More information and registration here.