New incarnation of Joule opens in Fremont

The wait is over for fans of popular restaurant Joule. The restaurant has been on hiatus while it moves from the previous location in Wallingford to the new location in the Fremont Collective. Husband and wife co-chefs Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi say there are a few more changes coming along with the fresh start.

“In the six month hiatus that we had, we kind of had our soul searching,” Yang tells KIRO Radio Let’s Eat hosts Terry Jaymes and Providence Cicero.

They wanted to find a focus and an identity that would clearly present to diners what Joule is all about. After thinking about what their customers order most, and what they most like to cook, they decided it was time to put more of an emphasis on their Asian Korean style meats.

“It’s going to be like a really fun Korean steak house,” says Yang. “The food is still the same. It’s got a lot of small plates, a lot of our little vegetable sides. You can customize the menu any way you want. But you definitely can have really great steak.”

The restaurant is the first thing to open in the new Fremont Collective, a mixed-use development just a short distance from the old Wallingford location. Yang says they really loved the old community and didn’t want to go too far away.

“We wanted to make sure we were going to be staying in the neighborhood because we want to keep our regulars, we love the neighborhood and everything. But after four and half years we wanted a little better kitchen.”

Yang will be spending most of her time at Joule, while her husband keeps the kitchen running at Revel, their urban-style Korean comfort food restaurant, also in Fremont.

After years working side by side in the kitchen, the pair met in the kitchen at Alain Ducasse in New York, Yang says it’s fun to each have their own kitchen to run now.

The new Joule held its first dinner service on Wednesday, and the staff seemed pleased to welcome back their customers.

“Amazing night tonight. Thank you for letting us cook again for you guys,” says a post on their Facebook page. “We are really happy to be cooking and seeing everyone happy.”