West Seattle restaurants: ‘Meander’s is done,’ says its founder

8:50 AM: The founder and namesake of West Seattle to White Center to West Seattle restaurant Meander’s says she’s out. Here’s what Miranda Krone posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page this morning, three months after its newest incarnation opened in the ex-Kokoras Greek Grill space in Morgan Junction:

Well, golly folks. I guess I spoke too soon; stick a fork in it, Meander’s is done.

Kim has decided to dissolve our partnership, effective immediately.

I understand that she has chosen to forge on with her own restaurant and her own menu in the space, but it is no longer Meander’s.

To all of the friends and neighbors who have supported us through the years, thank you. You have no idea how much you’ve meant to me, and how much I’ll miss you.

We had been in contact with Krone recently while seeking more information on the liquor-license posting at the former Ripple Café space at 35th SW/SW Henderson, which had suggested another Meander’s enterprise would open there. She tells WSB now, “That lease has since been voided.”

BACKSTORY: The California SW location was the fourth location for Meander’s, which originally opened in early 2011 in the former Jade West Café at 6032 California SW (now home to Harry’s Chicken Joint). In fall 2012, the café moved to a big White Center space (now home to Noble Barton), downsizing to another WC spot about a block south in late summer 2013 until closing there last November. While her business road has been bumpy – and she acknowledges that – Krone’s fans are passionate about her food. On FB, she’s telling commenters she might try “some pop-ups” in the future.

11:30 PM: In comments, we’ve now heard from Kim Depew, who’s continuing to run the restaurant at 6400 California SW.

M May 11, 2016 (9:03 am)

Seriously?? Almost comical at this point.

Kim May 11, 2016 (9:03 am)

We tried to eat there on Saturday and despite checking the website first to make sure it was open, it was not. That’s a disappointing end.

MD May 11, 2016 (9:43 am)

Uh. What website? I never found one for them.

sw May 11, 2016 (9:16 am)

Lasted longer than I thought it would. Sadly, it has not been the same since she left the Jade West location.

I do think a Meander’s food truck would be viable. That would also mesh with her “wanderlust” and allow her the freedom she craves.

BB May 11, 2016 (9:19 am)

This is sadly not much of a surprise.

Chuck May 11, 2016 (9:20 am)

They should make a “Lifetime TV MOVIE” about this restaurant. More drama than a daytime soap.

chemist May 11, 2016 (9:33 am)

I would have said “Kitchen Nightmares” but generally those places have fewer customers/bad food (or it’s heavily TV-produced to that effect).

Wes C. Addle May 11, 2016 (9:21 am)

Yeah I tried the dinner a few weeks ago and it was awful. Food, Service, and Prices. It has all the charm of a old grade school cafeteria during detention.

comebackkokoras May 11, 2016 (9:26 am)

I gave this latest location six months and I don’t even think it was that long. So sad that a great restaurant like Kokoras went away just to make space for yet another spectacular Meander’s failure. There are two things a restaurant needs to do: keep regular hours and don’t give your patrons food poisoning. Failed on both counts. Waiting anxiously for the next “go fund me” drive for her next location, haha.

miws May 11, 2016 (9:27 am)

Sorry to read about this.

Best of luck to you, Miranda.

Mike

NAdmiral May 11, 2016 (9:38 am)

No! We loved Meander’s, especially your latest location. Thank you for years of enjoyment. RIP Meander’s.

MD May 11, 2016 (9:41 am)

What the!?!? Just yesterday (5/10/2016) she was on Facebook ‘defending’ Meander’s and telling people the hours (which were actually hard to find until more recently).

Oh well.

JustTheFactsPlease May 11, 2016 (9:48 am)

This story seems incredibly one-sided. Is it possible for
the WSB to go get some facts from the owner of the establishment? By her
own admission, Ms. Krone was not the owner: “I *am* going to work as a chef for someone else. Kim is the
owner. I will eventually become a partner, and, while I am certainly prone to
‘flights of fancy’, a great deal of the issues you point out have more to do
with doing my best with what I got.” This was a comment made by Krone on 2/8/16 in
reference to the article you linked to above. It sounds like the business
is still open and until it is independently verified it seems somewhat
irresponsible to report (or at the very least infer) otherwise. The fact that Ms. Krone is no longer a
part of the business seems clear, but anything else seems like speculation and is potentially misleading.

writtenonthewall May 11, 2016 (9:52 am)

if you followed the back story (/stories,) you wouldn’t be surprised by this outcome.

Rumbles May 11, 2016 (10:13 am)

Not a surprise at all, the drama factor on this is just too much. Just let it go…..

ImNotSpartacus May 11, 2016 (10:14 am)

This comment by Miranda intrigues me: “Came as quite a surprise to me, as well, though it hasn’t been an easy partnership. I think, though, that it’s time for me to let this go. Can only beat one’s head against the wall for so long, you know?”

Wonder if there was a personal conflict? In any case, I’m sorry to see any WS business close. The last time we went, the service was fine and the food was tasty. The mac + cheese was outstanding!

The Truth May 11, 2016 (10:20 am)

I never went in there because of Miranda. She is/was a bad small business owner who didn’t pay her employees and taxes. No matter what back story you come up with and excuses you put out there that is your responsibility. I will happy give Kim a week ot two to get the right team in place and I will gladly give the new place a try. Good luck Kim!!!

JanS May 11, 2016 (12:09 pm)

actually, they were all paid in full…but it’s easier to trash someone’s reputation, isn’t it?
- walker May 11, 2016 (12:49 pm)
  
  Jan, they were not all paid in full.

Westside J May 11, 2016 (11:03 am)

I agree w/ THE TRUTH. Anyone who has followed Miranda’s story realizes the new owner was taking a risk making that partnership in the first place. But it sounds like they wised up.

Meanders is still open (so maybe the WSB did some poor reporting just taking Miranda’s statements at face value? Sounds like she was canned!) So the name may change, and the menu may be tweaked, but at least now now it will be run as a more honest, viable business.

I like the place, and expect that the negatives were more related to Miranda’s practices (under-staffed, slow service, etc.) We’ll see, but I like having restaurant options and it’s still the best breakfast place around IMHO.

WSB May 11, 2016 (11:18 am)

Nowhere here does it say the restaurant is closed. Even Miranda Krone, as quoted here, did not say that. Thanks – TR
JanS May 11, 2016 (12:13 pm)

did you read the story? Miranda even said it was still open…it’s what TR posted…but knock the editor you did…I just love the people here who complain, complain…even those who never, ever ate in the restaurant.

hopey May 11, 2016 (11:11 am)

I wish they’d let the Kokoras folks come back. I was so disappointed when they closed.

JanS May 11, 2016 (12:10 pm)

Hopey…the owner of Kokora’s RETIRED…he doesn’t want to come back
- Trickycoolj May 11, 2016 (7:52 pm)
  
  The son of Kokoras is not retired and had interest in continuing.
  - Lynne May 11, 2016 (8:26 pm)
    
    Bring back Kokoras!!!!!
  - MH May 11, 2016 (8:31 pm)
    
    That’s what I understood as well. He was looking for a partner/financing. I wonder if crowdfunding would be an option?

Fiwa Jcbbb May 11, 2016 (11:19 am)

Don’t get all this bile here…Admittedly the locations after the old Jade West were never quite as good, but Meander’s was still consistently awesome…I always loved watching Miranda cook there. The gravy-covered hash and crab benedict were legendary. Took many friends in over the years who were always equally impressed. I’ll miss the place.

ImNotSpartacus May 11, 2016 (11:28 am)

On the FB post she says “I believe they are open, although there is some question about the legality of doing business under my name. Hopefully all will be resolved appropriately in short order.”

JanS May 11, 2016 (12:19 pm)

I celebrated my birthday at the new Meanders, I have eaten there at lunch with friends…the place was busy, the food delish. Y’all are treating this as some kind of failure on Miranda’s part. Show’s your prejudice…even from people who never ate there, and that’s mind boggling. Has anyone considered that maybe this last problem was with the partner, and had nothing to do with your thinking that , well, it’s Meanders, Miranda is a poor business woman, and ran this into the ground, too. Judgmental as hell. No one knows the back story, only that the “partner” is now going to use someone else’s recipes as her own and have her own restaurant there. :(

occams_razor May 11, 2016 (2:46 pm)

Uh, maybe the partner bought and paid for the recipes and/or name? If that’s the case, Kim and Miranda parting ways doesn’t necessarily change that, and it will get sorted in time.

It’s funny how Miranda is always blameless when things go south for her.
MsD May 12, 2016 (1:07 am)

Please explain what you mean by prejudice in this case. I’ve never eaten at any of the locations and only know what I’ve read on the blog about the restaurant and chef, so I don’t understand the context of “prejudice” here.

occams_razor May 11, 2016 (12:31 pm)

I love Meander’s food, but there’s one common denominator in this string of closures and that’s Miranda. It’s too bad and I wish Kim luck as she moves forward.

(and HOPEY, Kokora’s left; they weren’t kicked out)

T Rex May 11, 2016 (12:56 pm)

Good grief, they should have their own reality show.

blbl May 11, 2016 (1:17 pm)

The headline says “Meanders is done”. I can see why people may think Meanders is closed.

Alan May 11, 2016 (1:57 pm)

Yes, but hopefully they would read the article before posting a comment. If they read the article, they will see (“I understand that she has chosen to forge on with her own restaurant and her own menu in the space, but it is no longer Meander’s.” ) that it will remain open.
- JustTheFactsPlease May 11, 2016 (3:33 pm)
  
  Alan, so are you implying that the WSB practices Yellow Journalism (google it)? If not, then how else are you going to justify having to read halfway down the article to find out that the restaurant isn’t actually closed? Also, where is the other side of the story? When the restaurant first opened nothing bad was spoken about Kim Depew, but now somehow we are just supposed to believe that Miranda Krone is the victim? The victim of what exactly? Is it too much to ask for a story that is unbiased and actually presents facts? If anyone feels it is unbiased, then please give me one other example of a restaurant or a business owner that has gotten so much screen time on this site (and isn’t even a Sponsor)…
  - Alan May 11, 2016 (10:52 pm)
    
    The fact is the Meanders is done. I don’t know what the licensing agreement might be, but love her or hate her, the restaurant it not Meanders without Miranda. The headline was not misleading and I don’t take any side on what caused it.
  - #Truth May 11, 2016 (11:09 pm)
    
    Thank You. Miranda is a victim of her own tragic flaws…Nothing more, nothing less.

onion May 11, 2016 (1:30 pm)

The name Meanders became more and more ironic over time.

K'lo May 11, 2016 (1:41 pm)

Meander she did . . . many times.

Bri May 11, 2016 (7:29 pm)

Hmmm…

Trickycoolj May 11, 2016 (7:54 pm)

Fingers crossed! This would be so great!!

AJP May 11, 2016 (10:14 pm)

I would have more sympathy for Miranda if she didn’t immediately start blaming other people and write publicly available, long-winded, profanity-laden rants about employees, etc.

#Truth May 11, 2016 (10:31 pm)

TRUTH: Miranda is a BRILLIANT cook…But not so much when it comes to people and business. Here is what really happened: Kim, a west Seattle native, loved Miranda’s food so much that despite her poor business practices, believed Miranda’s story of being the victim of fraud, and ultimately went to extraordinary lengths to save her bacon. Unfortunately, there is only so much you can do with a fragile ego and a self destructive nature. Don’t let Miranda fool you with her, “Oh Golly guys…” approach. She really is her own worst enemy. She takes pride in being called the “snapper” because her mood shifts so quickly you don’t know what hit you. She always claims, someone else did something to wrong her while avoiding personal responsibility and hiding financial numbers. In reality, Kim exhausted every avenue to rescue Miranda’s sinking ship. Even to the tune of paying some of Miranda’s previous debts. It was only after complete exhaustion, Miranda’s utter unprofessionalism and breach of contract that Kim finally decided to cut her losses. The good news is that some amazing cooks, servers, and food have risen out of it. Don’t be sad. Great neighborhood food (minus the drama) is on the way.

Kim Depew May 11, 2016 (11:13 pm)

This is Kim former business partner of Miranda. I have
been reading a few postings on the blog regarding Meanders restaurant. I simply
loved the food at the former Meanders as many West Seattleites do. Miranda is an amazing
chef and West Seattle needs good breakfast joints. I also saw what I thought
was a lot of potential in an under capitalized venture. Things just went a
little sideways with the partnership and things didn’t end up adding up for our
mutual benefit. We have agreed to go our
separate ways. Fortunately, for West
Seattle there happens to be an excellent up and coming chef that has diligently
been working at the same location through all of its changes starting
with Spiro the former owner of Kokoras. He has
agreed to step up and continue to put out excellent food including his
specialty Pancakes Du’Jour, corned beef hash with sautéed veggies and fluffy creamy
biscuits that he says are the best in West Seattle, I haven’t tried them yet,
but plan to immediately. We both think that lots of people miss those wonderful
Gyro sandwiches that were a great take out item from the former Kokoras
restaurant and we are planning on bringing those back as soon as possible. We
will likely be changing the name and are
willing to entertain any suggestions that the community would like to offer up. We hope West Seattle will continue to be
understanding and supportive because we would like to earn your business and
appreciate every single customer that walks through our door. Bon Appetit!!
- AJP May 12, 2016 (1:45 pm)
  
  You see, this is a professional response. No blaming or finger-pointing. Respectful, complimentary language. If I were in the restaurant business, this is a boss I would want to work for, this is the kind of person who attracts, and keeps, good waitstaff.
  
  Good luck Kim! And may I suggest the name “Neos”, it means “new” in Greek!

kate May 12, 2016 (7:35 am)

I’ve always wanted to open up a restaurant called The Waving Pickle, so feel free to use that name if it tickles your fancy. Looking forward to biscuits and gyros. Thanks for keeping on!

captsteve May 12, 2016 (8:16 am)

Kim,

“The Wild Carrot”

HotCoffee May 12, 2016 (10:46 am)

How about “Not Meanders”. Would probably be great marketing based on the comments here over the years.

j May 12, 2016 (11:37 am)

Damn…hotcoffee beat me too it. I second Not Meanders.

That’s funny Kate my wife and I play a game called the Waving Pickle.

HotCoffee May 13, 2016 (10:23 am)

What your wife and you do in the bedroom is your business, J.

Sarah May 12, 2016 (12:56 pm)

Interesting that all the comments on the Meander’s Facebook post daring to veer to critical have been deleted. I didn’t write any of them, but I was watching the thread yesterday and saw some comments not fully supportive of Miranda (but certainly not rude) that were deleted sometime overnight. One was exactly what #TRUTH wrote above–the other side of the story. Very unfortunate that such a great cook would be so immature in her dealings with reality.

DB May 12, 2016 (1:07 pm)

Literally laughed out loud at “Not Meanders” so funny.

Kim – your professionalism is admirable . We will support your business and wish you success!

JustTheFactsPlease May 12, 2016 (1:54 pm)

I second AJP’s comment, very professional response from Kim. Also would like to throw my vote for “Not Meanders” in as well. Very disappointed that the WSB has left it to the comments section to get the other side of the story.

sw May 12, 2016 (5:02 pm)

What, specifically, is the issue with WSB’s reporting? They don’t take sides, and are only reporting the facts and information that was published elsewhere.

Gotta love a Meander’s thread.

CMP May 12, 2016 (2:31 pm)

I ran by this morning and noticed that the menu in the window was no longer there (it was this past Sunday since I ran by there as well). I didn’t notice any signage or hours posted this morning too. And here I thought to myself on Sunday “we should finally go eat at Meander’s since I never have, hopefully it’s doing well in this location.” So much for that! As with other readers, I never ate there because of the interesting business practices I’d read about on the blog. You can be a good chef but bad at running a business. Badmouthing other people on social media and not being accountable strikes me as poor business practice which I’m not supportive of. I wish Kim continued success, as Kokora’s struck me as being well run for a small family restaurant and had delicious food!

humanbeen May 12, 2016 (4:05 pm)

why not name it “Kim’s” ?

CAKE May 12, 2016 (8:30 pm)

“Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow
of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath
borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how
abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at
it…..”

Name suggestion: Kim & (chef’s name you spoke of)

Jaded May 12, 2016 (9:07 pm)

We told you! When we all left the 3rd spot… Like, all of us!! And people put us down and believed her lies…we told u! She’s a liar and a manipulator… And we hope she leaves town. Good riddance!!!

JanS May 22, 2016 (7:25 pm)

wow…and people actually like you? I’m dumbfounded…how rude. Now…go read below…she has posted…and maybe you can stop saying disgusting things about other human beings. Rude, rude, rude !

law May 12, 2016 (9:31 pm)

and put some chairs outside for people to wait. I saw some old ladies standing in the rain. Also offer people coffee who have to wait and setup a little table with cream and sugar. This is what most awesome places do.

Scout 15 May 13, 2016 (12:06 pm)

Please enough of the drama! I went to Meander’s because I liked the breakfast. I followed her to this location and was happy. When it was open, I loved it.

what I do not appreciate is walking in to the place today, unaware of the change in name and chef. I ordered coffee and asked if she was there today. The server informed me she was fired due to business performance and that she pretended to own it. He made it clear she was a manager. I pointed out that it was only opened in February. Most restaurants in West Seattle take upwards of 2 years to break even, if they do.

What he should have said: Miranda is no longer working here but we are moving on with a new exciting venture. By acting bitchy about Miranda-you lost my business

Now off to endolyne joe

Pat May 13, 2016 (1:23 pm)

Well Scout 15 you are right about how the employee should have handled your question but the server’s response says a whole lot about the feelings of the employees at this site. Obviously Miranda’s people skills were not up to par (again?).

LT May 13, 2016 (10:08 pm)

I vote Neos for the name and keep breakfast!

NewKid May 14, 2016 (12:35 am)

Great ideas one and all. So should it be Neos Kokoras or Kokoras Neos?? My understanding is that the breakfast will stay and the Greek will resurrect. I had a Greek salad in there today and it was just as delicious as ever along with baklava straight out of the oven. I never thought it was very good when there was a line out the door and more than one open table waiting to be cleaned. Might want to look into an electronic wait list too so no one has to stand in the rain including the nice ” old” ladies.

Kimberley May 20, 2016 (6:42 am)

The old Korkoras wait list usually consisted of Steve or Dragon taking down your cell phone number and giving you a call when a table was free. I’m excited for this new / old venture and cannot wait to try it.

Meander May 22, 2016 (3:17 pm)

Hiya! Just a bit of clarification.

When Kim approached me about either purchasing or partnering after last summer’s debacle, I was glad for an opportunity to keep the place rolling and fulfill the obligations I’d incurred.

When we went looking for new locations, I was excited to find that Kokoras was available due to Spiros & Demetra retiring, though I knew they’d be missed. I know Meander’s has never been the same since leaving the Jade West space, and this felt the closest to what that had been.

We were both eager to get open and begin generating revenue, and actually managed to do so less than two weeks after taking over the space! I was really happy to see so many of the familiar faces that hadn’t made the move to WC with us return, and thought things might finally settle down.

Though she filed the LLC in her name only, we had a draft of an operating agreement that spelled out the terms of our partnership and shared ownership interests. We failed to execute that agreement prior to opening.

In discussing with our attorney what would happen if we chose not to execute the agreement and to dissolve our partnership, we were advised that Kim would retain the lease and ownership of Kokoras, all of which she’d paid for, and that I would retain Meander’s; the name, menu, recipes & the rest that had been my contribution to the partnership.

She chose to dissolve the partnership, as was her right, and I announced that Meander’s was done. As I said, Kim has chosen to forge on with her own project in the space. She has quite a lot invested in it at this point.

Yes, I’m disappointed to find that the Meander’s name is still being used, and that some of the staff (most of whom have now left) were asked to use my recipes. I’m not in a position to do much about that at this point, but understand that she plans to bring back Kokoras. Though she has offered me the opportunity to buy in, I don’t see anything fruitful coming of that at this point.

A couple of the line cooks that remain were those that stayed on when we took over and they’re familiar with Spiros’ recipes, so I imagine that they should be able to recreate most of the menu. When the Kokoras sale was announced, we discovered that Spiros’ son had an interest in continuing the business, so perhaps they can work together.

Yeah, I wish I’d never left the Jade West space, too. Ed called it “the anti-restaurant”, and it was kind of magical. Salina & Wah were perfectly justified in being hesitant about whether or not to renew my lease, though, after some poor decisions on my part led to noise complaints, additional expenses & late rent and bill payments. Without a secure lease, I looked for another space.

I have definitely made some mistakes, and I’ve never denied that.

Last summer was a living nightmare, and I tried my hardest to recover. I failed. I am grateful to the handful of people who were willing to look at the bank statements to disprove the allegations against me when I was able to return, and even more grateful to the guy who used to wash dishes that said, “I saw you pay for his rent & airfare so he could go to rehab. I saw you give her a week’s wages so she could visit her sick Mom. I saw you front her enough money to get an apartment. What they said didn’t make sense.” His opinion matters.

Kathy, a woman who helped me out in crunch and to whom I still owe, messaged me to ask “What now?”

I and my itchy feet love the idea of a food truck, and had thought to do brunch and dinner cruises with the infamous “fancy yacht” that I bought to live aboard last summer, after my roommate took over our house with his girlfriend. That fancy yacht, by the way, had a lower monthly payment than the rent on my current West Seattle one bedroom, and I paid less on the down payment than first, last and deposit on a rental. Yes, I’m still defensive on that point.

What now, though, is I go get a job. Though I’ve received some offers of support and possible financing for another project, I’d like to take some time to recover and work out past obligations before I take on any new. There’s a fuel dock gig out on the peninsula that sounds nice and peaceful, right about now.

To the folks who have been there all this time, thank you. You’ve helped see my daughter through middle school and high school (she graduates next month!), and Afton likes to point out that you enabled me to support our household after she nearly died giving birth to her daughter. Her daughter who is now spectacularly five years old, by the way. I’ve loved seeing folks come in with their kiddos that weren’t even conceived when I first met you, folks who’ve moved away and come back, and folks whose orders I already know because they never left. You’re an awesome community.

Have a brilliant summer. :)

dhg May 22, 2016 (6:57 pm)

Meander: I’ve always loved your food, loved your company and the great adventures you’ve taken on. I hope the unpleasant comments left here do not bother you much. So many people are quick to judge. Best of luck to you in your next venture.