Plans for Jeremy Hansen’s Ridpath Brasserie and next-door gin bar on hold

The Ridpath Brasserie and its next-door gin bar are no longer coming soon.

Construction delays have pushed back the opening indefinitely, chef Jeremy Hansen said.

The opening date for the restaurant and bar has been a moving target ever since he announced plans for the project. It’s been coming soon for nearly two years now.

Tuesday, citing construction issues, Hansen said he’s no longer planning to pursue the project. It was slated to be his biggest restaurant to date.

He and his wife, Kate, own and operate Sante Restaurant & Charcuterie, Inland Pacific Kitchen, Common Crumb Artisan Bakery, Hogwash Whiskey Den and Biscuit Wizard, all in downtown Spokane.

Ridpath Brasserie was going to be a classic French restaurant.

It was originally slated to open in summer 2017. That was pushed back to fall 2017, then spring or summer 2018. In March, he told The Spokesman-Review, “Things just keep coming up.”

And construction issues just keep on continuing to crop up, he said Tuesday. Now, plans are on hold, possibly permanently.

The brasserie and bar space are both located on the first floor of the former Ridpath Hotel, which closed in 2008. Since then, the property had sat empty and fallen into disrepair, sped up by the work of vandals and vagrants.

However, rooms are now being renovated into apartments. Some residents have already moved in.

Hansen had wanted the brasserie and bar to cater to residents as well as late-night and downtown diners. The plan was to be open 20 hours a day, every day, and offer the same menu all day long. Hours were slated to be 7 a.m. to 3 a.m.

The menu was slated to be a mix of French classics: escargots, steak and frites, foie gras, French onion soup, bouillabaisse, boeuf bourguignon, veal en blanquette, coq au vin, duck confit, and a croque monsieur and a croque madam.

Plans called for seating for about 90 in the restaurant. The adjacent gin bar was slated to hold 28 to 42 guests.