Bethany Jean Clement: Seattle’s Marjorie restaurant closed after 20 years, now plans comeback

Marjorie’s final night at 14th and Union at the end of March was called the “End of an Era Celebration … Because everyone knows Donna loves a good party.” Opening in 2003, owner Donna Moodie named the restaurant after her mother, and it quickly earned fame for its namesake’s jerk chicken and dinner-party-style hospitality. As a Black female entrepreneur, Moodie fostered diversity in cuisine and clientele at Marjorie, and over the years, the love of the place grew. Now legions of longtime fans were facing the ending of an era, indeed.

Turns out, Moodie “just couldn’t part with Marjorie” – in this interview, she surprise-reveals her change of heart, talks about the challenges she’s faced over the decades and shares what she thinks Seattle needs.

From Jamaica, Moodie grew up in Chicago, studying French, art and communications in college. She learned fine service at Chicago’s Drake Hotel (an Oprah favorite), traveled to Europe in 1985, and returned to work at Jerome’s, which sourced local and organic ingredients. It was “avant-garde for its day,” as she told the Seattle Times in 2012, with “a charming patio, comfortable service and an amazing staff,” becoming an inspiration for Moodie, along with her mother’s all-welcoming style as a noted hostess.

Visiting Seattle 30 years ago and “falling in love with the fresh local food,” Moodie moved here. In 1994, she and her then-husband opened Marco’s Supper Club and Lush Life in Belltown, the latter becoming Moodie’s after their divorce. After revamping and renaming, she eventually moved Marjorie to the 14th and Union space.

Acting as Marjorie’s culinary curator with a series of chefs over two decades, Moodie looked for local and sustainable food to create a globe-roaming menu, part of a movement that defined a new Seattle dining scene. Meanwhile, she kept the vibe always dinner-party warm, with the record player going. She also worked to improve the community, advocating for equity and inclusion including in an April 2022 Seattle Times op-ed about the Equitable Access to Credit Act as “a great next step in our state’s commitment to addressing inequities for accessing capital.”

This interview has been edited for length and concision.

What was the decision-making behind the closure of Marjorie after 20 years?

The pandemic was extraordinarily impactful on the business. The footprint needed to be smaller; there needed to be more planned alternative revenues. I signed a five-year option (on the lease) weeks before the pandemic hit. Fortunately, I also took on a position at Community Roots Housing as the executive director of the Capitol Hill EcoDistrict, which blossomed into becoming the executive vice president of the organization, as well as a huge learning experience for me.

Restaurants have always supported nonprofits, but who knew that the compatibility could be so great? Right when the pandemic hit, we used Marjorie as the distribution center for a Community Kitchen grant. Since my new employer was the recipient of the grant, I didn’t want Marjorie to receive any funds from the program (which purchased meals from restaurants, providing them to affordably housed residents). So we came up with providing a place for volunteers to connect, and share a bite and a drink after packaging and distributing the meals. It was such a great opportunity to bond during a time of isolation – to use Marjorie as a community-based space to offer to host meetings, convene to brainstorm, rest and repair.

As the pandemic finally wound down, I realized it was time to let this iteration of Marjorie go. The lease renewal was negotiated to end March 31, 2023. Now I am trying my best to embrace the time I had there, appreciate what I was able to build and nurture, and be incredibly positive about the path forward with new opportunities and successes.

What are you most proud of about your work over the years?

I am the most proud of creating a community within a business. I am proud that my restaurant lives up to the inspiration of a place where a diverse group of people gather that feels like home. I am proud that so many people connect at Marjorie, are introduced to each other at Marjorie, share art, support others’ endeavors, etc. It amazes me. When we were closed – during the pandemic, but also from 2008 to 2010 when we moved to Capitol Hill – many regulars were constantly calling me to check on each other. So many of my friends claim to know each other from meeting at Marjorie.

You’re using the present tense! But word is out that you’ve got a place called Boujie Bar coming to the Midtown Square development at 23rd and Union in the Central District – joining Ms. Helen’s Soul Bistro, the second location of Trey Lamont’s Jerk Shack, Raised Donuts, the revival of neighborhood bar The Neighbor Lady and more. What’s the plan?

Do you want to be the first to know? It’s not Boujie Bar anymore. It will actually be Marjorie 3.0. I just couldn’t part with Marjorie. It came to me when I was in the process of saying goodbye. Marjorie will return, sometime in the fall!

What challenges have you faced as a woman of color in the restaurant industry, coming up when you did?

I still think that there is a repair that needs to happen for Black-owned businesses. For years, there has been inequitable access to the same financial support that so many white male businesses have continual access to. As a result of the racial reckoning of 2020, financial institutions are beginning to examine what impact race, ZIP codes, background, names, work history, etc. have on access. Generational wealth impacts access. We have seen so many major corporations and financial institutions promise to support the Black community, billions promised – what has actually been funded? Has the needle moved?

How do you feel about your current role at Community Roots Housing?

I love the work that I have been able to do. The intersection of place, space, community, art and the environment are what is very near and dear to me. I never feel like my work is not contributing to solving some major challenges that our society faces, and it inspires me to get up every day and work to make things better.

What else comes next for you?

I’d like to continue managing both the restaurant and community-based work. I am enjoying the fact that I have the summer off and especially to travel, which inspires me and keeps me so interested in life. I am a recipient of a grant to go to both Ghana and Copenhagen this year, and so grateful for these opportunities.

What else?

I want to share how much I advocate for small business, and how important it is to the structure of great cities. We need to have local, small businesses that are owned by a diverse group of people. We can go to big-box stores and chain retail and restaurants everywhere, but the treasured small businesses that are the fabric of our community cannot survive without the environment to establish and maintain them. Our municipalities have to engineer better ways to support and keep them in place, and we have to have a superb pipeline to mentor and keep new, fresh ideas coming – making Seattle a city that people want to keep visiting, and that locals want to keep walking around and supporting.