In what amounts to a seismic shift for Seattle’s fine dining scene, the owners of famed restaurant Canlis announced a series of major changes in the New York Times and the Seattle Met on Wednesday, February 5. Brian Canlis, who co-owns the restaurant with his brother Mark, is leaving the city and leaving Canlis in Mark’s hands. Maybe more relevant for diners, executive chef Aisha Ibrahim, one of Seattle’s most decorated chefs, also plans to leave.

Canlis — you know what Canlis is, right? Canlis is likely Seattle’s most famous restaurant, a brooding modernist structure overlooking Lake Union. It was opened in 1950 by Peter Canlis (Mark and Brian’s grandfather) and has become a fine dining destination. It’s been a James Beard Award semifinalist or finalist for its service, wine, and food over two dozen times; in 2019 it won a Beard for its design and Brady Williams, then its executive chef, won the prize for Best Chef: Northwest.

Since Mark and Brian took over the family business in 2005 they’ve made changes. The famous tableside Canlis salad has been deemphasized (it’s only available as an add-on) and the restaurant has been a bit more playful — the Times mentions a party early on in the brothers’ tenure that featured a nacho cheese fountain, and last year it used a hot pink coat of paint to turn into “Kenlis” for a Barbie–themed party.

Ibrahim became the executive chef — the first woman to hold that role at Canlis — in 2021, replacing Williams, and drew on her Filipino heritage and globe-trotting experience as a chef at Michelin-starred restaurants to update the menu. She’s received a bevy of individual awards since, including a Best New Chefs nod from Food & Wine in 2023 and a spot on the Time 100 last year; this year she’s a James Beard semifinalist.

So why, in the middle of that run of success, are things changing? The Times reports that Ibrahim and her wife, Canlis executive sous chef Samantha Beaird, “have Michelin-level ambitions” (there’s no Michelin guide in Seattle) and “are looking for a bigger market, maybe New York or Los Angeles” where they can open their own restaurant. According to the Met, Ibrahim “envisions a restaurant that reflects her roots in the southern Philippines; most modern Filipino restaurants in the US, she notes, draw on dishes from the country’s northern and central regions.”

“The dream has always been to open my own restaurant and have my own stars,” Ibrahim told the Times.

Her move has been in the works since September, the Met reports, when she told the brothers that she wanted to open her own restaurant sooner rather than later. In turn, they told her that Brian was also planning a move: This June, he will be moving to Nashville with his family and working on a project with his longtime friend Will Guidara, the entrepreneur known for his stint at Eleven Madison Park and his book, Unreasonable Hospitality.

Brian told the Met that he was “a different person” than he was when he took over the family business and wanted to make a change. Nashville is closer to his wife’s family and Guidara and his wife, Milk Bar’s Christina Tosi, already live there. It’s unclear what he and Guidara will be doing, but he’s looking forward to it. “We have no end to the amount of fun ideas we have. But none of them are opening a restaurant,” he told the Met. He’s sold his share of the business to Mark and his wife, but will remain on Canlis’s board.

According to the Met, Ibrahim and Beaird will leave on April 8. Canlis is looking for a new executive chef.