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After Travis Kukull quit his position as聽head chef of聽brewpub in Seattle鈥檚 South Lake Union neighborhood, he was panned for how he handled his exit. Many, including聽成人X站 Radio鈥檚 Jason Rantz, found his position arrogant and condescending.聽But now聽Kukull鈥檚聽business partner is coming to聽his defense.

Related: Seattle Chef is mad you don鈥檛 like his 鈥榗reative鈥� food, quits restaurant

鈥淥ne of the things to remember is that Travis is a very passionate person,鈥� said Mollusk Brewmaster Cody Morris. 鈥淚 think he has really deep ambition and aspirations for people鈥檚 exploratory side to break from the norm and try something different.鈥�

But the menu was too different with聽Kukull’s meals difficult to decipher. Take for example his Nachos Picasso dish. It wasn’t nachos. Not even close. It was delicata squash chips and Indonesian garlic crackers, topped with smoked avocado cr猫me fr芒iche. Folks living in the techie South Lake Union neighborhood were not interested in the food, certainly not at their high prices.聽聽So Kukull聽left, complaining to聽聽that “[t]he food I create is the way I want Seattle to be and eat.” He went on to imply people living in SLU were聽not cultured.

鈥淚 think the attitude of the former chef is what really rubbed people the wrong way,鈥� Rantz told Morris. 鈥淧eople aren鈥檛 bad because they don鈥檛 understand or appreciate one particular chef鈥檚 creative mind.鈥�

Rantz actually enjoyed Mollusk’s menu, including the Nachos Picasso. But he wrote a searing rebuttal to the chef’s “bizarrely arrogant” insults of the community.

So why did the concept truly fail?聽Morris said that there are many reasons that Mollusk wasn’t working, but it mostly came down to not meeting the desires of the community.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a case of expectations,鈥� Morris said. 鈥淲e had such a good time with what was so well received at Gastropod 鈥� (we thought) it could just be plug and play and it would work. That quickly became evident that wasn鈥檛 the case.鈥�

Gastropod was their former restaurant. It was a success with critics, as well as diners. But it was a small space in a completely different neighborhood. Mollusk is massive and people thought they’d get traditional pub grub.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 really see a lot of high-end restaurants that are as large as the space Mollusk is,鈥� Morris explained. 鈥淲ith a huge space comes a lot more overhead and costs. It鈥檚 pretty hard when you are doing some of the more exotic ingredients to make the margin with financial sense. Instead, what you end up with is a lot of sticker shock. That was a huge issue with us.鈥�

But like any smart聽business, Mollusk is adapting.

鈥淲e鈥檝e scaled things back quite a bit now,鈥� Morris promised. 鈥淥ur ambition is to still provide a high quality experience. I take a lot of pride in the beer we brew 鈥� What worked in a little 30-seat restaurant in SoDo 鈥� known as a destination pub 鈥� just wasn鈥檛 the format that would work in a neighborhood that really just wanted a brewpub.鈥�

With a new chef, the menu at Mollusk has been stripped down and continues to undergo changes. It includes some burgers and fish and chips, mussels and a selection of sauces, though Morris said that they will continue to tweak it.

鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of the brewpub I remember as a child being taken to in Seattle,鈥� Morris said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 seafood centric but still very much the Americana bar experience.鈥�

Rantz explained he wants the restaurant to succeed because, first and foremost, he doesn’t want to see people lose their job. But he is also a foodie and wants to check out what the new menu has to offer. Morris is hoping the community will also give his business a second chance.