CHS has learned what comes next in the life of the Rosebud, shuttered earlier this year after 17 years on Capitol Hill. Rockers Val Kiossovski and Billy Gould, the partners behind Queen Anne’s Solo Bar, are planning to move in and open a new venture in an overhauled 702 E Pike.

According to building owner Mark Chambers, the deal with the duo isn’t “inked” yet but, unless there is a hiccup, longtime Crocodile bartender and member of Kultur Shock Klossovski and Faith No More bassist Gould will take over the former Rosebud to transform it into a new Capitol Hill restaurant and watering hole with a bigger bar, a more open space and, yes, even much improved bathrooms.

“I had to find somebody capitalized enough to make the place sing,” Chambers told CHS about the move.

The Rosebud has been closed since September when Todd Nordahl ended his brief ownership and shut the restaurant down with one final brunch after a drawn out disagreement with Chambers over how the longtime Capitol Hill business was being run. Nordahl shut down the ‘Bud and is preparing to open his next venture as part of the Social nightclub a few blocks away on E Olive Way.

Chambers says he was sorry to see the Rosebud come to an end. “We loved the Rosebud but so it was sad to have it fail,” he said. 

For a time, it looked like longtime Rosebud owner Robert Sondheim might be returning to the space. But Chambers said he ultimately settled on the two men behind the popular Queen Anne venture started in 2006. Now everybody just needs to sign the paperwork — and do a lot of work to rehab the old place.

Chambers said Rosebud’s bar will be expanded to bring it up to the new expectations for nightlife on the Hill and that Rosebud’s old chambered feel will be eliminated by knocking open two walls. Lines for the bathroom should also be a thing of the pass after improvements in that department.

“It won’t be Rosebud anymore,” Chambers said. It couldn’t be, anyway. Chambers doesn’t own the name.

Faith No More 2009. Gould is the more normal looking one. (Image: faithnomore.ipower.com)

Plans for the new effort from the Solo backers are a mystery. CHS hasn’t spoken with Kiossovski, Gould or Solo’s Michael Lee, yet, about the new project — and when we do, expect a little bit of teen star-struck-ness when we talk to Gould. “Remember that part in that video when that fish flopped around and that guy was playing piano? That was rad.” It took a great deal of self control not to pepper this post with Faith No More puns. But we wanted to give you the real thing. Small victory, right?

Here’s a video interview of Klossovski discussing his partnership with Gould and the details on Solo from the bar’s “about us” page:

Solo was founded in the fall of 2006 by Val Kiossovski and Bill Gould ( if you are curious- spend some time on Google, you’ll find out who they are).

Under the management of Michael Lee, Solo has evolved into a multi- function venue where a simple, high quality food menu, handcrafted cocktails, nice wines and select beers are a standard. That’s why we don’t call it a restaurant or a bar. It’s a bar with great food.

We don’t call it a gallery, even though the art, from fine to pop and everything in between, changes monthly.We don’t call it an actor’s space, even though the best and the brightest of the Seattle theater scene can be seen there nightly.We don’t call it a venue, though we take our music seriously, as do our occasional “guest” celebrity djs.We don’t call it a movie hall, even though we show films and collaborate with Seattle’s up and coming independent filmmakers. 

Solo is all of the above, which tends to leave the unprepared customer surprised, mostly pleasantly.

You can learn more at www.solo-bar.com.