The Sound Food building once again sits empty, as both businesses that had been running there have closed because of a vandalism incident that occurred in early August.

“It’s devastating,” Rachael Gordon, owner and chef of Rachael’s at Sound Food said. “Things were going so well, I would love nothing more than to be able to continue there.”

What Gordon at first thought was a break in occurred sometime after she closed on Aug. 6. When she arrived to open for the morning on Aug. 7, she discovered that her sign had been damaged, found broken dishes in the sink, missing dry goods and the refrigerator she was using for her side of the restaurant was blowing hot air so that everything in it was no longer useable. In all, she sustained $6,000 in losses.

She reported the incident to the sheriffs as well as the owner of the Sound Food building, Jeff Cunningham.

Gordon said that the sheriffs who came to take her report told her that they could not find any evidence of a break in, suggesting that the damage could have been done by someone who had access to the building.

King County Sheriff Department spokeswoman DB Gates told The Beachcomber that there would not be an investigation into the incident.

“If there had been any evidence pointing us in someone’s direction, we’d investigate. But there wasn’t anything we could go on that suggested a suspect.”

Without any answers,  being fearful about remaining in the space and having a significant financial loss to contend with, Gordon decided she could not continue to operate her breakfast and lunch restaurant at Sound Food, and she reached an agreement with Cunningham to terminate her lease.

Unsure of what she will do now, Gordon is still catering and trying to decide where to go from here. She was approached by Chris Lueck of Express Cuisine, but is hesitant to move into a space on her own.

“The shared space in the Sound Food building kept costs down and its location south of town is what made that work so well,” Gordon said. “I don’t think being in town would result in the same kind of success.”

The other tenant of the Sound Food building, Brandon D’Imperio, has also shut-down his weekend dinner services until further notice, though he remains under a lease contract with Cunningham. D’Imperio says he is considering starting pop-up dinners at his farm.