Three years ago this week, Seattlest penned a typically snarky post about the proliferation of nutcrackers on Seattle streets. Grumble, grumble, crunch, crunch. Off they went to eBay, ne'er to be seen again. Until now. Turns out, they were almost all bought by one guy, Gerry Kingen, the local hospitality entrepreneur who turned Eastlake's beer-n-burger Red Robin into a national franchise and the old Beach Broiler into Seattle's second-highest-grossing restaurant (after the Space Needle, over $11 million in 2008): Salty's on Alki Beach. more ›