Chef Justin Sutherland is leaving the Handsome Hog.

Sutherland, who was opening chef at the Madison Restaurant Group-owned restaurant and helped build its brand even after his television celebrity status began to climb, said it’s time to move on.

“I wanted to fully own it, but we just couldn’t come to terms,” Sutherland said. “Without being able to buy it outright, I just couldn’t keep going. Our interests were no longer aligned.”

Madison also owns Gray Duck Tavern, Ox Cart Rooftop and the currently shuttered Public Kitchen and Bar. Handsome Hog, which added an enormous patio after its relocation to Selby Avenue, will continue to operate under the company.

Never one to sit still, Sutherland is working on expanding the footprint of two other brands he co-owns with his father, Kerry Sutherland: Egg sandwich shop Big E, which has two locations, the first in Portland, Ore., and the second on St. Paul’s Grand Avenue; and Northern Soul, which has one spot at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport and one at Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, Minn.

“We’re going all in on those two concepts,” Sutherland said. “Both are designed to be multi-location concepts. We’re looking all over from college towns to suburbs in and out of state for new locations.”

Sutherland is also “in discussions” around a project in Minneapolis.

In addition, the chef, who won a Daytime Emmy for outstanding culinary host for his show “Taste the Culture,” is working on his burgeoning TV career.

“We have filmed three pilots for shows that are being shopped around and hopefully will get picked up,” Sutherland said.

And he’s still hoping for a second season of “Taste the Culture,” which seems likely given his Emmy win.

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