Remember when the guys behind Seattle’s Kraken Congee pop-up made their TV debut on CNBC’s Restaurant Kickstart this past summer? The three of them–Garrett Doherty, Irbille Donia and Shane Tyler Robinson–fought hard to convince the show’s celebrity chef/investor Tim Love that their congee concept could translate into a successful brick and mortar restaurant. They succeeded, sort of.

Love offered them $150,000, the sum of which would have to be paid back before the trio began collecting salaries, according to Doherty. After doing some research, and looking at spaces in Seattle (and the cost to lease them), Doherty says they walked away from the deal because it was not realistic. “If it took two years to pay [Love] back, we’d be making less money than we are now.”

However, Doherty told Seattle Weekly today that he renegotiated the deal with Love for better money and better terms, making Love and Kraken 50/50 partners after the initial investment is paid back. What convinced Love to rethink it? Says Doherty, “We’re a solid concept and the show probably wanted some closure. I heard some of their other deals didn’t work out. I guess for the show to remain viable, something has to work out, right?” At press time, Love’s team, in response to an email I wrote them asking to talk about Kraken, said they’d have someone reach out to me shortly.

But who exactly is Kraken Congee now? Well, possibly just Doherty and a crew of five staffers (servers and one sous chef) who have been working the pop-ups for the last year. Donia, however, has left Kraken, stating that he is following his heart and pursuing his own Lahi Filipino pop-up. He admits, however, that things became tense between him and Doherty. “Here’s the thing: We learned that Reality TV is not reality at all. There were some things that I wasn’t ok with … I wanted to stay true to what we’d been doing and what we were. But at some point, some of us, well … egos grew.”

Donia, on an earlier call today, had no knowledge of the renegotiated deal. According to him, Love “backed out.” “Tim Love very politely wouldn’t commit more than [the $150,000]. Essentially, we went back and forth and then the offer expired and we haven’t heard from him since,” Donia said. Apparently, he hasn’t talked to Doherty lately.

When asked about Donia, Doherty says that his partner wanted to “tear apart and change up the menu” every night, whereas Doherty was looking to have a few staple dishes on the menu. Of their split, he says, “[Donia] wants to do his Filipino thing and more power to him.” Doherty explains, too, that with less of them onboard, the deal is more attractive.

As for Robinson, a call to him has not yet been returned, though Donia claims he’s busy heading up a new cafe, Firefly, on the Amazon campus. Doherty, however, says that as far as he knows, Robinson is still in on the restaurant deal, but is dealing with a personal matter. The two haven’t spoken in a few weeks but he seems positive about Robinson’s part in the venture moving forward.

So when will the restaurant open? Doherty has been looking at spaces for the last five months–along with help from Love–and hopes to secure a home for Kraken before the end of the year, with a goal of opening in the first quarter of 2015.