Silly people talk about the weather in Seattle. The smart ones
talk about the food.
Every time I visit the city I am blown away by the talent and
creativity of its chefs and restaurateurs and the vitality of the
dining scene. Even in the current shaky economic environment, new eateries are
opening and old ones are jammed with loyal fans.
While visiting our son there recently, I visited two new
(2009) and noteworthy restaurants, the kind of eateries that make me want to
slap myself upside the head and shout “Why the heck can’t every city have food
and service and value and charm like this?”
Anchovies & Olives is the latest tour de force of Ethan
Stowell, a trend-setting chef/restaurateur who landed on the culinary map when
he opened Union in downtown Seattle in 2003. Together with his wife Angela and
business partner Patric Gabre-Kidan, he went on to create the effervescent
Tavolata in Belltown and the simply hip How To Cook a Wolf in Queen Anne, each
a perfect match for the neighborhood’s spirit.
Anchovies & Olives is another savvy marriage. In a rave
review, The Seattle Times said the restaurant brings “a refined edginess to the
burgeoning dining scene on the Pike/Pine periphery of Capitol Hill." (Photos by Geoffrey Smith.)
A&O’s “décor” revolves around the kitchen, a
front-and-center presence that greets you at the door and reaches out – with sizzling pans, hissing pots and
general “we-love-our-job” attitude – all the way to those sitting at the cozy
back-corner bar.
The kitchen’s prominence is appropriate…because A&O
is very serious about food, specifically seafood with an Italian temperament. Food that’s unselfconsciously creative, refined, in sync with the season, and
oh-so-delicious.
I flipped over the raw hamachi, its pale slivers accented
with tiny bits of grapefruit, plump currants and pink peppercorns; and the
escolar crudo (right), which was brilliantly teamed with tiny dice of cucumber and
apple, punched up with spicy coppa sausage and cooled down with flecks of fresh
mint.
A six-pack of raw oysters (below) – Kumamoto, Virginica and Chelsea
Gem –was impressive; even more impressive were the spectacularly light fried oysters served with lemon aioli.
Three or four seafood entrees are offered each night, along
with a half-dozen or so pasta dishes and a couple of salads. On the night we
visited, poached haddock took a star turn in an al dente risotto brightened
with basil and saffron. Deftly sauteed
scallops, sublime on their own, were nothing short of genius with nubbins of
eggplant, cauliflower, pine nuts and red bell pepper puree. And the kitchen’s
housemade agnolotti -- plump pillows of dough hugging a fragrant mix of
just-picked chanterelles and Manila clams – were moistened with a ham-steeped
broth that made us forget the cold, blustery weather outside.
On the night I visited there was but one dish that didn’t
feature seafood. But when that dish is a savory ragout of fall-apart-tender pork
cheek, Brussels sprouts and onion mostarda, tossed with tongue-tickling
strozzapretti pasta, one dish is all you need.
A&O’s wine list is short but interesting. Service is low-key, friendly and knowledgeable. The final tab is
remarkably gentle for such first-rate fare. Oysters are $3 each; a very good
salad of beets, arugula and pistachios is $9. Main “plates” and pasta dishes
average $14. A three-course prix-fixe, with ample choices, is $30.
Anchovies & Olives is located at 1550 15th Avenue in Seattle’s Capitol Hill.; 206-838-8080.
The Tin Table is the other newcomer that impressed. This captivating spot, also in the super-trendy Pike/Pine area, has the unlikely address of “second floor” in the historic brick Odd Fellows Hall building. (Photo by Ernest Stepp.) To reach it you navigate a deserted foyer, a wide, creaking set of stairs, and a long, creaking wood-planked corridor that also leads to the from-another-era Century Ballroom. But once inside the restaurant's door, you’re wrapped in a warm, stylish, slightly funky aura and welcomed heartily by the hospitable staff.
That I am still salivating over the Brussels sprouts with
pancetta and brown butter, and the handsome tuna burger served with herbed
greens, shredded cabbage and spicy mustard is a true testament to the quality
of food here. We visited on Halloween night and the joint was jumping with Lady
Gagas, Reno 911 sheriffs, Mexican wrestlers, and feeble attempts at Balloon Boy. The poor kitchen had
a lot of competition for our attention, but the food was easily up to the task.
Risotto with wild chanterelle mushrooms had an inviting
earthy aroma and a nutty, buttery taste. The fresh, sweet flavor of a Dungeness
crab cake was punched up with andouille sausage and roasted corn. And a
deceptively simple spiedini, or skewer, turned out to be the ultimate comfort
food – chunks of rustic house-baked bread and fresh creamy mozzarella, all
drenched with an in-your-face anchovy-herb olive oil.
The menu is divided into Nibbles (the shoestring potatoes
dusted with truffle salt were flying out of the kitchen); Garden (I loved the arugula
salad with roasted golden beets, Grana Padana and a sherry vinaigrette); Sea
(the mahi mahi fish tacos with achiote seem to be legendary even though the
place has only been open a few months); and Range (it was tough to pass up
something called a Floozy Burger).
Tin Table prices are another part of the happy story. Where
else are you going to find appetizers such as salt cod fritters with roasted
garlic sauce for five bucks? Where else pan-seared halibut “On Melting Early
Girl Tomatoes and Lacinato Kale” for just $15? (No fair Seattle people
answering this question….they seem to have plenty of places offering great food
and great value.) A roasted beet salad with frisee, pine nuts, currants and marinated
feta cheese. Eight dollars. Reeeeallly?
The Tin Table is located at 915 E. Pine Street in Seattle;
206-324-7263.
i was told you lead bike trips with yummy food? Is this correct? thx. alan
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