mistral kitchen

for the mips. my first experience at mistral kitchen was great. because we go to the theatre quite a bit, this was a perfect choice again for us. i made reservations in advance. the restaurant accepted the reservations. i later got a voicemail that the reservation for a table was to be turned into a reservation for a spot at the sit up bar because they were overbooked. arriving at the relatively empty restaurant, we were accomodated and given a table, albeit, right at the front of the restaurant with staff swishing by the table constantly. the other "reserved tables" that sat empty during the entire course of our meal next to the windows were for mip (i.e. more important people) and not us. ok, fine, but lets get to the food. the cheese selection was quite nice. the fazzoletti was absolutely and utterly tasteless. it was lukewarm, no just room temperature. the desserts looked more divine than they tasted. the latte was not hot and quite weak (isnt this espresso?). as we were leaving, a huge tour bus of seniors were flowing into the restaurant. perhaps they were the mips, but i doubt it. this restaurant is delightfully urban with an industrial flair. but the food needs to be etched up a notch. what is it with the cooking staff also chowing down the entire time? i might taste the food in my own kitchen, but it really puts me off seeing the cooks taking tastes here and there. not that it does not happen behind closed doors, but be more prudent. perhaps they should take some more time and be more creative and spiceful in their cooking. i will move on to other restaurants before my future theater events. if i cannot secure a good table and have to eat bland food, i will leave this restaurant for the mips.


-----05 dec, 2010-----

good urban restaurant. there are two parts to mistral - the casual (open kitchen) side and the plush jewel box. having theatre tickets and being in a slight rush, we opted for the casual side. we were very impressed. the drinks were good, the food hot, delicious, savoury and unusual. the casual side is built around an open kitchen where the young chefs appeared to have great passion about their food. not like some open kitchens where a fat greasy man with a long mustache cooks. no, mistral is most definitely young, urban, hip and forward thinking. plus, the food is actually good. the menu is not your same standard fare, but offers some interesting choices. this is a great restaurant also slightly off the beaten path of downtown where one can come for a great meal. next stop on my list, the jewel box of the restaurant where the menus are fancy and are mostly tasting variety.

there was nothing sane* on mistral’s fascinating menu, so i just plunged right in there and ordered up the chicken & waffles. it was a tough choice though – quite an array of eclectic and tasty sounding creations. they change their menus daily depending on what’s fresh. when i heard that i fell in love with them. they may not cook sane*, but at least you know the food is fresh and local and organic. i quote from their website, ““we don’t want strange people or machines touching our food before it gets to us.” amen! if you’re going out for an insane* meal, at least make sure it’s comprised of the best, most naturally grown ingredients you can get. big gold star for mistral kitchen.

good service but they don't have a good collection of beers. but there is a large collection of different types of wines. nothing much for vegetarians. mocktails are decent.

food was too salty to eat. service was appallingly slow and all so overpriced just a dreadful experience.

thank you restaurant week...... for making this amazing meal affordable. being a cheeseburger girl, i normally don't go for the fancy plates but this was fantastic.

great lunch. had a nice ladies lunch at mistral on friday. what is awesome:

- they have a 3 course lunch for $21. a steal for downtown and for 3 courses anywhere.
- they also have a full menu of lunch options that are sometimes also on their dinner menu, but for less = great value.
- they can serve you a 3 course lunch in an hour (or not). so you don't have to worry about rushing, or not going here because you don't have the time.
- the food is delicious and flawless.

i can go on and on, but those are the highlights. cannot wait to return.


-----17 oct, 2010-----

must dine here. the dining room is super chic and modern. the evening we were dining, the other guests must have got the memo to dress their swankiest. the atmosphere is gorg and sexy.

we sat up at the chef counter and chef william was there. huge plus! he prepared a 4 course menu for us with wine pairing. 1. 3-oysters with accoutrements (yum), 2. hamachi crudo (delicious!) 3. seared foie gras with plum and croutons (unbelievably rich!) 4. crispy chicken and lamb duo (omg). for dessert we split the milk chocolate pudding with caramel and bourbon foam which put us way over the top.

the wines were spectacular. i don't think there are many places that offer you grand cru chablis, 1993 sauternes and 1999 torres for your wine pairing.

truly a grand dining experience and we loved dining at the bar. you must dine here.

ps: i loved it so much friday, that i came back monday for cocktails and snacks. if you're a bourbon person, have the chasing rachel. the presentation alone is worth the $12.

perched up at the kitchen counter, my favourite position in a restaurant should it be available, we keenly eye-balled the crew construct all the meals like a silent well-oiled machine.

mistral kitchen is fabulous! the staff are friendly, the food amazing, and the atmosphere relaxing. i love the sense of pride the chefs have in every dish they make, truly care about your experience while there.

it's no big fish and seattle is no small pond. mistral feels like the kind of restaurant that, in a smaller market, would be king of the mountain. i mean who amongst us hasn't thanked their lucky stars when encountering some fine dining establishment when the only other choices were taco bell and red lobster. the thing is, seattle isn't a small market and mistral is up against exceptional talent.

to be fair the food was very good. the kitchen delivered well prepared dishes: delicate scallops, crisply seared foie gras, and melt-in-your mouth spare ribs. but none of them really stand out; they were technically well executed yet indistinguishable from preparations you might have in any other fine dining restaurant. and absolutely every dish was accompanied by the same sides: quinoa and some kind of grapefruit-like citrus (you can see both in the attached picture). by the time the desert menu came around we were worn down by our own indifference; nothing was really that impressive so there seemed little reason to continue.

mistral kitchen's real fail, though, is service. our server seemed to avoid us for extended periods. ti took ten minutes before i got water. another ten before i got a drink - and it was prepared incorrectly. food runners were helpful and polite but our main server never really seemed to care if we were being taken care of. she was, however, fast on the bill.

finally, the environment is not uniformly cool. the main room is nice but we were seated in the back and it both felt and looked like a spare room. there was an unused prep station, replete with boxes of foil and other debris. there was the server station with a peeling countertop. there was the noisy espresso machine. and, of course, the large party next to us that talked shop - loudly - all night. if it weren't for the nice view onto westlake i'd say there are sbarro's with more ambience.

in the end the front-of-house experience didn't justify a $100 per-person ticket. there are many exciting restaurants that deliver the goods at similar price points and, ultimately, we just aren't impressed enough to consider coming back. perhaps, like so many other touristy or corporate venues, that's something mistral kitchen simply doesn't care about.

mistral kitchen is a one of the most solid happy hours in the dt seattle area. whether its cocktails, beer or food there’s a little bit for everyone. emphasize on a little bit ☺. naw it’s a good time… there’s a $1 oyster special, wood fired magherita pizza, fois gras, crudo, prosciutto and whole bunch of other good stuff. if you come here thinking about eating a meal, you may drop some coin. mistral kitchen is definitely a place to socialize and warm up. the summer is real nice too with the outdoor seating and people watching.

we had several small plates and 2 large plates to share among friends. for small plates, we had clams with chorizo, which was very flavorful and we used up all the juice/sauce with the lovely bread and butter! they prepared our maine dive scallop exceptionally well.  the scallop was huge and it was seared crispy on the outside. 

fantastic experience. fantastic! we went on christmas eve and by the end of the evening we decided this would be our christmas eve tradition. the owner stopped by several times to chat and make sure everything was good; he made us feel like we were the most important people there.
great food, great (albeit expensive) wine and great service. we spent three hours ( intentionally) savoring the food.

amazing chef's table. we have eaten here several times first at the jewel box and then at the chef's table. the food was awesome, they handled multiple dietary restrictions (4 in a table with 5 people) with ease and the wine pairings and non alcoholic pairing were equaly wonderful. they even included cocktail pairings and who doesn't like a blowtorch involved in their drinks :) a definite must do wine pairing dinner!

second course was i believe both of our favorite for the night, this gorgeous and large maine diver scallop. the scallop was seared perfectly and tasted wonderfully smooth and soft and silky yet just fleshy enough, with forkfuls of the last of juicy summer tomatoes and basil and pesto and a bit of paprika parceled out between to cleanse the palate before more of that gentle scallop…

anderson ranch lamb loin with chanterelle mushrooms and seared foie gras on top. all the staff in the open kitchen turned to look our way to see who the crazy people ordering this were. the results? absolutely amazing.