staple & fancy

s&f = t. well, i had been hearing about the hype surrounding staple & fancy. i had been using the online reservation system to score a much coveted dinner spot, but alas every week, all sold out or at unreasonable times such as 845 and onwards for dinner. so, i decided to call and voila! i got a reservation! i am not overly impressed by s&f. mind you, it is good and the ambiance is really urban but not in a loud sort of way. quiet trendy urban if you can imagine that. plus, on the other side is the walrus and c. but may i dare say that if you cannot get into s&f, just head to belltown and eat at tavolata, it is exactly the same! especially the pasta dishes. i did not find anything outstanding about this restaurant. it is good, yes, that is true, but outstanding, hmm... no - i would classify it as a very mathamaticalethanstowell formulated restaurant.

our last meal in seattle was the fourthethanstowell restaurant we tried: staple & fancy mercantile. we made reservations for a monday evening, a little early since we were getting up early the next day, and when we arrived we were seated right away. i noticed the floor right away and when i asked, they confirmed the floors were the original wood floors and that it used to be a factory (if i remember that correctly). there   is an exposed brick wall with "cigar" painted on it (one of those old, handpainted advertisements, ghost signs).

must order the "chef's choice family style menu". came here with a group of 5 and ordered the above. you just put your trust into the hand's of the chef. you will not be disappointed. especially impressive is the vast (and plentiful) array of appetizers. it looks like over 80% of the diners there went this route. delicious! we will do this again.


-----25 nov, 2014-----

wow!!!. we came here because we had a great experience at red cow and wanted to try anotherethanstowell restaurant. in many respects it was even better. we ordered the "chef's choice family style" meal. there were only 2 of us, but we were treated to generous portions of 7 different appetizers (plus bread), followed by a caesar salad, a pasta dish (great spaghetti with anchovy almost like a puttanesca), a grilled protein (for us it was a perfectly seared ribeye) and a dessert (ricotta cheesecake with blueberries). the appetizers included a steak tartare, fried oysters, buffalo mozzarella, ahi tuna and speck. all were delicious and very reasonably priced. it was a great meal in a great atmosphere and helen, our server, was top notch. we'll be back with guests very soon.

great evening. this may the crown jewel ofethanstowell's restaurants. (there are a couple we have not yet had an opportunity to try.) charmingly rustic physical plant an interesting menu executed near perfectly and served by a knowledgeable and attentive staff.

try the veal chop and the pea salad ! outstanding. the scallops my wife had were also outstanding.

i had the opportunity to go to staple & fancy mercantile where chefsethanstowell and branden karow worked with bocuse d’or and world culinary cup winner chef hákon már örvarsson in developing an icelandic menu.

superb, period.. eat at this little place in ballard and you may leave thinking you've just had one of the best meals of your life.

the menu is limited, and the establishment suggests you try the "chef’s choice fancy menu: a multi-course feast of seasonal dishes crafted byethanjust for your table. willing to put your dining experience in the hands of the chef? you will not be disappointed."

we'd strongly agree with that statement. everyone at the table must choose the option; there were four of us on our visit. the meal was broken up into four courses -- appetizers, pastas, proteins (meat, fish) and dessert. the appetizer course consisted of six or so items, including lightly fried oysters, a chick pea dish, sushi and much more. the pasta course contained a seafood dish in a light white wine sauce as well as a red sauced pasta dish with pork jowl. our protein course was a roasted pork dish and alaskan salmon, and our desserts included a cheesecake and a chocolate dish with house-made ice cream.

the appetizer course was outrageous. foods were creative, fresh, tasty and well portioned. the pasta dishes were outstanding as well, and the pork jowl -- which was slightly smoky and crispy -- was a delight. the pork and salmon "meat" course were well prepared, though perhaps not as unique and original as the rest of the meal.

service was professional. our wait staff was informed, friendly and knowledgeable, but never intrusive. the atmosphere is more contemporary than stuffy, but that's fine.

overall, the experience ranks among the best meals we have ever -- yes, ever -- experienced. in any city.

food was universally fresh, original and exciting. portions were not ridiculously skimpy. this is eclectic food that is also good food. it's not fancy for the sake of being fancy. it seems every effort adds to the overall goal of providing superb food -- a superb meal -- to the customer.

if you read our reviews, you'll see we don't say this lightly. if you enjoy fine dining, a visit to seattle is not complete without a trip to staple & fancy. forget the menu. just do the fancy menu and call it a day.

highly, highly recommended.

1. the quality of the food coming out ofethanstowell’s kitchen is simply fantastic. 2. $45 for that much awesome food? it’s a steal. 3. when the chef offers to surprise you, you’d be a damn fool to not take advantage of the offer.

apparently our dinner was the first-ever fully vegetarian pre fixe...and there were only two of us.ethancame and asked how our meal was. a lot of delicious. seven remarkable appetizers, followed by two pasta courses and dessert. a homemade mozzarella served with pickled caramelized shallot was our agreed upon favorite. the complimentary sparkling water is a very nice touch. quirky but pleasant service.

i'm an admitted type a personality, but when given the opportunity to let a chef choose my dinner, i always take it. that's exactly what i did at staple & fancy mercantile in ballard. i just had to take chefethanstowell up on his multi-course, ever-evolving menu for the bargain price of $45 a person. seriously, after you read this, you'll agree. it's a bargain, and you'll probably be dialing them up to get your name on their reservation list too. the updated warehouse space is opposite of another talked about restaurant, the walrus and the carpenter . you can see through into the walrus through the windows in the very back. i guess that's on my list now too. the night is still early when this shot was taken, but it was definitely bustling by the time we left. timing is everything when it comes to cocktails and feeding the babe at home later tonight, so i was anxious to order. everyone was happy with their choices, but ben was delighted in the ice cube perfection. th

i’ve been to staple and fancy three times now, and have had excellent meals and service each time. i guess this isn’t surprising since i also enjoy tavolata, how to cook a wolf and anchovies and olives,ethanstowell’s other seattle restaurants.

moreethanstowell. we went here on halloween night and were lucky enough to snag seats at the bar - otherwise the wait would have been a hour and a half. as recommended by the menu, we went with the chef's choice, which was $45 for 7 appetizers, 1 pasta, 1 protein, and dessert.

while everything was stellar, nothing was inventive or amazing. maybe it was because stowell wasn't cooking that night? if you've been to how to cook a wolf, olives and achovies, or tavolata there's nothing really new here. good - yes. inspiring - not really.

of the seven appetizers, we had 2 pate spreads on crostini - one fish, one pork liver? and then another pate with sweet/sour onions that was quite tastey. the hericot verts with parmesean were fresh and crisp. the two cured meats were both good, followed by a somewhat disappointing octopus with beans spanish style tapas that had mushy octopus. when we mentioned it to our server, he informed us that it was supposed to be that way. hmm - good to know that's what they were going for, but not our preference for octopus. grilled somewhat spicey peppers in aoili rounded out the last appetizer - this was an interesting dish.

pasta - gnocchi in beef ragu; good as usual, but better at tavolata. protein - beef sirloin, cooked perfectly with chantrelle mushrooms. and of course, we saved room for an amazing ricotta huckleberry cheesecake. this is probably the smoothest, creamist cheesecake that's not too heavy that you'll ever have.

we're not going to make a habit of this, reviewing a restaurant on its second night, but hey,ethanstowell's a big boy, he's done this before, and it's not as if he's got too fragile an ego. roger downey wrote an excellent preview of staple & fancy merca