staple & fancy

s&f = t. well, i had been hearing about the hype surroundingstaple& 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 mathamatical ethan stowell formulated restaurant.

our last meal in seattle was the fourth ethan stowell 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).

this was one of the best meals i have had in a long time.  my wife and i both ordered the tasting menu and were consistently wowed upon each course.  unlike altura, which is very good in its own, more artistic right,stapleand fancy's tasting menu was more substantial and seemed more focused on the flavors of the food, itself.  the server (aaron) was a fantastic guide throughout the meal.  overall, a five-star experience.

to everyone else – if you’re in the area, you should make a point to visitstaple& fancy. it’s delicious, reasonably priced, and you will enjoy your experience… and seriously, it’s delicious.

i had the opportunity to go tostaple& fancy mercantile where chefs ethan stowell 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 by ethan just 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 tostaple& fancy. forget the menu. just do the fancy menu and call it a day.

highly, highly recommended.

too salty. enjoyed an excellent meal atstaple& fancy. the halibut with lentils was perfect, as was the conchiglie pasta. the anchovy polenta appetizer was not right. while i love anchovies & i love polenta, ethan, they just do not go together. after the appetizer round we begged for no salt on the main dishes. somehow they did not taste bland - there was surely some salt in there - and they came with capers...that had not been rinsed! alas, we could not escape it. i recommend that you go, just ask for no salt so you can enjoy the flavors of your meal.

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 atstaple& fancy mercantile in ballard. i just had to take chef ethan stowell 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 tostapleand 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, ethan stowell’s other seattle restaurants.

three times there and great food and great hospitality!!.stapleand fancy is terrific. we have been three times and each time we have ordered the pre-fix menu. really wonderful and diverse food. twice we have sat at the bar and the bartender was such a delight which gave us a fun experience. each time we have been the staff has been wonderful and accommodating. even when we showed up as a walk-in they took our name and told us they would call if anything opened up in the next 45 minutes. they called when a reservation did not show up 20 minutes later. amazing hospitality and service. quite an accomplishment as a new restaurant. what a relief that there is another restaurant keeping the same quality of service and hospitality as volterra since bastille is such a poor example of service or hospitality.

not great, not even very good.. went tostapleand fancy expecting a good meal since it appears to be so popular. right off the bat, we found that the service was slow and not pleasant or very helpful. we ordered the family style supper. some of the courses were interesting and good but others were not good and the chicken entree even came to us undercooked. we complained but never received any response from the kitchen. needs improvement.

let the chef decide!. sometimes i just do not want to make any decisions and last night was one of those nights. we ended up atstaple& fancy and decided to do the 4 course chef's tasting menu. everything was fresh and delicious and it was nice to not have to make any decisions on what to try from the menu. we had a great meal and will definitely be back to see what the chef puts in front of us next. glad to have this great spot in the neighborhood!

the other day, as i sat instapleand fancy mercantile and tried to pin point exactly what was so pleasant about where i was, it suddenly hit me: like locanda verde in manhattan, it seemed to be perfectly designed as a restaurant.stapleand fancy is the

stunning food .... it was the first friday this much anticipated addition to ballard's burgeoning restaurant scene was open. we'd snagged a 9.45pm table and were excited just to be able to get in.

let's get a couple of little gripes out of the way. we had to wait at the hosts desk a little longer than was comfortable and, along the same lines, some of the service throughout the night was a little on the slow side.

but omg, the food more than made up for. my partner's mussel brodo was an appetizer worthy of being an entree in both taste and substance. the controne beans gave it substance and the jalapeno some heat ... a delicious combination.

the chanterelle mushrooms and zucchini were sublime, topped with a beautifully fried duck egg with a generous shaving of parmesan as well. had the kitchen closed down at this point i would have left happy.

as it was my partner's halibut entree and my grilled beef loin didn't disappoint at all. with beautiful grill marks but moist and cooked to perfection, the halibut was probably the best i've ever tasted. one suspected it was undercooked until the realization that just about every other restaurant must have been ever so slightly overcooking theirs!

the beef loin was similarly tasty, grilled to a succulent medium-rare and accompanied by dried tomatoes, tiny mushrooms and pearl onions.

sadly, the wonderful food and good wines left us with no room for dessert ... but there's always next time. the prices are so reasonable for such good food that the hard part will be resisting temptation to go there often. with wine available by the half-glass as well as the glass or bottle, it makes sense to take advantage of some great pairings.

we look forward to many more meals atstaple& fancy in the weeks ahead ...

we're not going to make a habit of this, reviewing a restaurant on its second night, but hey, ethan stowell'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 ofstaple& fancy merca