How to Cook a Wolf — Restaurant in Seattle

The experience at How to Cook a Wolf was awful and speaking to Ethan Stowell after about it made the experience even worse.

We ate at How to Cook a Wolfe on October 12 and my daughter and I got very sick the two days after that. My daughter and I shared her pasta (as I finished what she couldn't eat) and my wife and sister in law had something else (they didn't get sick). My daughter and I hadn't shared anything to eat the week before (as I was travelling for work) which is how we concluded (to the best of our knowledge) that the pasta had made us sick.

My wife was going to leave the yelp review right away about this but I told her to hold off until I spoke to the restaurant. Unfortunately that didn't happen until about a month and a half later as I had to rush to tend to a family emergency a couple days after this.

I explained what had happened via email and was offered a $50 gift card which I found to be insulting (and my frustration came out with the person I was emailing). I asked for this to be escalated and I eventually spoke with Ethan Stowell and did not have a pleasant experience speaking with him. Ethan asked what I wanted in compensation and to be honest, I didn't know what I wanted since we didn't want to go back there. I said I wanted a free meal and already regret saying that as the conversation spiraled downhill from there. Ethan said he would have to think about it and launched into a discussion about how food borne illnesses can happen in a lot of ways (which frustrated me as I thought that my wife and I had narrowed it down). He also mentioned how his staff member was one of the best in the industry and her assessment was right. At this point, I became even more frustrated as I couldn't see where in his response, the customer (i.e. my family) was the focus.

I reiterated that my daughter and I hadn't eaten the same thing the week before which is how I narrowed it down. He asked, "really, you didn't eat anything the same." I told him, "yes, I was travelling for work the week before as I stated, have you not been listening to me?" He then raised his voice, called me rude, told me that I was being rude to his staff and was trying to take advantage of him. I tried to explain that I was having this call as a courtesy as my wife was just going to leave a yelp review and be done with it. He said, "Whatever man, you think you are going to threaten me with a yelp review?" (which I honestly wasn't trying to do). I guess part of it is on me as I didn't really know what I wanted to get out of this which could have made this call confusing from the restaurant's side.

Anyways, I don't believe that Ethan Stowell puts the customer first and I won't be dining at any of his restaurants again. I will be sharing my experience within Amazon and also the Seattle business community so everyone can make their own informed decision on whether to dine...

Updating an old review: been here for a second time now. It was a mess. We booked for a late NYE dinner. Our table wasn’t ready when we arrived. Staff was buzzing around and told us to wait outside. The hostess was not kind and was rushed, borderline rude, though I think she tried.

She handed us a menu that was not was we saw online, which we specifically came for and were excited about. The new menu was not posted on their website and was sent in a secondary email we never read. We considered leaving right then and there based on service so far. Plus the new menu was terrible in comparison but she offered to let us split a pre fixe menu instead, which we did. It was pre fixe only and $95pp.

We ended up staying and it was the worst meal we’ve had in a LONG time. We’d eaten at other ESR’s two times that month and they’re usually pretty good, even great, but this was incredibly disappointing. Service was slow and we were afraid of missing the fireworks even though we’d allowed ourselves an hour and a half for the meal. The drink was good but they never asked if we wanted more, which we would have easily had like 3 each, so huge missed money making opportunity.

We asked that the food be brought out quickly so we’d get out on time, which they certainly honored and we appreciated. We made it out just in time, as hoped.

The food: awful. Each course was disappointing, even the salad, and we sent back several dishes and completely skipped the dessert. Also, they ran out of one of the meats and offered a steak in its place; which was day old from yesterday’s standard menu. A lot of the food was just too salty. We got the root vegetable gratin and it was so salty that all you could taste was salt and grease. The scallops were not fresh and we were served two on a plate. We opted not to even order the dessert.

Honestly the best part of the meal was the olives and the drink. Our waitress was nice and did her best for us. But the food was just terrible and I was so irritated by the lack of transparency regarding the pre fixe. Thankfully they gave us a discount, which I suspect was because we left so much food uneaten, sent back, or skipped it entirely.

If you come here allow yourself two hours to eat. It’s a small place and the ambiance is decent, though not as nice as other ESR’s. I likely won’t be back and I won’t recommend this to anyone. Also, you may be seated in the outdoor patio which is wild to me in December. They have heaters but there’s no communication that you may have to be seated outdoors, even with a reservation.

Overall it was just a huge damper on the evening and a bad...

This place is a favorite of my wife and me. We went for the third time last night, and like all the other times, the food was pretty darn good. This is the first time we’ve been able to sit inside, and that, of course, is a huge upgrade (winter in outside tables just meant a bigger bill from more alcohol :)).

The Sea Wolf Sourdough tasted like it had just come out of the oven two minutes earlier—masterful.

The Steak Tartare was unremarkable. It was light on flavor but very large in portion size—I’d say there was twice as much as you’d normally expect.

The Strozzapreti had about twice as much pepper on top as I prefer. I would have preferred it to come out without it so I could add it myself. But luckily, the portion was again very healthy, so mixing in the pepper was not an issue and didn’t affect my enjoyment.

My wife had the Conchiglie, which was a really interesting dish. She enjoyed it. What little I had was very good. It was a little sweet for my liking, but that's why I didn’t order it. It certainly met expectations.

We had the sorbet (raspberry), a very healthy portion. The menu mentioned it was intended to be shared, but it still exceeded expectations size-wise. It met expectations taste-wise.

Their wine selection is what you would expect from a restaurant of this caliber. I had three old fashions. None of them were to my particular liking (the reason for the 4-star vs. 5). I prefer a tad bit more sugar cubes/simple sugar. They also didn’t carry Woodford, and the waitress didn’t have a comparable suggestion.

The service was adequate. It was not the best I’ve ever had, but she was friendly enough and certainly capable.

Overall, this place doesn’t disappoint and lives up to the hype. I’m not a fan of the 22% service charge. They go out of their way to mention that the charge goes 100% to the house and that tipping isn’t expected. It just feels performative. If you’re paying your people well, you don’t need some self-pat on the back about it by putting it on your menu (you’re meeting expectations, in my opinion). Raise your prices by 22%, remove the tip line, and move on—no impact on whether I return (I will), but it's a minor pet...