Staple & Fancy — Restaurant in Seattle

This place for me was a bit of a hidden gem. I was meeting someone who lives in Ballard for dinner and asked for suggestions as I don't often frequent this part of the city. He thought it made more sense for me to dig around and maybe come up with some place he too had never been. So I came here to Google Maps to look around as I do when I'm lost and looking did a place to eat, or drink or, just generally wreak havoc. Wasn't really in the wreaking havoc mood but just wanted a good meal in a relatively quiet but not somber place where my friend and I could talk without having to compete with anything while doing so. Staple & Fancy turned out to be just the place. I made a reservation for 9:45 through another website we all know but I won't mention by name here, and we were set. I met my friend at his house and we began to chat and lost track of time. It was nearly 9:45, and though he was only minutes away from the restaurant, we had no idea what parking would be like or how I would find the place at all as I would be driving us without the spectacles I had left at home. I called and they cheerfully reset our reservation for 10:15 and we were, well, re-set. A little more chat and finishing our glasses of wine put me once again on the telephone very apologetically pleading our case. The woman who answered the phone, the same person I spoken with earlier, assured me it was no problem but to be sure to arrive no later than 10:45 as they closed at 11:00, I hesitated but she insisted that it would be no problem, but we should pull our fingers out and be on our way (she didn't actually say that, my words entirely), but that's what we did arriving about 10:40. I met the woman with whom I spoke on the phone and she suggested that we try to make a decision on the meal from soup to nuts in fairly short order, and we did. Our server who was charming and never once made us feel rushed, suggested an excellent bottle of wine which paired nicely both with the delicious and perfectly prepared Seared Scallops that I ordered and also, according to my guest, with the Braised Rabbit Leg that he had ordered (not an easy fete). We were served promptly from the cocktails we had ordered when we were seated, and afterward we were offered and ordered dessert, one of the Meyer Lemon Pudding Cakes to split between us, which was just perfect, light and refreshing and a sweet note to signal the end of the meal. Not once did we feel rushed and the meal was exceptional. I found out only afterward that this is in fact an Ethan Stowell restaurant, and it fully lives up to the reputation of this organization. Highly recommended: it is both viscerally rewarding as the food is superb, but is also a truly relaxing and soothing experience with its flawless service by its accommodating staff and its...

I don't know how many people had recommended I come to this restaurant before I did. And it was damn well worth it! There is an option at the restaurant to be cooked for by the chef. This option only costs $45, and consists of four different courses. Everyone at the table must participate. The opening course was a huge array of different dishes. We had mackerel on crostini, pickled radicchio with anchovies, fried oysters, pickled carrots, and grilled asparagus with shaved parmesan. That's a lot right? And that was just the opening course! Quite honestly the crostini happened to be my favorite above the rest. So crunchy. So buttery. So yummy.

The second round brought us soft-boiled eggs with anchovies, fried polenta, and ravioli. The second course was a little underwhelming. The anchovies on top of the eggs were so strong, and there was a little too much mint on the fried polenta. The ravioli was a tad bit to al dente for my taste.

The main course consisted of a grilled fish and chicken breasts. By the time my table was done with this main course, it looks like a cat had literally taken the fish and sucked all of the meat off the bones, and the same with the chicken. They were both seasoned so well, and cooked to perfection. So tender. The meat just fell off the bones. The sauteed veggies that came along with the dishes were delectable too. I had a high appreciation for the fingerling potatoes.

The final course was the dessert. They brought over a chocolate cookie, cheesecake with rhubarb topping, and freshly made mint ice cream. The cookie was a cookie, the cheesecake was to die for, and the ice cream was again to minty for my liking. When you become accustomed to mint ice cream from Ben and Jerry's it's hard to turn your back on that. But frankly, because the mint is fresh in the ice cream, it was just way to fragrant to enjoy.

Overall the dinner was ridiculously good. For $45 and all of the food you get, it's somewhat of a steal. The atmosphere of the restaurant is so cool. It's not too large, but not so small that you feel cramped with other patrons in the restaurant. Make sure to make a reservation ahead of time because taking part in the chef's menu takes the full one and a half to two hours of which your...

My wife and I ate here about a week ago and I've been meaning to leave a proper review. I had, without any exaggeration, one of the best meals I've had in years here, certainly the best I've had in Seattle. My wife and I are new to the area and one of the first things we noticed is that not all the restaurants are worth their price points, you can definitely over pay for an underwhelming meal in this city. Staple and Fancy is certainly on the pricier side for pasta but it absolutely worth it for the quality. I think they go toe to toe with several Michelin starred restaurants I've been to.

The burrata was phenomenal. Their pesto that accompanied the burrata was so flavorful and the grilled crostini added a wonderful roasted flavor to it all. Really one of the best burratas I've had. We also got the glazed carrots. These were also delicious. I felt like it was an intentional choice to only par cook them, I would have preferred them slightly softer, but the flavor was still incredible.

The mains were what really blew me away. I had gnocchi Bolognese and my wife had carbonara. Her carbonara was one of the only classically correct carbonaras I've ever had in a restaurant. It absolutely competes with some of the best pasta meals I've had in various regions of Italy. My gnocchi was beautifully cooked and obviously hand made. The Bolognese was tender and absolutely perfectly seasoned. I feel like a lot of restaurants shy away from seasoning well or end up over salting but I was extremely impressed with how perfectly peppered both my gnocchi and my wife's carbonara were. Admittedly, we completely over ate because the portion was quite generous and we'd already had two delicious starters.

We were there for my wife's birthday and they gave us a lemon sorbet with a candle in it after we had said we couldn't possibly order dessert. It was a very nice gesture that we greatly appreciated. Overall I was EXTREMELY impressed and I look forward to...