Violet — Restaurant in Seattle

Violet: An honest review for an exceptionaly well tailored product.

5 star Atmosphere: Hip; Friendly; Clean (only suggestion I could offer, would be to lower the music a little, as it was a little loud)

5 star Food: excellent; staff is dedicated to produce a high quality and inspired cuisine; you can taste the expertise and delectable, well thought out dishes.

5 star Presentation: old world comfort, meets exotic inspiration.

Our intention upon arriving in Capital Hill was to celebrate a birthday. Our goal was to try a restaurant we had not previously enjoyed. We had attempted to find a table with a few restaurants, with Violet standing out to us. Riddled with hunger and a desire to try the passionate work of a dedicated team, we were quickly seated in a spacious, contemporary setting. Our group eagerly dove into the menu with high hopes and empty stomachs. Little did we know, this gem would prove to be the best decision we could have hoped for.

The owner and chef came out and introduced himself. He is a total sweetheart and you can see the passion he emblem into his restaurant is genuine and thorough. Thank you for sharing your talent.

Our waiter was a bright, warm, and friendly individual with a pep in his step and a love for his job. He was patient and adept with our orders and unsure of what to expect, we followed his suggestions. (This proved to have been an excellent suggestion, thank you Hector). He provided us with a couple bottles of wine and some appetizers.

We tried a cheese plate, featuring a variety of imported cheese -- a soft ripened cheese, a blue cheese, a basq, and a truffled cheese; toasted bread; marinated olives; and marcona almonds -- grilled Spanish octopus, tomatoes, pearled onions, and sausage slices; scallops piled high, nesting on a bed of sweet yellow corn chutney; and a crisp caesar salad, piled up with anchovies, shaved parmesean cheese, and fresh made croutons.

For my main course, I ordered the New York steak, prepared blue, with a side of fingerling potatoes and marinated red peppers. This was exceptionally seasoned and masterfully prepared. The sear had enough crust to provide stability when cutting, without the crunch of a burn. Our host recommended a potato entree that we learned was inspired by the head chef and owner's mentor and listed on the menu in homage of the late master craftsman. What an homage indeed! That was the best potato dish I've had to date. Literally, I'm pretty sure we bought the entirety of their supply for the evening. Thank you for sharing!

12/10 will be back 12/10...

Came here on 7/1/21 for dinner and had the american omokase.

The food: was extremely good. Each dish was unique in its own way and the overall meal was the perfect amount of food. We started with a bluefin tuna crudo, then a seared scallop, then pan fried river trout, then duck breast over mashed potatoes, and finished with a strawberry sorbet with charred pineapple. My favorite course was the scallop, which was perfectly cooked and paired really nicely with a truffle butter and carrot sauce. Good quality was very high and the ingredients were all very fresh. The only critique I really had was that the trout and the scallop were slightly too salty.

The ambiance/decor: was very nice. The restaurant is in a refurbished garage and they did a nice job of decorating it to have an upscale industrial vibe.

The service: was good but could be better. The waiters did a lovely job of informing us of the dishes and attending to our needs. However, I felt that the cadence at which the dishes came out was slightly too slow. My biggest complaint for the service was that the waiters cleared the dishes of some people at my table before everyone was finished eating. So the last person eating felt rushed to finish or awkward because they would still have their dish while everyone else’s was cleared.

Other thoughts: I feel that the use of the word omokase for the restaurant to describe the tasting menu is inappropriate. This is an American restaurant, and to my knowledge, the owner and the chef are not Japanese. It’s appropriating and colonizing to use the word to describe an American tasting menu and to profit off of it. I think that calling it an American Tasting Menu, rather than American Omokase is just as lovely.

Overall: we enjoyed the meal immensely. The experience and the food were excellent and well worth the price. I would...

Food=5 | Service=5

This was my second time coming here and the most recent visit was one of the best experiences I’ve had in Seattle. Celebrated a joint birthday dinner with a friend and our significant others. The four of us sat next to the kitchen. We had a glass of bubbly rose to start and the privilege of watching William (the Chef) slice prosciutto and share the magic behind how the meat slicer worked.

Food: We ordered cocktails, Levoni Prosciutto (a must), shishito peppers, olives, mixed salad, Maine Sea Scallop to start and for mains we had mushroom risotto (a must), trout, chicken, and a side of potato purée (a must). Split a bottle of Bourgogne wine - perfect with the meal. All so delicious, full of flavor, and presented beautifully. Ended the night with s’mores and rhubarb panna cotta (insanely good).

Service: What made this a 5 star experience was getting to spend time with William the chef and have him share his story of the restaurant. He is personable and you can tell has a passion for high quality food and being around people. He showed us how to make the s’mores on our own grill, cheers’d with a shot of Strega and out a candle in the panna cotta to celebrate the birthday. The only thing I would share with others who dine here is the server we had (both times) was a bit too insistent on ordering more wine and food. He didn’t seem to know much about some of the wines and when asked why a certain one was his favorite just said it was really good. We knew what to expect the second time around so felt more comfortable saying no thank you to some of the additional recommendations and having him double check the wine tasting notes.

Overall, would definitely come back again and recommend if you’re looking for a fine...