Crow (Sea)

[tsquare]

Crow - 823 5th Avenue N, Seattle, WA 98109 206-283-8800 reservations accepted

A destination restaurant? Maybe not. A place to eat when attending an event at the Seattle Center? Definitely! Just be sure to give yourself plenty of time as the kitchen isn’t speedy.

Crow – at 5th and Aloha (a few blocks North of EMP) is owned by one of the originators of Stumbling Goat, along with a new partner. They took a big brick building and crafted a restaurant and bar for about 120 people. There is a shiny wood bar near the front door with a sparkly glass tile wall and a couple of enormous lights hanging from the ceiling, and another eating bar overlooking the open kitchen. The rest of the room is open with some hand crafted metal railing and dividers, featuring – crows. Lots of hard surfaces – acoustics will need to be addressed – curtains, ceiling tiles, something? Exposed ductwork and conduit. Walls are in shades of green and red/orange – some painted like architectural renditions of Mark Rothko or another abstract expressionist. Warm and inviting in a warehousy way. Even the toilet partitions are custom.

The food, if you ate at SG won’t be a surprise – a few starters, mains consisting of chicken, fish, pork, pasta, beef, and veg – topping out at $20, some sides. Everything is fresh, well portioned (slightly large?), not complicated, but lovely. I supped on a big bowl of chilled tomato-mint soup and pork tenderloin served with grilled peaches and black bean salsa – a combination of black beans, hand cut corn, diced tomatoes, some chilies, and ? It was a wonderful combination with a hint of something else – maybe a touch of an exotic oil? Also, a nice list of specialty cocktails – including “Murder of Crows”. The desserts sounded good – too full, didn’t see any served – special crème brulee, chocolate cake with pine nuts and ?, frozen lemon meringue, sorbet…

edit - for those needing to know - the wine list exists with a good number of wines by the glass - served in wine glasses, not tumblers.

Interesting block – Café Vita, Panos, an interesting bar – Habob?, and most crowded – Sushiland. Ah well.

Edited August 6, 2004 by tsquare (log)

[lala]

Yep, we're growing our own restaurant row down here on 5th ave...

[tsquare]

Reviewed in this week's Stranger:

"Crow occupies an artsy-industrial space with lofty ceilings, open kitchen, and a massive Mark Rothko-esque mural splashing warm colors against one wall."

Perhaps the wall painting was too literal - or Sara D. and I have the same limited artists to reference. She liked the black bean salsa too.

review

[tighe]

Glowing review by Nancy Leson in the Times today. 3.5 stars, same as Union, Lark and Cascadia! Damn....

[malarkey]

I'm soooo there. Drove by it a few weeks back... wondering...

[LaurieA-B]

Glowing review by Nancy Leson in the Times today.  3.5 stars, same as Union, Lark and Cascadia!  Damn....

←

And she says that the lasagna "rivals the luscious lasagna immortalized at Café Lago."

[aaustin]

Any more recent opinions? Is this a must try on a short visit to Seattle?

[ScorchedPalate]

Any more recent opinions? Is this a must try on a short visit to Seattle?

←

Cam and I went there after the Cask Beer Festival (Oct 30) with MsRamsey and her husband. I totally forgot to write it up!

Here are my slightly time-faded thoughts:

- Nice space and decor (and yes, totally Rothko)

- Good service, with some familiar faces from the Goat

- More upscale -- food, wine, service, decor -- than the Goat, by 1 or 2 steps

(No aspersions meant; it was a beloved neighbor when we lived in Phinney)

- Tasty food, ranging from 'a step above serviceable' to really great.

- Very popular with the blue-haired symphony/ballet/theatre mavens: you will want reservations

- Tasty lasagne, but it's no Cafe Lago

~Anita

edited to add: A very nice place for dinner, but not deserving of a rating equal to Union's.

Edited December 21, 2004 by ScorchedPalate (log)

[reesek]

i can second SP'd assessment - another comment is that the menu selections are pretty limited - it's not the place to take a picky eater. i think when we went (october sometime) they had a pork chop, short ribs, the lasagne (which had sausage), roasted chicken, a fish and a vegetarian dish. not a lot of room for wiggle. loved the space...they got "warm lofty" right.

[little ms foodie]

Went to Crow last night with 8 people. 2 pescatarians (I know, I know!) and the rest of us who will eat anything.

The space is really awesome. We sat in the back area at a very big table. The menu had quite a few selections so I wonder if they have added? The mains included seared ahi (special of the day), brown butter gnochi (which was delish), lasagne (ok), rib eye, chicken with pancetta, crispy duck with sausage and lentils (the absolute winner!)

Various salads (mixed with buttermilk was particularly yummy) and soups.

Good wine list with great prices, the majority in the $25 to $40 range.

The only complaint we had was our server Tim. He would disappear for periods of time and he didn't really seem to know too much about the food or the preparation of it.

Other than that I can't wait to go back!

Edited March 8, 2005 by little ms foodie (log)

[malarkey]

too funny Wendy, you were there monday night? I was there sunday night. First time! (you'd think I'd get to places in my neighborhood sooner than this). I had the chop salad with buttermilk dressing and the duck w/garlic sausage w/lentils. I think the vibe of the place is great, especially at night when all the candles are lit. I like it!

[tighe]

...and the duck w/garlic sausage w/lentils.

←

Great minds think alike! I had the duck last Friday night. Mmm, mmm, good...

[malarkey]

...and the duck w/garlic sausage w/lentils.

←

Great minds think alike! I had the duck last Friday night. Mmm, mmm, good...

←

Whenever there's duck on the menu, I'm ALL over it.

[little ms foodie]

Decided spur of the moment to have dinner at Crow last night, we arrived around 7:30 to a fairly packed house. Waited at the bar for about 10 minutes before being seated at the chef's dining bar (we requested that). Bottle of Sangiovese- $28.

We love sitting at a chef's bar if there is a bit of interaction which there was. The 3 chef's were really hopping but they still made sure to check in on us.

We started with the 'meat plate' which was from Salumi- very nice with a drizzle of EVOO. I think the salami was the oregano one, it is soooo good, there was also a jambon and a bresola. It could have used a few cornichons or pickled red onions but it was very tastey!

I had the clams with chorizo which were excellent. I also had a side of smashed potato cake which was ok but needed a drizzle of oil or something- it was a bit dry.

Husband had the lasagne which was so good- they add housemade pesto to the layers which gives it a really fresh taste and also the noodles are made in house. The pool of marinar it sat on also was really fresh tasting.

We were going to skip dessert until 4 of them came up next to us- we chose the WA strawberries with greek yogurt and lavendar honey. Awesome. Dinner was $44.

This place is great, great food, great prices. We had very good service this time. Will continue to stop in here.

[chefturnedbum]

Hey guys...Papachef here under my new moniker. Have to second the great calls on this place. The lasagna was really excellent and the place has a cool artsy feel. So many new places opening and of course a lot of them are just bad, This is one of the shining stars among the new places. I am not sure if it is 3.5 stars but you know I owned a place and am a tough critic but well worth a trip. I will be back in the future unless I buy another place and then it is take out forever (lol).

[megwoo]

I'm a huge fan of Crow. The Short Ribs blew my mind! Service was not great, but the food made up for it.

I did a little write-up w/pics, if anyone's interested:

http://www.iheartbacon.com/index.php?id=54

Edited June 30, 2005 by megwoo (log)

[tsquare]

They got air conditioning!

And the food is even better than ever.

How do they do it?

[Daddy-A]

We were there in May ... they could have used A/C iirc.

My report is HERE. About 1/2 way down the post (pictures!).

A.