12/21/2010 Staple & Fancy Mercantile, Ballard WA

last summer when matt's mom was in town chef ethan hadn't opened his new restaurant yet. how could we pass up taking her to 1 of our favorite places? it was a late dinner as we were hoping to meet up with another friend after she got off work, but that didn't happen. we still had a nice dinner though.

1 thing i really like at S&FM is the option on the menu to "hand the menu back to your server and let chef prepare whatever chef wants to prepare". mind, if you order off the menu you'll have a great meal. but well, where's the fun in that? we didn't even look at the menus.

 spritz cocktail: aperol and prosecco

 calianna: gin, aperol, grapefruit, soda

 holy mackaral libby! well, not quite, but smoked mackaral it is. this is the 1st mackaral i've had that i've liked. you might not even realize it's fish until someone tells you.

 salami nostrana

our wine

 puntarella greens, anchovi vinagrette and parma

i found this bitter

 roasted butternut squash soup with chives

this is just so yummy

 geoduck crudo w/ avacado, watercress, cucumber and chili

yes i eat geoduck

grilled octopus salad, chickpea, tagliasci olive and smoked paprika

the octopus was perfectly prepared. not rubbery or mushy or tough. but this is a cool dish. combine that with i just don't like chickpeas it didn't really do it for me. i only had a wee little bit.

beef/pork meatballs in marinara with parma














fried oysters, which it seems the pic didn't get processed or i didn't take :-(  i do remember trying one and just couldn't do it. ma and matt said they were great. i've just come to the conclusion i don't like oysters.

 chicken ravioli, turnip greens and bacon.

yum

 spanish mackaral, cucumbers, olives, radish and couscous

pretty good!

 NY strip loin, green onions, chanterelles, potatoes

there's a great flavor to this steak, but i found it a little tough. needless to say there was nothing left of it when we were through

 ricotta cheesecake with cranberries

this is my #1 favorite cheesecake (that isn't made by me) in the world.

 chocolate torte cake with vanilla gelato

1999 laTour le blanches sauternes


















as you can see, you get quite a lot of food if you go with the chef's choice option.