Anchovies & Olives

Famed chef Ethan Stowell has reinvented the wheel…again

Anchovies & Olives
1550 15th AVE
Seattle, WA 98122
206.838.8080

By Julien Perry

I call it the Tavolàta effect.

When I first visited the Belltown baby of uber chef Ethan Stowell two years ago, I didn’t love it. In fact, I didn’t really like it at all. The space felt cold, the people unfamiliar, and the menu confusing. (What’s bottarga?) Fast forward to today. Tavolàta is one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle, hands down. The food never disappoints, the staff is like family (Facebook friends, at the very least) and the atmosphere is akin to an extended living room. It grew on me. Hard.

The same scenario played out to a lesser extent with Ethan’s How to Cook a Wolf and now again with its newest sibling Anchovies & Olives.

Step inside the modest Capitol Hill entrance on the corner of 15th and Pike and you’ll find the signature industrial chic touch of the Stowell empire, where simple and spare is the name of the game. The 1,600-square-foot space—which has an unexpected view of the city skyline—boasts an intimate forty-four seats, a 1,200-pound butcher block island top in an open kitchen, exposed ceilings, cement floors and bare windows that don’t exactly create the cozy. The semi-sterile vibe could have easily scared off a novice, but I was used to this shtick. I knew how this was going to play out. So, I excitedly took a seat at the bar where I could watch as Ethan worked the line next to his chef de cuisine, Charles Walpole. When I looked up, I saw another familiar face standing behind the bar, Erik Witsoe. He’s the bartender I grew to love from Tavolàta; the bartender who would often give me grief for my lack of adventurous ordering; the bartender who already had a wine recommendation in his back pocket (a lovely 2007 Valle dell’Acate Il Frappato). Soon, I was greeted by Angela Stowell, the woman responsible for her hubby’s 100% Italian wine list. I knew I was going to be taken care of. I was surrounded by family. I was home.

But unlike my home, which has a pantry filled with stale chips and leftover Halloween candy, the Italian-inspired menu at Anchovies & Olives is heavy on fresh seafood and is expertly composed to coax deep flavors from humble ingredients. Take for instance the uni with cucumber relish; Cherrystone clams with chili oil; tagliarini with sea urchin; and scallops with pickled green garlic. The menu is a flirtatious little sucker, gently nudging you to order every mouth-watering sea creature and pasta on the menu.

Wanting to order at least one dish with the namesake ingredients, I singled out the hamachi crudo with basil blossoms and Taggiasca olives ($14); the Romanesco salad with soft cooked egg and anchovy dressing ($9); and mackerel with Corona beans, puntarelle and pepperoncini puree ($16). I am not lying when I say I could sustain myself on those three dishes alone and be very happy.

Anchovies and olives aren’t my favorite foods on their own, but when combined with just the right elements, the rewards are instant—just like the restaurant that bares their names.