Staple & Fancy
You know something is good, when experts make it look “easy.”
This is the experience of eating at Ethan Stowell’s Staple & Fancy housed in an old mercantile building in Ballard.
Our primo seats at the bar allowed us to peer into the open kitchen to view the careful preparation of menu items. From searing whole fish and whole chickens on top of a blazing hot grill to all the details going into finishing a plate. This vantage was synonymous to having tickets on the 50 yard line in my book.
The grilled country Columbia City bread served with house made ricotta (which was soooo far from the store bought and texturally challenging ricotta we grew up with…think creamy rich, fluffy wonderfulness) and spicy coppa blew me away with its simplicity and specialness in the same swoop.
Then we ordered clams, served again, simply–with bacon, parsley and lemon couldn’t have been more perfect.
I realize you all don’t live in Seattle and get to have clams freshly plucked from the waters, but Father’s Day is just around the corner…sooo you may want to check out his cookbook, Ethan Stowell’s New Italian Kitchen. and at least try to make it look as easy as he does.
