June

June was ranked one of the best new restaurants in Seattle a few years ago.  Assuming they had hammered out the kinks, my wife and I decided to give them a shot about eight months after opening.  Unfortunately, our experience was average, and given the reasonable (but above average) prices, we decided we probably would not return.  It appears despite their positive crowd-sourcing reviews, I was not the only one that thought it was average, because one year after opening - the restaurant closed.  Sad.

Here's our historic review, and maybe if the restauranteur decides to open another restaurant, they can take heed.  The booths were intimate and inviting, until you got up close and personal.  The material was light, and had stains (as seen above), and the flowers that were supposed to add ambiance were wilted.  That was sad, and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to view it as chic and ironic, or just lazy.

We started with the oysters.  They were good, but the onion was a little overpowering.  It was probably my own fault for ordering oysters in a non-oyster month, but in Seattle I figured we couldn't go wrong.  They were just ok.

Then we had the octopus appetizer.  The protein was excellently cooked, tender, but it was oversalted to the point were the food was nearly inedible.  My wife will attest that I like aggressively seasoned food, but this was too salty by any person's standards.  

The gnocchi came out and looked delicious.  It was a good dish, but the gnocchi were not evenly executed.  I have included a picture of one seared to perfection, exactly how they should be, and another that did not have the delicious outside crunch that it should have had.  The top picture shows the nice caramel color, the bottom shows others that are barely tinged with color.  Unfortunately, this was my wife's first experience with gnocchi and it did not leave her wanting more...

The pappardelle was good, with nice flavors, but nothing we could not make at home.  In addition, for pasta, the portion was a little skimpy.  

The bread pudding was very good, and the creme (sort of a burnt creme, flan offering) had a slight goat cheese flavor and was the best part of the evening (the hint of goat cheese)- excepting the over burnt flavor.  It was almost perfect, but instead had a little burnination pucker factor.  

Service was not slow, but the waiter was not particularly attentive.  It sort of kept with the average theme of the evening.  Too bad they closed, if they had tightened up their ship, it could have been a great neighborhood restaurant.  As to the Yelpers who loved it, it had the feel of a place that would be loved - fresh seasonal food and menu, aloof waitstaff, etc.  But, I bet the first bunch were comped appetizers and from that point forward it was a critical mass scenario...

June
Seattle, WA
CLOSED

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