my wife's old obsession - burrata and how to cook a wolf

Quite some time ago, a friend couple took my wife and me out to dinner at Ethan Stowell's How to Cook a Wolf.  I had not developed my (annoying) habit of taking pictures of what we ate.  The dinner was excellent (and below I will give a rough idea of what we ate and our opinion).  

The star of the meal though was the Buratta dish.  Buratta is a mozzarella cheese with normal mozzarella on the outside wrapping mozzarella on the inside that is mixed (minced) up with creme.  I am fairly certain that after that point, Buratta became the basis for an extra five pounds around both our waists.  You can typically buy some (not quite as good as Stowell's) in Seattle at:

Quality Cheese

Pike Place Market

Corner Market and Sanitary Market

1508 Pike Place

Seattle, WA 98101

qcheese@nwlink.com

DeLaurenti Specialty Food and Wine

1435 1st Avenue

Seattle, WA 98101

206-622-0141

Borracchini's Bakery & Mediterranean Market

2307 Rainier Ave S

Seattle, WA 98144

206-325-1550

Here are a few shots of Buratta from How to Cook a Wolf (they are not mine).  The first is a better shot, the second is closer to what we ate - burrata with a salad (not shown) and figs (shown).  

So, our impression of How to Cook a Wolf?  It was delicious.  Think Italian tapas.  We ate at least the beets, burrata, escolar, beef tartare, tagliarini and campanelle.  There were a few other seasonal dishes that have since escaped me.  Obviously the Buratta was a huge hit, and my wife was surprised to enjoy the tartar so much, but I also remember thinking that it could have been even better (ergo, no 4.5 or 5 star).  My wife and I enjoyed it quite a bit and are planning a return visit soon...

How to Cook a Wolf

2208 Queen Anne Avenue North

Seattle, WA 

206-838-8090

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Branzino

A group of friends decided to descend upon Branzino one night when the wait at Serious Pie was too long.  Between us, we ordered the grilled octopus, risotto, duck breast, gnocchi, pizza, steak, tagliatelle, cauliflower, and chocolate budino and apple pear crisp deserts.  There were some real winners and losers, and unfortunately, we found Branzino had two faces.  One was beautiful, and the other had a sweet spirit.

The grilled octopus was delicious, soft, tasty (note the awesomely fried herbs on the top of the dish), and memorable.  Unfortunately, for the price, the portion was a little meager.

Then there was the lobster risotto.  In a word, it was bland.  Both myself, and another friend who ordered it felt the same way.  It was the day's special, and incredibly disappointing (although it looked good).

My wife's duck breast (excuse the poor picture), was excellent.  The very center was a little under for her, but the remainder of it was a perfect mid-rare.  It turned her on to duck, and that streek lasted for a few months.

I did not get a shot of all the group's food.  I was told the gnocchi were pillowy and delicious.  The pizza was a little disappointing.  The tagliatelle was also good, but the bistecca (steak) was likewise a miss.  The cauliflower side was actually a perfect example of the yin and yang of this restaurant.  A fair amount of it was the most delicious thing that most of us ate that entire evening, while some pieces were over salted, a little charcoaly (from too aggressive a chargrill) and oily.

Then desert hit, and the chocolate budino and mint straccetelli was another solid single before being thrown out standing a little too far off the bag.  The budino was excellent, but the ice cream had a little too much ice - it seemed to have separated or something else unappealing.  The apple pear crisp was delicious, but did not differentiate itself too much from a similar offering you can get at most Greasy Spoons.  The service was likewise good, but not great.  

So what can I say about Branzino's overall?  Middling, in particular given the prices and I doubt we will be back.  I think that it was our fault though for not ordering the branzino, which you have to assume would be delicious...  


Branzino
2429 2nd Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121-1424
(206) 728-5181
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