Dismal state of downtown dining sinks Union restaurant

But owner/chef Ethan Stowell remains upbeat, as he plans the mid-summer opening of Staple & Fancy Mercantile in Ballard.
Cascade PBS archive image.

Chef Ethan Stowell, second from right, with his family: Angela Stowell and PNB's Francia Russell and Kent Stowell, at the November 2007 opening of How to Cook a Wolf.

But owner/chef Ethan Stowell remains upbeat, as he plans the mid-summer opening of Staple & Fancy Mercantile in Ballard.

On concert nights, Union, the handsome, seven-year-old restaurant two blocks from Benaroya Hall, fills up quickly, then empties out five minutes before curtain. A short feast followed by a long famine, and Ethan Stowell, Union's energetic owner and chef, isn't waiting around any longer; he has finally done what everyone has expected, and closed Union.

He's already got three other restaurants (Tavolata, in Belltown; Anchovies & Olives, on Capitol Hill; How to Cook a Wolf, on Queen Anne) and is well into opening yet another, Staple & Fancy Mercantile in Ballard. So why suffer through the winter of downtown discontent?

Granted, his immediate neighbors seem to be doing okay. That would be Kerry Sear's grandly conceived Art (an elegantly decorated dining room and a three-meal kitchen, plus banquets and room service, that will survive regardless of the economy if only because it's part of the Four Seasons hotel), and Taste, in the Seattle Art Museum (a decent enough foodservice operation run by Bon Appetit Catering).

There's also Wild Ginger, Rick Yoder's 300-seat, all-things-to-all-visitors pan-Asian restaurant, perched above the Triple Door a block away and doing well, we're told. But most high-end dining downtown is still reeling from the lousy economy, which boosts profit margins at local grocery chains but slashes paychecks for restaurant workers and owners.

Stowell tried valiantly. He tore up the high-priced menu and swallowed hard when the average check dropped below $50. Wanting to remain a focal point for the industry, he ran quarterly comfort food contests, inviting chefs and amateurs alike to cook meatloaf, chili, mac-and-cheese, and lasagna at Union. His wife, Angela, joined him full-time to help. At one point, his dad, choreographer Kent Stowell, even acted as doorman up at Wolf.

But what about all those new bars and cafes opening? Well, hope springs eternal. As it still does with Stowell. He expects to open Staple & Fancy Mercantile, with all of 43 seats, in south Ballard by mid-summer. The location is the Kolstrand Building, a refurbished industrial space at 4742 Ballard Ave., just off Leary Way. He'll have company there: Renee Erickson's new oyster place, The Walrus and the Carpenter, is next door.

The plan is to serve dinner at Staple & Fancy Mercantile seven nights a week from a limited a la carte menu changing daily. Stowell will offer a four-course, chef'ꀙs choice menu for $45.

In a press release, Stowell sounds upbeat: 'ꀜI'ꀙve spent the last few years bouncing around and cooking in all my restaurants, and I'ꀙm really looking forward to having my own kitchen again." Stowell says he plans to cook five or six nights a week at the new spot. "I can'ꀙt wait.'ꀝ

  

Please support independent local news for all.

We rely on donations from readers like you to sustain Cascade PBS's in-depth reporting on issues crticial to the PNW.

Donate

About the Authors & Contributors

Ronald Holden

Ronald Holden

Ronald Holden is a regular Crosscut contributor. His new book, published this month, is titled “HOME GROWN Seattle: 101 True Tales of Local Food & Drink." (Belltown Media. $17.95).