How to Cook a Wolf

05/13/2008 Posted by elvis3000

After reading all the reviews and the hype about HTCAW, I took my mother up there for a belated Mother's Day dinner. Given the positive reception this place has received, we bore the 2 hour wait with a smile (and beer at Hilltop) and entered with high hopes. As you might expect from the title, our hopes were dashed. The appetizers were promising--a very solid beef carpaccio and a tasty but not exceptional arugula/pecorino/salami salad. The latter just didn't have much to it. More arugula would have been welcome. We ended our appetizers with the much vaunted scallops and I will echo some previous comments. These were a bit overcooked and situated in some sort of cream sauce, which I thought was bland at best. Totally disappointing. Our entree dishes gave us hope. We started with the agnolloti, which was very good; however, the follow-ups--the pesto tagilatelle and spaghetti with clams and hot red pepper were avg at best. My wife mentioned that she probably could have accomplished these latter dishes at home. I agree. All is all, it was certainly not the worst meal we have ever had. The atmosphere is indeed splendid and I thought the service was very good. Additionally, the wine prices were reasonable. To me, HTCAW plays on Seattlites' tendancy to become enamored with the looks of a restaurant while forgetting to objectively taste the food. Likewise, the small plates trend is getting pretty old. Yeah, it makes you feel good to share dishes with friends, but when you're charging $15 bucks for a small plate of avg pasta, it's called a rip off.

05/11/2008 Posted by JPWazzu

I am all for the small neighborhood establishment, but this place is not worth your hard earned dollar for the food or lack of service. The drinks were the only "ok" part of the experience, but their inventory is very limited. Their wine selection seemed descent, but very pricey. If you want to take a friend or spouse out to "eat" and have a few drinks a piece, you can expect to pay $100.00 (with tip & tax) here for a small chick-pea salad & the other dish being (2) sea-scallops on top of a bland bean puree paste. They never brought the 3rd dish, and when we arrived & had to sit at the bar, we had to flag the bartender down to find out who our server was after about 20-30 minutes. TO SUMMARIZE - THE PRICES ARE HIGH & SERVICE WAS POOR. If you live close to this place and want just a drink or a glass of wine before going somewhere else, this is an "ok" place to do that, but you may have to wait in line because this place is tiny.

Pros: "OK" DRINKS

Cons: Overpriced Food, tiny portions, food lacked "pop" for the price, tiny restaurant

05/03/2008 Posted by ilikestinkycheese

I went to How to Cook A Wolf for the first time because my boyfriend said it was a new and good place, I walked in and was immediately comfortable in the cozy intimate interior. We were seated and our waiter Clayton, was full of smiles and new the menu really well. The food was well seasoned and beautifully plated. Our Gratini with Manila Clams and Speck was something i have never tried before, the texture was balanced and absolutely tasty. Our Procuitto was well sliced, and plated wonderfully. I highly reccomend this restaurant to anyone who wants to enjoy great people, great food, and a welcoming environment. Congratulations to Chef Ethan Stowell for opening a wonderful restautant. Also congratulations to the men behind the mask, Chef Jason and Chef Ryan. They are able to produce delicious and beautifull food in a short amount time. With a 20 item menu, and two men cooking, they are talented, and I can't wait to see whats on the menu tonight!

Pros: great food, great service, beautifully decorated.

Cons: Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesday, and there is a small wait

04/16/2008 Posted by rougeredrojo

I went to How to Cook a Wolf for the first time recently and cannot wait to go back. Our server, Alex, was attentive, honest, and helpful. My friend and I ordered the beef carpaccio, castelvetrano olives, baked polenta, and the seared sea scallops. Everything was delicious and it was the perfect amount of food for two moderately hungry people. I highly recommend ordering a bunch of small plates instead of one of their pastas (although I have yet to try them, I have trouble imagining they are like Chinese noodles, as the last reviewer stated). The olives were of such high quality that they tasted of butter and chardonnay; the sea scallops were perfectly cooked and were accompanied by a mushroom-white bean puree. Besides having great food and fantastic service, the restaurant is also both intimate and welcoming, with a beautifully sloping ceiling and the perfect amount of light. Forget what the guy below me said- there's a reason How to Cook a Wolf is so popular. Check it out for yourself...if you can get in.

Pros: service, food quality, constantly changing menu

Cons: the wait can be long on weekends

04/02/2008 Posted by justmovedtoseattle

Seattle's food critics must be disconnected from reality. Some keep saying how good is HTCAW. Have they been there? Hard to believe considering that on two occasions we had SLOW and PRETENTIOUS service and mediocre to plain bad food. Do they serve pasta or Asian noodles? Our pasta was translucent. Are you kidding me? The scallops very cold in the middle. Of course the server argued that they are suppose to be on the rare side and we know that but when properly cooked, they get to a 'warm' temperature, not stone cold. I could keep going, but why?

03/15/2008 Posted by roadrayj

The interior of the restaurant is very inviting and warm, and our waiter was very attentive and friendly. This did not make up for the extremely average food that was brought to our table. Everything from appetizers and salad to pasta dishes were not very impressive.

Pros: ambience

Cons: food

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

02/20/2008 Posted by emcitychris

With only six tables and three waiters you would think that service would be swift and attentive. You would unfortunately be wrong. We sat at our table for 20 minutes before we were served water or our drink order was taken. Once appetizers and a bottle of wine were ordered we again waited about 15 minutes for either to appear on our table. I must say the olives and roasted almonds that we ordered as our appetizers were quite tasty. The menu is limited to about twenty or so items. We each ordered two items to share family style and the resulting eight plates were the perfect amount of food for us. We had four unremarkable pastas, the only one that stood out for me was the take on Carbonera. It was decent, but the problem is that I make an awesome carbonera and why would I want to pay money for something I can do better? The four other plates were stuffed quail, seared scallops, chicken liver ravioli and seared polenta. Nothing really stood out among these four dishes either, the scallops were well cooked, but I can get good scallops anywhere (I can cook better scallops). Overall the dinner was mediocre at best with a couple of dimly shining stars that could be recreated elsewhere in a better fashion. When the dessert menu was presented to us it contained three items, sorbet, gelatto and a cheese tray. The only item they had available from that menu was the cheese tray, the had no sorbet or gelatto which was odd since we were the first seating of the night. Luckily none of us cared for any dessert anyway. If the food was good I wouldn't have minded the price we ended up paying, but for such mediocre food it was too spendy.

Pros: decor is interesting

Cons: service, food is bland and boring

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

02/09/2008 Posted by BookgirlMC

Had a private function on a Wed evening when it was closed to the public. Unbelieveable food starting with the white bean spread on rustic bread. We had everything family style and it seemed the food just kept coming. Another favortite was rabbit boulganaise - rich and creamy with an beautiful blend of flavors. And the scallops had just the right amount of crunch on the outside and smooth and tasty on the inside. The beet and bl orange salad was another favorite. Service was attentive as we had the entire restaurant to our party of 16. I'd love to try How To Cook A Wolf again.

Pros: Private function, ambience

Cons: parking

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful

01/21/2008 Posted by rlucas

If you love to pay too much for your food AND be ignored by an arrogant waiter after waiting almost an hour AFTER you reservation, that this is the place for you! We tried dining here early on a Friday night. Big mstake. not only were they so short staffed, they couldn't bring us water or menus. They didn't even manage to bring us all the food we ordered until AFter the dessert arrived! Our final two dishes arrived an unbelieveable hour and 20 minutes after we ordered! No matter that we had already waited in the resturant almost an hour before being seated. When we finially got a hold of the waiter for an explaination (no easy task), we were told that "to have to food trickle out is artistic and innovative...it's the style of the restuarant". What?!? Soundslike a sad justification for bad management, a poorly run kitchen and/or a stoned waitstaff. But are the pasta dishes supposed to arrive cold? At $16 dollars for tuna pasta, I found the tiny dish to be salty and the chunks to meat to be overcooked. Did I mention it arrived cold! Also the two meager scallops were oily and otherwise bland. Same with the squid salad. Oily, but otherwise very ordinary, slightly bland and not worth $12. Plates are quite small. Our waiter said people typically order 3 per person, although I was still hungary after my three dishes. Most dishes weren't innovative or exciting. Olive oil and salt were the predominant flavors is every dish. The more we ate the more the dishes tasted the same. At the end of the night I left feeling ripped off. Overall, I think the resturant is poorly run and does not warrant charging these high prices for such small plates.

Pros: decor

Cons: food, service, value, parking, management, reservations were useless, crowded

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

01/21/2008 Posted by Rhondavu

Over ambitious small plates that fall flat and absent service make a bad combination, especially at this pricepoint. Our party of four waited 1.5 hours for seating than ANOTHER 30 minutes for menus! We did not get food, including bread or water, until we had been there over 2 hours. The couple next to us said they had been waiting 40 minutes after they finished their dessert, just so they could pay their bill and leave. No wonder the prices are high... they can't turn tables more than once a night! Once we did get our food, we found only 2 of the 8 dishes we ordered were worth trying again. Keep in mind a $12 order of scallops includes only 2 scalllops. Oh, and they were cold by the time they arrived. So was the first pasta dish. Our water glasses were never refilled and we ended up going over to the bar to get more wine. I do have to say the sliced duck with beets was tender and flavorfull. The decor is innovative: An inverted skateboard park sort of thing. Noise level was comfortable for a crowded, small space. Just keep in mind that turn turn a profit, the markup on menu items is huge. Plates are smaller than you will fnd at most tapas places small. Expect to order 3 per person. Unless they learn to turn tables faster, I predict they will have to raise prices further or force custiners to endure even greater wait time for only marginal food. Seattle has FAR better options if you want to spend $70 per couple on dinner. I give it 12 months before it perishes

Pros: duck salad

Cons: service, price point, wine list, food temperature, wait time, value, food

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful