10/16/09

holy cow good!

by tracyanna

truly one of the BEST meals i've had in seattle. the cook even changed one dish we ordered to accomodate my diet....and was happy to do so. our waitress was professional, a rare treat! a woman next to our table knocked over her glass of red wine...it splashed my new light gray sude shoes. the waitress was all over it and averted a shoe disaster. she offered to have the restaurant pay the cleaning bill AND she discounted our food bill. the waitress, the cook both went above and beyond to be sure we had a good experience. and we did! we'll be back. and back. and back.

(and the food rocked too!)

• Pros: small dishes, unique, warm decor, great service
• Cons: cramped quarters

04/23/09

don't believe the hype

by LoganII

It was special night for a friends birthday. Four people, very quiet, no cake, no candles but in the end it just didn't feel very special. The no reservation policy was troublesome but we were early in the evening and we squeezed in fairly quickly-w/in 45 minutes. The service was.......terrible, the waiter was just BAD and didn't seem to care. We tried to engage him and it never took A few of the dishes were quite good, a few were just okay. All in all I was very surprised at all the word of mouth surrounding HTCAW and I have to believe that the restaurant owner or the marketing people are just doing a great job of promoting a marginal restaurant.

• Pros: Some of the dishes were very nice
• Cons: The service was brutal

03/17/09

Good not great

by bistecca

We've been anxious to try this place, but had to plan it on a night we could get there before 6:00 to a wait. We got a table right away at 5:45 on a Sunday evening (all tables were full 15 minutes later). The service was efficient and pleasant, everyone smiled and greeted us when we arrived. The food was very good: Beef carpaccio was the best we've had; Beet salad was full of chopped golden beets and pistachios; Scallops were seared tender with no grit; and the gnocchi with short rib was decadent and delicious. The portions were big... we had more than enough for 2 of us, and even took gnocchi home. Cons: there was nothing green on the menu... no lettuce in the beet salad, no veggie sides. If you want bread, you have to pay for an order of focaccia bread and olive oil. In spite of the excellent cuisine, there are 2 things that will prevent us from returning: 1) The restaurant was very poorly ventilated - it got so smoky that our eyes were burning (fellow diners had the same problem). Our clothing and hair were so saturated with food smell that we had to go home and shower to remove the smell; 2) The no reservation policy. This definitely does not put the customer's needs first... in reading the reviews, clearly customers don't like having to wait hours for a table during prime time. My time is valuable, I would much rather go to a restaurant at the time I choose and know there will be a table. Hopefully "Wolf" will listen to customers and reconsider their policy.

• Pros: Excellent food, friendly service
• Cons: Poor ventilation in restaurant, no reservation policy

02/11/09

Underwhelming and overpriced

by bugaboo76

My husband and I tried this place after reading good reviews in the local print press. Now we wish we'd researched this site first! We arrived shortly after their 5:00 pm. opening on a recent Friday night, and we were seated immediately. Service was good but not exceptional, and the food was uninspiring. The scallops with pigs' ears at $18 arrived with just two smallish specimens on the plate. I've dined in high and low places from New York's Daniel to street food in Thailand, and this was just way out of line considering the location, the food and the casual atmosphere. We communicated our shock and disappointment to our server, which eventually prompted some, "confusion in the kitchen" excuse, followed by the presentation of ONE more scallop to make amends. As a business owner, I was interested to note the apparently large staff to client ratio...maybe that's why they have to charge $18 for two small scallops :).

• Pros: Ambience
• Cons: Prices, Food

10/27/08

?How to Cook a Wolf? more aptly named ?How NOT to run a Restaurant?.

by DonnyBigTime

My wife and I were immediately drawn to How to Cook a Wolf because of its reputation, its pedigree and of course its name from the moment we began seeing its restaurant reviews. We had our first dining experience at this Queen Anne, Seattle, WA establishment on a Saturday in October and arrived at 7:30 pm with the expectation of a lengthy wait (no reservations taken). Upon our arrival, we learned the wait would be between 1.5 and 2 hours. While surprised at the length of the wait, we arrived committed to experience this restaurant so gladly accepted the host's recommendation that we have drinks at Opal (next door) . One and one half hours later we received a call that it would be another half hour. After two hours of patient waiting we arrived promptly at 9:30 pm only to learn that our table was still not available. A total of three hours later, at 10:30 pm, our patience was finally rewarded as we were shown to our table. As expected, we were treated to the culinary experience and service that many have shared in their reviews of this establishment.

Having eaten at many top restaurants around the globe, and readily acknowledging this menu was in the top third in terms of quality, creativity and tastefulness, no dining experience is worth waiting this long for. There is something to be said about treating your patrons with respect and that includes providing them not only with a first class menu, but a dining experience that is worthy of the food. So in conclusion, I wish How to Cook a Wolf the best, however I value my appetite (and liver for that matter) more than you and will patronize those establishments that do so too.

10/22/08

Love the Wolf.

by mfuntanilla

For a restaurant that has an ever-changing menu, it can be hit-or-miss and when we were there, it was amazing! The place is very small and doesn't take reservations so go early or really late or else you'll be waiting for a while. So on a Friday, my friend and I arrive at 4:45 (they open at 5:00) and there was already a line reaching the end of the block. There were only two of us so we secured a spot at the bar. We got to see all the action from the bar/kitchen and guess who's working the prep station? Ethan Stowell himself - making our food (Stowell is the chef-owner)! So you know it had to be good that night! We ordered five dishes, thinking the portions would be really small, but they were a lot bigger than expected. The hamachi ceviche was like eating sticks of butter, flavored with just salt, olive oil and chilies. Amazing. The two pasta dishes, gnocchi and spaghetti with anchovies, were fantastic. The highlight of the meal was the golden beets. Roasted and tossed with walnuts, olive oil, parsley and shaved parmesan. Simple food done right! Will definitely go again!

09/08/08

Fierce and Fabulous

by lfice14

Clearly poor reviews for WAIT TIME show this restaurant is popular! We came tonight and though we had to wait a bit because the place was packed on a Monday (just go down the street for a glass of wine while you wait), we were called when our table was ready and had an amazing meal. We came as a group of four and decided to share each dish, and everything we had was perfect. Each flavorful detail was well thought out, and foods some of us normally wouldn't like (beets and anchovies) were paired to be a wonderful dish!! The ahi tuna is wonderful, as is the chanterelle scramble. Any pasta you get will be out of this world. Our server, Mario, was great and we were well attended to the entire time. The atmosphere is minimalist but chic, and the chefs greet you as you walk through the door (a pleasant surprise!). The restaurant is small and intimate, hence the wait time, but plan accordingly and re-lax... most definitely worth the wait.

• Pros: Food, Knowledgable Service, Atmosphere, Friendly staff (everyone, chefs included)
• Cons: Wait time, but plan for a relaxing evening and it will be great!

08/30/08

Don't Wait....Avoid the Wolf

by LetsBeHonest

Maybe the Wolf has good food, but we never got the chance to try the food..Couldn't make reservations for 4. Showed up and were told it would be an hour and a half to 2 hour wait. We left our cell phone number and waited in local community for 1.5 hours. Came back and waited outside another hour and a half in cold and then rainy weather. The table we had been scheduled for had been occupied by a party of 5 for close to 3 hours, and there were no signs of them leaving shortly. They had received and paid their bill by 2 hours into our wait. After three hours, the waitress and the owner would not even consider talking to the seated party to move on. NOT GOOD SERVICE. DON"T EVER WAIT FOR "HOW TO COOK A WOLF". DEFINITELY NOT WORTH IT!!

Signed,

Disappointed

• Pros: Never got to sample the food. They do take your cell phone number to notify you when table is ready.
• Cons: Not seated promptly. Poor service attention to customers. Not accommodating wait staff.

08/25/08

Terrifically over salted

by montanafox

Have been twice to HTCAW. First time, shrimp appetizers were nearly unedible due to SALT, though rest of meal was great.

Just returned from second try with group of friends. Everything was way OVER SALTED. I asked the wait person who brought out our dishes if by chance our chickpeas had been salted twice, and he said, with some clear distain, that they used salt a lot. Someone needs to do an intervention. The food here is either lovely or definitely not. Salt is so easily corrected. A committed international foodie, I've eaten hundreds of wonderful meals in Seattle, rest of inhabitable u.s., and in multi-starred restaurants throughout France, Italy, Spain and elsewhere, and do not understand this oddity at HTCAW. Nowhere would this stand as quality. What is going on? Perhaps more feedback is needed directly to HTCAW. Please help, if you so believe.

08/13/08

No Reservations?

by allie3000

The four of us arrived at 6pm on a thursday night. Hearing that there was a two hour wait, we went elsewhere and spent over 300 on dinner...we'd have preferred to have spent it at How To Cook A Wolf but who wants to wait two hours for a table? The owners should reconsider their decision regarding their "no reservations" policy.