Union

My friends and I unexpectedly ended up here for happy hour yesterday, the day that Ethan Stowell announced that Union will be closing its doors for good on May 29. I can see why he’s transitioning out and pursuing his new venture in Ballard. Compared to Stowell’s other ventures (i.e. How to Cook a Wolf, Anchovies & Olives), Union seems cavernous, impersonal, and dated with early-​2000s décor. Although happy hour was still in effect, the bar was nearly empty, and I got the feeling that this is a restaurant that has run its course.
Ricotta Bruschetta presented as thick slices of bread topped with lemony ricotta, arugula, and pickled onions. Cavatelli with pork ragu, oregano, and mint was exactly as it sounds. Both dishes were good, though perhaps a bit uninspired. We were served tableside by the bartender, who was a bit reserved at first but quickly warmed up and even cheerfully obliged our request to snap a group photo.
Glad to have made a final visit to Union, and looking forward to frequenting Stowell’s other joints going forward.

Went to Union for a second shot after the manager seemed to want to try and make it better. Again — service so bad that my friend, different from the last bad experience so I know it isn’t just me, suggested we leave. It was a sunny Friday so there was hardly anyone there but we *still* managed to get surly treatment from both the host and the bartender. The manager has tried to apologize for the bad experiences I have had but has yet to do anything that will make me go back for a third round.
Go to Boka down the street. It is only a couple of blocks south and it was night and day service. The espresso martini, Manhattan, S’more dessert and cheesecake were excellent and were delivered with — wait for it — a smile! They were happy I was there. Go figure.

By the power of the mighty monkey gods…
…you must try the 8 course tasting menu with the wine pairing. It changes every time and it is good. I don’t mean «gee mom this fried chicken is the best ‘good’» We’re talking plug the Deep Horizon, bring peace to the Middle East, and poke Henry Paulson in the eyes ‘good’.
It takes a while to eat all that though, so clear your calendar.
Sad to lose this restaurant.

My boyfriend and I went here during restaurant week for dinner. The food was fantastic, and we were very pleased with our waiter. He brought us out several sips of the wines by the glass, taking the time to try and help us decide on the perfect bottle even though the place was packed and he was super busy (and he wasn’t dead-​set on pushing us into buying an expensive bottle, which I always appreciate)
The food was what I’d expect of a «foodie» restaurant, delicious and creative. My favorite part had to be dessert though– I had a chocolate pudding style dish with crème fraîche and my boyfriend had the pecan pie. If you go, definitely don’t skip the dessert!

This is my 2^nd time dine in Union, we picked here for our 2^nd Seattle Restaurant Week dining experience.
Tonight’s menu is great, lots of food to choose from.
I had the pork cheek terrine to start and Frank had the frissee salad. Both of them were great, but I love my pork cheek terrine more. It came with the ‘candied’ shallot on top of pork cheek meat and served with small pile of watercress. A good way to start to meal. Then I ordered duck leg and Frank share the Rib eye for two with mom. Frank said the steak was not the top choice meat and the sauce was pretty plain. But I liked my duck leg… it was juicy and tender. A little on the saltier side but it goes well with the vege.
Our favorite part of this meal was the dessert! We order one of each desserts and pecan tart was everyone’s top choice. I love the nutty and rich butter taste of the tart… it goes really well with coffee ice cream: D. Then there’s Buttermilk Pann Cotta (with Rhubarb) — like a vanilla flam with lightly sour rhubarb on top. It was the runner up. And then there’s the Chocolate Budino. Very dense chocolate cake, a little too dense and rich for me, but Frank loved it.
Anyways, the service was good, wine was good, and food was good. They don’t offer fancy things or out-​of-​ordinary things, but it’s good for business casual dinner… also a good choice if you are in downtown area and is looking for some classic American/​Northwestern food with good wine selection.

Until now, Union had somehow escaped our radar, but hearing that chef Ethan Stowell had AGAIN been nominated (for the third time) for a James Beard Award, for Best Chef Northwest, we decided we could wait no longer.
This review is by Leo, the Five-​Year-​Old Foodie, food critic extraordinaire! This is his first review, from his perspective, but translated by his mamma, who knows how to type.
1. Ambiance: Nice while it was light outside, but too dark to draw with crayons. Wait! They didn’t even HAVE crayons! Luckily, we brought colored pens just in case, and a butterknife makes a great toy in a pinch. FYOF (Five-​Year-​Old Foodie) Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
2. Service: At first we were seated in the middle of the room, at a round table, but when my mamma asked to move to a corner by the window, he moved us right away. Did I hear a sigh of RELIEF, like he thought I would bother the other people? I would have given him ZERO stars, except he ended up being really nice and very helpful, except when he was accidentally dropping a fork and knife on my mamma when he was clearing our table. I guess he thinks butterknives are fun toys, too. FYOF Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
3. Food: Since Union was only serving the 3-​course prix fixe dinners during Restaurant Week, our family decided to try one of everything on the menu. My parents loved every dish, but my favorites were the chilled pea soup, even though I think soup should always be hot, and the gnocchi, which was really good. I tried the ribeye steak, but I kept getting pieces that had too much fat. My parents told me I must have gotten the only fatty piece because they both loved it. My sister said her halibut was super good. My mamma and daddy thought the duck with cabbage was the best dinner of the night, but only grown-​ups would think a dish with cabbage is the best. FYOF Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4. Drinks: When our server took our order, he asked if we wanted a juice to drink. He said they had orange and cranberry juices, or we could have them mixed together! No one ever offers to mix them together, so I wanted to try it. It was good, but not as good as apple juice. They didn’t put any fun toys in my drink, like umbrellas or plastic monkeys, but they did put in a stick with cherries on it. The cherries tasted really bad, but the stick made a good sword. My parents drank wine, which must have been good because they finished their glasses. FYOF Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
5. Desserts: We don’t always get to eat dessert, but during Restaurant Week, dessert is included. YAY! I tried the chocolate crème brûlée, but didn’t like it. Everyone else thought it was really, really good. I think it would have been way better with some gummy worms on top. My sister had the rice pudding, which I liked, but the rhubarb topping was yucky. My daddy said that rhubarb looks like red celery, which explains why it doesn’t belong on dessert. The only thing I really liked was the pecan tart with coffee ice cream and caramel. Even though vanilla ice cream would have been WAY better (and rainbow sherbet the absolute best), I still liked it. FYOF Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
I liked Union and would want to go back, but next time I’m taking more crayons and a small toy. I’m also going to stick with water to drink until they get some apple juice. I would recommend the gnocchi for dinner to all kids because it is really good and everyone will like it. Except vegetarians because there is meat in the sauce. Actually, there was meat in just about everything.

I took a friend here who was visiting from the UK. We were both appalled at how rude and passive aggressive our waiter was. I don’t think I’ve ever been so talked down to before! He was apparently angry at all the symphony go-​ers that were in a rush. When we told him that we were attending the chamber music concert (which starts at a later time than the symphony which he then argued with us about) he insisted we not take up a table and just sit in the lounge. Then he gave us a lecture about not going to a restaurant right before the show (again, he did not believe that the time of our show was later than the symphony) and so on.
My friend thought this was a reflection of Seattle servers! I will NEVER go back here!

I came to Union last night after taking in the symphony; it was my first time at Union, so I didn’t have any preconceived ideas about what to expect. The service was fantastic – and friendly; we chatted with the waiter and bartender (Chris). We were there late, so the restaurant was quiet, which was also nice.
The thing I liked best about Union was the portion size. Right, it’s a spendy plate, but I also had a delicious meal (chard with Belgian endive and a glass of red) and didn’t leave overly full. And, I admit, I generally like to eat somewhere a couple of times before I review it. But, I had a really wonderful experience, and I’ll likely go back.

Ethan’s first remains one of Seattle’s best.
We went to Union for their Valentine’s menu — my wife nearly 5 months pregnant, both of us craving a special evening after a particularly hectic month.
Starting from the OpenTable reservation, service was great — when they called to confirm not only did they acknowledge my request to sub out raw fish for my wife, they suggested specific substitutions and said to call if any of that wouldn’t work for us.
Then on arriving, service continued wonderfully throughout the meal, including nice wine pairings on the fly since they didn’t have a planned paring flight (a small miss, but no big deal)
Food was delightful, simple, subtle.
— amuse bouche of German Prociutto equivalent (i forget the name) with superb olive oil and fresh parsley was a whetting mouthful
— a few sweet raw oysters with meyer lemon ice for me and a lightly sesame oil dressed salad for her continued the light tasty progression
— then came a beef tartare that was more Dijon and aioli than beef, and more tartare than worked for the toast points they provided, but still tasty. By contrast, the gnochli with wild mushrooms they subbed for my wife were spot on exquisite and earthy awesomeness.
— the celery root soup had a truly perfect seared scallop as the centerpiece, though the soup itself was a bit underseasoned and should have been hotter.
— seared artic char was stellar blend of crispy fatty skin that made me compare it to Lark’s awesome pork belly, and just fantastically light and moist flesh underneath.
— the main course was duck breast that we both really liked, though i can’t remember the sauce or other preparation at the moment.
— finally the choolate terrine dessert was just great, perfectly dense and more bitter than sweet in a great way, went delightfully with the 20 year tawny.
All in all, a wonderful meal that hit just the right note for us on valentine’s day. And of course we’ll be back.

I ate here with a friend during the New Urban Eats promotion– 3 courses for $ 30. I bribed my dining companion by sending him the promotions sample menu. We arrived at Union on a Monday with dancing plates of beef carpaccio in our heads, but found what we had to choose from was very different– the menu had changed with the week and sometimes the day.
I ordered the frisee with beets– while my dining partner had the pasta. Second course was skate for me, and a order of the specials meat dish from my dining partner. We ordered a seasonal panna cotta with sorbet for dessert and a chocolate entrée.
I was a little underwhelmed with the food at Union. The food was good, cooked well, and developed, but lacked a wow factor or original spin. My skate was tender 9and a good first introduction to the fish varietal), salad basic, and panna cotta well made– this equaled a good meal, but in no way would draw me back.
Our server polite and scarce — very ghost like with attendance to our needs– but we felt taken care of.
FYI’s~
* Happy hour in the lounge portion is 5 – 7 and offers $ 5 drinks and light food options
* Clientele seems to be a little older and established than many of the other acclaimed restaurants I have tried in Seattle
* Lean menu with few choices– good choices… but few

I had a great glass of pinot here last night. Lange Pinot Noir from Oregon, to be specific.
It was pretty pricey, but I almost never spend more than $ 9 a glass these days, so I figured that at $ 14 it had better be amazing.
It was.
Now, the wine was good, but the high rating for Union comes with their service. I am not sure where I have had better bar service in Seattle, other than at Zig Zag. Don’t get me wrong, there are fun and attentive bartenders… nice guys and gals who make a good cocktail.
But there is something about Chris that’s warm fuzzy and cool, and welcoming all at once. I can’t explain it, but he’s great at making you feel like you’re at home…
with a $ 14 glass of pinot, of course.
Tough to come by.
PS– I’ve eaten here a few times. It’s very good. The beef carpaccio is worth ordering each and every time you’re in.

I was not expecting much based on previous reviewer on the restaurant’s urban eat. I was pleasantly surprised.
First off, our waiter keep on recommending the 30 dollars set menu. I took his recommendation on butternut squash soup and Halibut for main entrée. The butternut squash soup is nicely favored with a bit of spicy kick and the roasted pine nuts gives it a nice smoky crunch. The Halibut is cooked to perfection and the sauted chanterelle mushrooms and corn flavored with smoked ham. However, the dish is missing the sweetness of the fresh corn. I had the chocolate terrine and almond ice cream. The Almond Ice cream is extremely smooth flavorful.
The service is outstanding until we saw on the bill that they charged us the 2 dollars for the bread. I guess I assumed too much when the waiter told us that he will bring us some bread if we don’t mind. I assume that the 1^st plate of bread is free. I am not cheap. I just don’t like dishonest charging.
Oh, we also ordered the pork belly as the 4^th course. Unlike Rovers, Portage or Quinn’s that melts in your month, Union’s pork belly has a pretty fatty mouth feel.
The overall rating is 4 stars for the Urban eat course minus one star for dishonest charging and pork belly.

As those who know, love, and/​or put up with me know, I’m always hesitant to jump on any celebrity chef bandwagon. And I’m also happy to be proven wrong. And that has happened before… but not too often! I’m no stranger to Ethan Stowell’s family of restaurants, having eaten multiple times at all but his newest (Anchovies & Olives). I love Tavolata, and the last time I ate at Union in the summer of ’08, I was amazed and transported by my three courses.
Yet not so the other night. As part of our 3 for $ 30 month, the man and I met up here in this stylish spot, with a lovely view of the sunset. I was excited to revisit the delights of last time; I still hadn’t forgotten the amazingly tender quail or the beef carpaccio from over a year ago… But either that was then and this is now, or else Union isn’t overly interested in putting the same care and attention into their more discounted menu.
One of our starters was the chilled tomato soup, cleverly served with halved tomatoes and cream piled in the middle of the bowl, and the chilled soup poured over and around in a reddish swirl. Lovely presentation, but little intensity of flavor to match. My starter was the tagliarini with duck sugo (meant to be much like an authentic bolognese, meaty but on the drier side). I know duck, but this duck sugo erred not only on the dry but also on the flavorless side. Not sure how you keep duck fat from being ungodly good, but somehow the kitchen did.
For our entrees, the man had the skate wing, and I the pork cheeks. Those were an improvement over the beginning (rich, fork-​tender, with a slightly glazed exterior, mounded over savory root vegetables), yet again not overly interesting or well-​executed. And so it went for our desserts as well.
Service is excellent, and although I’ve never been, I’ve heard excellent reviews of Union’s happy hour. And based on my first experience, I know the kitchen can turn out plates of amazing artistry and intensity. Yet after this last visit, and my man’s puzzlement at how I could have looked so forward to it, I may wait quite a while before heading back (especially taking into account the prices).
On the one hand, I know that kitchens often put less effort into «special» meals (Restaurant Week-​type deals) than into their regular menu, so that may be what happened. On the other hand, I’d hate that a restaurant wouldn’t care about what leaves on the plate, and since I haven’t encountered such a discrepancy in Seattle before, I wonder if Union’s lost some of its luster. I hope not, but for now I’ll stick to Stowell’s other restaurants, and hope he keeps an eye on Union to bring the magic back.

Excellent Happy Hour, basically $ 8 full plates. (Dollar off beer and $ 5 for a glass of wine).
I’ve also been here, long ago for a full dinner, but wow, why not just get the HH and save a bunch of money.

I can’t believe some of the not-​so-​great reviews on here! I went in expecting a great meal, but this surpassed my expectations. Perfect food pretty much across the board, with wonderful service. One of my all-​time best meals.
We stared out with cocktails, and I can’t remember what they were exactly, but mine was out of the world good and unique.
First course I had the lobster salad with beets and grapefruit, boyfriend had the duck prosciutto, and is still raving about the vinaigrette on his salad.
Pasta course I had the rabbit canneloni and he had the lamb ragu. Ragu was the low-​point of the meal, but my rabbit was again, truly inspired.
Main course I had the quail and boyfriend had the fluke. That fluke was perfect!
Dessert was chocolate for me and I can’t remember what the boyfriend had (I was too into my chocolate).
We ordered one bottle of wine, and our server brought out small pours of the other bottle we thought about as well as a dessert wine to sample. He was so great and informative, yet casual and not stuffy, my perfect type of serve, someone who helps you have fun with the night but knows their stuff.
If I was back in Seattle I would make sure I visit here or one of the chefs other restaurants for sure. Yum!

This place is the stereotypical movie, sitcom, commercial trope — where the famished person goes to the snobby foofy place only to be served a single bite of meat, a bean and one dot of sauce — made real. When our «entrees» came I almost wet myself laughing. I did. Out loud. I pointed at it and laughed. The food morsels were further dwarfed by the huge plates, a vast expanse of white space that held only the promise of the food it might have, under different circumstances, been able to contain.
For some reason I had a horrid waking nightmare, and I pictured myself a horny wee girl about to get laid by a big burly guy… rapaciously diving under his plaid shirt and throwing off his big boots, reaching down into those manties only to find a carbuncled, shriveled gherkin. What do you mean you’re so hard???
You’re joking right? Nah, come on. Where’s it hiding? Where’s that big plate of yummies? Oh. I see.
No offense, but what do you do for appetizers? Present me with a huge empty plate, kick me in the balls and demand my wallet?
My midget, preemie quail was dry and more so, inexplicably, was the duck confit inside. The one or two cippolini onions were slimy. The scallops came doused in bizarre lemon sauce that tasted like a 21 year old’s first birthday lemon drop at their dad’s favorite dive bar that smells of urinal cakes.
So, we waited 45min., in a relatively empty restaurant, for canned-​laughter culinary masterpieces that we ate in 5 minutes, giggled at the big man’s small penis, grew hateful and resentful after we got the bill and left. Never to return.

A friend from New York had just won a two-​year battle against false criminal charges that were brought against him by his ex-​wife. (Ok, I know what you’re thinking — they ALL say that. But he is no OJ — in this case, he really «didn’t do it» — trust me. Or not.) Regardless, he was acquitted of all charges, and I was downtown when I got the news, so I went to Union to celebrate his getting his life back. Plus since it relates to his bad marriage, there was a certain irony in going to «Union.»
There are several positives about Union, and I had a good meal, but my standards (ratings) tend to correlate to how good the experience is in comparison to what I would expect of that «class» of place. I consider Union «fine contemporary dining,» and rated it two stars in relation to the fine dining experience I would expect, but that is not to say that if you have money to blow, you will not enjoy yourself here and enjoy better quality food.
Here’s a description of the experience. First, no one greeted me at the door when I walked in around 6:30pm. You would think they would have a host ready to seat you, but I had to wait several minutes before I was even noticed, as employees walked by. So I gave up, and sat in the bar.
The ambiance is nice — dark with warm lighting, accented by more bright lighting in the bar. It works. The seat was comfortable, and the area was clean.
The bartender gave good recommendations on a pasta dish when I asked for it (butternut squash ravioli), and also recommended a very nice champagne I’d never had before (Deutz) — it was excellent, and perfect for celebrating my friend avoiding jail!
I ordered the $ 50 special, where you can choose two items on page 1 (appetizers and pasta), and one item on page 2 (entrees), plus dessert of your choice — pretty good deal, right? Well, I chose the raw oyster appetizer, the squash ravioli, and the rabbit with bacon. For desert I had a lemon «pudding», that was more like a cakey custard than pudding, but was very good. I also ordered the $ 2 Foccacia bread, accompanied by olive oil with small green olives.
The 6 plump oysters (!) were far too lemony. Also, they were supposed to be spicy, but the spice was not evenly distributed among the oysters, so one was particular spicy, and another didn’t appear to have any at all. The oysters themselves were plump with great flavor, so I couldn’t understand why they would drown them in so much lemon juice. Even after draining the juice, pucker pucker! One of my oysters slipped out of the shell and right into my lap, and that was the best one, probably because my clothes rubbed off the lemon juice.
The butternut squash pasta tasted great, but with only 5 or so small ravioli, hardly filling. The pasta is clearly freshly made, though, and that makes a big difference. The flavor was rich and well-​balanced.
The rabbit came with two bites of rabbit. Seriously, sitting up, reminiscent of twin towers (my friend IS from NYC after all, but I thought it a bit strange they would present it that way — it’s probably just me to think of that, I’m sure). The rabbit was surrounded by a half dozen pearl olives and lima beans. «THIS is the ENTREE?» I thought to myself? I mean, I understand the «small plate» fad that has taken over everywhere, but when I order something from the Entrée side of the menu, I expect something a bit bigger than the appetizers. Or maybe with stronger flavor. But the rabbit was delicate and light (almost like chicken?), the pearl onions were bland, and the lima beans had a hard crunchy crust around them — not very pleasant. While those two bites of rabbit were moist and good, this plate just really didn’t satisfy me.
A server (not my bartender) delivered the lemon pudding which the menu described as having a huckleberry accent (syrup). I forgot about that, though, and thought it looked like chocolate syrup, so I asked her if that’s what it was, and seriously, she DID NOT KNOW! She responded with a smile of embarrassment and reluctantly offered to check on that when I remembered that it was berry, not chocolate. Still, for a restaurant of this supposed quality, I could not believe she did not know something so simple, and to me, that reveals that the restaurant is not concerned with bringing their servers up to the minimum of basics on the menu. Sad!
Still, despite all of these slights, overall I did enjoy myself at Union — the bartender was great, and I felt very comfortable there. Nothing of what I ate was terrible or anything. I just expect more in the details for what is supposed to be a finer quality restaurant.
PROS: Bartender gave great recommendations when asked. Food was delivered in a timely manner.
CONS: Lackluster, unknowledgeable service at times. Small plates, but lacking the strong AND balanced flavors you might expect from the «small plate» model of restauranting.

Well we went here for a romantic meal, after work last Friday night. The ambiance was nice. The service was terrific. Out waiter, an older guy, knew his wines and was very nice. He attended to our every need. The food was very good, we actually only had three things, appetizer, pasta and a small strip-​loin. Very good, very creative. The presentation was nice.
The downside was how small the portions were. I mean really small. We split a meal basically and it cost 145 with two glasses of wine and splitting a desert. Kinda pricey if you ask me. The food was good not great!
But I give it 5 stars for service, but only a 4 overall because of price and menu variety. Not a lot of choices.

What Serendipity!
My friend Autumn and I walked over to Union after being discouraged by the after shopping crowd at Wild Ginger and being turned away from Triple Door due to a private event.
We sat at the bar and Keith took very good care of us. The fluke crudo was outstanding! I also tried the spaghetti with sea urchin. I was intrigued since I’ve only eat Uni raw. It was delicious! We didn’t have too much to eat but I can tell from a few tastings of the bar menu that dinner here would be a delight. I was pretty happy with my «yeh, yeh, yeh» — a stiff manhattan.
There were a few small groups here. Seems a nice table of 4 would be perfect. Great location just across the street from SAM.

A little math.
If a chef makes7 courses for 12 people 4 times in a single evening and everyone* leaves with a full belly and a smile on their face what should the star rating be?
Let everyone = a bunch of picky opinionated Unilocalers.
Five stars! Yes, five stars all the way.
This is the type of restaurant where you just trust that whatever they bring out to you is going to be fabulous and beautiful and better than you could have ever imagined.
Like, ewww… who would want to eat octopus? Not me. Unless it was cooked by Ethan Stowell at Union. Generally bruschetta is relatively boring. Unless it’s cooked by Ethan Stowell at Union. And salmon, well ok, I always love salmon, but especially if it’s cooked by Ethan Stowell at Union.
You guys get the point. The food is fantastic.
And I’ll let you in on a little secret. The bar is fantastic as well and you can get in on this well prepared food on the cheap when you visit during their happy hours from 5 – 7 and again from 10 – 12 where all small plates are only $ 8 and you can pair them with a well crafted cocktail in a warm comfortable bar.
This place isn’t just for special occasions if you mix & match some small plates to make a meal.
P. S. Sorry about the math.