There’s a photo of Eric Banh, the guy behind the two Monsoon locations and one popular pho-bakery destination Ba Bar, and chef Scott Emerick (of the shuttered Cremant) standing face-to-face with a friendly cow. What this cow doesn’t know is that these are the culinary forces for the new whole animal butchery steak house, Seven Beef.
Across the street from Seattle University and down the block from Ba Bar, Seven Beef opened in the end of October, serving meat from the entire cow with cuts extending from a porterhouse and T-bone to the rarer oyster, zabuton and belly steaks for the succulent braised beef belly. And, of course, a traditional burger can’t be missed from the list as the beef is ground in-house.
The room glimmers from the tiny white lights strung across the ceiling, custom-designed by Banh and his business partner and sister, Sophie. Tables are lined in the center as the bar with a marble counter top is to the right of the room. The siblings custom-cut into the space that was formerly an architect’s office, prominently placing an open kitchen with a wood-burning oven and a butcher-block counter that serves as a butcher station. The kitchen, led by Emerick, will soon also host a chef’s table at the butcher station.
When asked about the interest in opening a steak house, Banh says it pays homage to the first moment he was handed a knife in the back of the house, 25 years ago. The head chef of the fine dining French restaurant that Banh bussed tables at enlisted him to cut and prepare meat when one of the chefs didn’t show up.
With tenured, French-inspired cooks in the kitchen, Seven Beef’s primary protein is sourced from Heritage Meats that is 100 percent grass-fed. Keeping to French preparations and classical steak house dishes, the restaurant has a small departure away from the traditional fare in the way of a Vietnamese twist with the Bo 7 Mon, or beef seven ways, which is a familiar meal served in old Saigon. For $35 per person, diners start with the beef salad, followed by six more courses including steamed ground beef with glass noodles and lime, beef sausage, lemongrass beef and congee.
Chef Emerick has delved into the menu creating familiar yet richly flavorful dishes of steak tartare and foie gras along with oysters with apple cider foam for a tantalizing and clean dish. A salad of grilled romaine is on the list: a fresh take on the Caesar while giving tribute to the wood ovens and char of the meat translated to the vegetables.
A must-have potatoes section can’t go unseen with the likes of five very unique potato plates. The burnt sweet potato is one that Banh says reminds him of street food in Saigon he used to eat as a child. Other potato renditions include frites, gratin au bleu with Roquefort and brandade.
Happy hour just started last week, held daily in the bar from 5-7 p.m., honoring the numeral of the restaurant with all the dishes and cocktails at $7 a piece. Classic cocktails like a Manhattan, Old Fashioned and a boilermaker are on the list, along with small plate noshes of roasted bone marrow and appropriately numbered seven oysters.
