In a metropolitan restaurant environment that is constantly seeking novel marvels both in design and on the plate, there is repose found in the cozy, somewhat-suburban feel of Seattle’s new Gather Kitchen + Bar. It might even be intentional that the new restaurant is tucked back into “Old Ballard” — a few blocks north of the competitive, cobblestone restaurant street of Ballard Avenue — in the recently opened Ballard Commons complex. Soft wood features line the walls that subway tile does not cover, bordering the mid-sized dining room occupied by modest tables and a double-sided wall of booths in the center.
On a recent visit, the TV played Thursday night football above a simple liquor selection on the wall of the bar and the room was filled less with plaided 20-somethings sipping barrel-aged tumblers but Gen Xers with tall orders of wine. And possibly my personal favorite, non-culinary note of the night was chef/owner Ryan Donaldson and his sous chef outfitted in sweatshirts and sneakers in the semi-open kitchen, cooking up plates to nourish, comfort and gather around.
Gather comes to Seattle courtesy of Donaldson, the palate behind Redmond’s popular The Stone House, an upscale eatery focused on elevated Northwest cuisine. Gather practices a similar mantra on its shareable menu but with an updated, global appeal to the new city location.
Take the fried cauliflower: a concept seen on many menus, this rendition lightly breads cauliflower and generously douses it in Uncle Chen’s buffalo sauce, served alongside house-made pickles and a foamy blue cheese mousse. Loaded with flavor, the crunch of breading meets its textural match with the dense, just-cooked meat of the malleable vegetable. I could have used a few more dollops of that savory blue cheese mousse but this dish alone is worth returning for. Try not to look at the big, beautiful cephalopod painted above the kitchen’s raw bar when ordering the patatas brava and grilled octopus, a tentacle-touting plate of potatoes, chorizo and Castelvetrano olives that might have been the standout for me. When all four of those powers were combined, the balance of the unctuous, salty bite was hard to top.
Larger plates include other seemingly perennial PNW shareables like the vegetarian crispy polenta and the braised duck leg —flavorful standard dishes both accompanied with broccolini — but for me, the champion of this section was the Alaska weathervane scallops. Plural, a denotation that can often disappoint with just two, the apple-fennel slaw was topped with three weighty scallops, seared soundly in butter and placed next to a meaty co-star, Thai caramel-drizzled pork belly that was plump with more meat than fat.
The wine list leans more Euro than Northwest but remains approachable with selections from Tuscany, Rioja and Bordeaux, with a little more local love given to the beer and cider like Bellevue Brewing Co. and Finnriver Farm & Cidery. House cocktails are also welcoming, most averaging just four or five ingredients of familiar names. Matching some of the Spanish flavors featured on the menu, the Velo de Flor is the most “complex” option on the menu yet produces a salty and friendly drink of Fino sherry, simple syrup, lemon juice and egg white topped with nutmeg.
Grown-up and subtle, Gather maintains its global cuisine mindset with thoughtful, intriguing dishes that might be served in a suburban environ but are far from pedestrian in flavors.
