Joshua Jones
Staple and Fancy Mercantile is not your typical Italian restaurant! You will never know what is coming. Staple and Fancy Mercantile is a rustic, industrial-era inspired designed restaurant owned by Ethan Stowell (they also own 3 other restaurants; How to Cook a Wolf, Tavolàta, and Anchovies & Olives). The atmosphere of the restaurant is very industrial with an open space like a loft. It is located right in the old Ballard neighborhood. This restaurant is easily overlooked, as it is identified only by a small sign outside. You would have to look a little harder to find this restaurant. 
My partner and I ordered the four course menu, which was determined by the chef what dishes they wanted to prepare for us. We received seven dishes for our first course. We had bruschetta with fresh mozzarella, pickled red onion and chives; sugar snap peas in anchovy sauce; prosciutto; a cold salad of chickpeas and squid; fried oysters with a chili aioli; buffalo mozzarella with greens; and white fish crudo. The bruschetta was a little hard to bite, yet chewy at same time but I liked the flavors. I was blown away with how delicious fried oysters are. They melted in my mouth! I also loved the way they made a cold salad of chickpeas and squid. I thought buffalo mozzarella with greens was a somehow dull dish with very little flavor
Moving on to the second course, we only got one dish unlike the first course. We had ravioli with smoked white fish inside and brown butter sauce on it. That dish also had capers. This dish is a true Italian dish because of well cooked the ravioli was, along with its flavor. I enjoyed this meal because I haven't had authentic Italian ravioli for long time.
We received the third course, pork loin chop with sweet onion puree, Yukon gold potatoes, and fried artichokes. I was very impressed with the way they cooked this pork loin chop. It tasted very tender and I was able to taste the seasoning. I really enjoyed this meat. The potatoes are also really good and it complements the meat very well. This third course is my favorite dish out of four courses.
The last and fourth course, we had a fresh baked brownie with peanut gelato and brittle on it. It was pretty good but I am disappointed because it is not really an Italian dessert. I was expecting something traditional Italian dessert with a modern twist or two.
Staple and Fancy Mercantile has wonderful servers and they were very attentive to us and always made sure we get informed about our dishes and get what we need. This restaurant is great place for a romantic dinner or meeting friends for drinks with Italian dishes. One thing to keep in mind - their four courses special changes very often so you will never know what you will get when you go there. I would give this restaurant three and a half stars. They could get a better score if they improve their dessert dishes choices. Check them out at Staple and Fancy Mercantile!
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