TheTripChick's Reviews

Good, but no need to go back again soon

After reading the mixed reviews, a friend and I tried How to Cook a Wolf this evening for the first time. While it was overall a good experience, I don't see myself returning anytime soon when there are truly so many other amazing establishments in the Seattle area. We arrived at about 5:15PM on a Friday evening and got the last table (two of us at a four-top). We each ordered wine by the glass from our friendly and laid-back server. We let him know it was our first time dining there, and he let us know about the small plates and mentioned that most twosomes generally order about three small plates and one pasta to split. We decided on our appetizers: fried almonds, chickpea salad and seared sea scallops; then our pasta: pappardelle with an almond pesto. The wine arrived with crusty bread and about a half-cup of olive oil for dredging (seriously, too much!). The bread looked fine, but my dining mate mentioned that it would have been nice if they'd sliced each slice all the way through (he ended up having to tear through the bread and ended up, despite his best efforts, inadvertently mangling the entire five-slice hunk). The first plate to arrive was the fried almonds. I may be a complete plebe, but they looked and tasted just like the Marcona almonds currently available at Trader Joe's. Good, but no bargain at $5. for a small portion. Next came the chickpea salad. The salad combined chickpeas, celery, parsley and golden raisins in a wonderful lemon dressing that just woke up my mouth with its bright, vibrant flavor. I was so enjoying the salad that I even ate the celery (I don't prefer celery, but that's a story for another day). I could have happily sopped up all the dressing with the crusty bread, had I been able to pull off a chunk. The seared sea scallops arrived next and looked good, but a little bland in the presentation. Two scallops, nicely browned on top, atop a smear of white bean puree, all on a white plate. No arugula or other greenery to break up the whiteness of being. We each speared our scallop and dug in...delicious, nicely salty. Again, a bit of greens would have been a great foil for the dish. Finally, the pappardelle is presented. Oh boy...I am a huge cheese fan (nut, raving lunatic, whatever) but I must admit, I was a bit intimidated by the sheer volume of the freshly grated Parmesan topping the pasta. However, after each of us had taken a portion and began eating, the Parmesan magically melted into the papardelle and added just a hint of gooey goodness. The almond pesto was light on the almond and heavy on the pesto; it had a wonderful, earthy green flavor. The lightness of the sauce perfectly complemented the chewy heartiness of the pappardelle pasta. We looked at the dessert menu and (again, plebe here) after recognizing nothing even remotely resembling a dessert item (Tomato jam? Might be amazing, but ugh), decided to pass. All in all, it was a good meal and I'd still like to try Tavolata, but I really don't see myself having a hankering to come back to How to Cook a Wolf anytime soon.

Reviewed on: June 07, 2008