Relish: Black Bottle

This week Seattlest was nosing around on eGullet looking for new restaurant ideas, when we came across a post about Black Bottle in Belltown. We were intrigued by the term "gastro-tavern" and were even more intrigued by the $7-$8 pricing on all plates.

Black Bottle took over the old Two Dagos from Texas space on the corner of First and Vine. Even though we knew it had been remodeled, we were still shocked when we saw the place. Seattlest could hardly find traces of the previous tenant (a good thing). The space was divided into a long, skinny room with an exposed brick wall and bright, large picture windows at the front. Everything was sleek and modern (in a friendly and accessible way), from the custom-made tables and bar to the deconstructed lighting. But of course the biggest difference was that the place was actually clean.

There were a few open tables, but Seattlest sat at the bar where we met the friendly and very competent bartender, Ed. Seattlest immediately took a strong liking to Ed since he not only made tasty drinks, but he also politely put up with our incessant questions about the restaurant. The bar offers a beautiful selection of wines, but Seattlest prefers a cocktail. Our eyes lit up when we saw they carried Hendrick's Gin (big bonus points), but the couple who ordered before us polished off the last bottle. Damn!

The brief but interesting menu was divided up into sections of seafood, meats, flatbreads, veggies and desserts. The fact that all dinner plates were $8, deeply satisfied our obsessive-compulsive nature. All desserts were listed at $7. The Links & Rocket ($8) caught our attention first. Mostly because we think it's sexy when people call arugula "rocket". Links & Rocket was admittedly one of the tamer dishes on the menu, but Seattlest was really craving sausages. The plate came with three beautiful links from CasCioppo Brothers. The first was an andouille and was hands down the best andouille Seattlest has ever tasted. Granted, we're not particularly found of andouille, but this one was absent of that musty, dirty taste we dislike. The hot Italian sausage (pork) was good, but the surprise favorite was the chicken with sun dried tomato and basil. It was so juicy and flavorful that Seattlest had a hard time believing it was actually chicken. The sausages were coated in a nice, whole-seed mustard--not too hot and not too sweet. On the side was an absolutely beautiful handful of rocket. We're not the type to get excited about greens, but we couldn't help it; the spicy, young, tender arugula went perfectly with the links. The salad was dotted with addictive, candied walnuts--and they weren't your typical sugar-coated nuts. It was like they were dry-roasted with brown sugar. They had a great crunch but also a powdery coating with just a just a touch of sweetness.