Uptown Chow: Crow

Crow is a happening place. We assumed (wrongly) that we wouldn't need a reservation given that it was early for dinner, a Thursday night and everybody else would be watching the Sonics game. Killing time at Nabob, the stylish little bar next door, was just fine though I could have done with a little more compassion from the Crow hostess. Instead her reply to the 'how long do you think it will be?' query was neither encouraging nor discouraging. But before I could sip my gin and tonic to completion, we were saying goodbye to Nabob and had a spot at Crow's action-packed 'tasting bar.' Turns out, we didn't need her enthusiasm anyway (good thing!).

There are other places to sit in Crow, of course, but the tasting bar gives you a front row seat to the open kitchen. This allowed us to watch the crew perform -- which allowed K to say things like "You can tell she is in charge by the way she is standing" and me to ponder what percentage of entrees being prepared that night were the chicken (more than 25% so I ordered that :) ). It also allowed us to watch the chef pile a large BLOCK of butter on top of the slab of beef he was preparing. Secrets of tasty food revealed!

Our orders probably had some butter on top, too, because they were definitely tasty. K's pork, juicy and rich in flavor, was the champ of the evening though my chicken, as tender-in-the-middle and crispy-coated as it was, put up a good fight. The only missteps were the massive pile of green that is the house greens salad (probably enough greens here for 2 or 3 people - but you gotta give us something else to pick at in the salad besides leaves, please) and the chisel-requiring crust on the mocha chocolate pie. As K noted, the crust would have made a good shortbread cookie but it made a lousy crust.

The food was only a means to an end. Crow's experience is some sort of practical extravagance where the wine list is categorized into simple descriptions like 'creamy' or ‘powerful.' The tasting bar -- more than the food -- is Crow's 'thing' -- an open, busy rush of activity, with everything and everybody on display. "I wonder how much longer things like that will be 'in'," K asked as we examined the exposed ducts and timbers of the converted warehouse space. As long as they are, places like Crow will be 'in' too. Fine with me. I like to know how much butter is on my beef and, heck, I’m still a sucker of exposed duct work. It's all part of the show.

Crow Restaurant
823 Fifth Ave. N.
Date: Thursday May 12, 2005
Time: 6:30ish
Mood: Looking to splurge but 'keep it real'
Wine: a 'creamy' white
Starters: house greens salad, chilled potato soup
Entrees: pork loin, prosciutto-wrapped chicken
Dessert: mocha pie