Wright Eats

Tilth has been the media darling of late, ever since New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni named it one of the top 10 best new restaurants in the country several weeks back.

It’s been a long while since we’ve been there.  We went a number of times within the first couple months when they opened in 2006.  We followed Maria’s progress opening the place after she left Earth and Ocean, and she’s really got a great thing going.  The food is outstanding, and almost completely organic, a direction that I hope more restaurants will take.  We like the small/large options for each item on the menu, which gives us a chance to try a number of different smaller plates.  And the food is seasonal and delicious.

You may be wondering why we’ve been away for so long.  It’s not at all about the food, which we love.  We just seemed to have a knack for not having great service whenever we dined.  One time, we went with friends.  After we sat down, the server came over and asked if we had been there before.  We said yes and we’re ready to order.  Apparently not hearing us, she proceeded to explain, “well here’s how the menu works…”  Very bubbly, and clearly excited about working at Tilth, she then went on for several minutes explaining how great the restaurant is and how lucky the staff is to work there.  Finally, she did take our order.  This strange interaction might not have been a big deal, if she hadn’t practically disappeared for most of the remaining meal.  Dishes were served without utensils, and we struggled to flag someone down to bring us forks so we could eat.  More than one experience like this left us not too excited to return.

But most people we’ve spoken with have had great service at Tilth, so I thought perhaps we were unlucky and experiencing the growing pains of a new restaurant.  After reading Bruni’s glowing review (which interestingly did allude to some similar service issues), we thought it was time to give another try.

We went earlier this month, and the food was even better than I remembered.  The duck Proscuitto was outstanding.  We also enjoyed a root vegetable salad, melt-in-your-mouth Albacore Tuna, a delicious squash risotto, and of course the Mini Duck Burgers.  I think the jury’s still out on the service, however.  There was one point in the meal where multiple servers made us feel downright uncomfortable when we asked a question about a dish.

I do want to go back for brunch.  We went three or four times when they first started serving brunch.  Usually we were the only table in an empty restaurant, since the word hadn’t gotten out yet about brunch.  Everything was amazing, although the portions were fairly small (at least in the beginning – I don’t know about now).  But when you’ve got top-notch ingredients and a chef like Maria, the quality more than makes up for it.  I hear that brunch is now just as packed as the most popular brunch spots in Seattle, so reservations are recommended.

Tilth
1411 N. 45th St, Seattle
(206) 633-0801

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 12:01 pm and is filed under Brunch, Restaurants.