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Most restaurants give you fairly obvious visual clues about what to expect from their food. Picnic tables, paper napkins, and a cooler full of self-serve tap water mean you’re probably about to experience some barbecue. White tablecloths, quiet piano music, and champagne buckets on standby mean you’re in for something classier.
Copine, a new restaurant in a quiet part of Ballard, sends mixed signals. The space may briefly make you think you’ve stepped into a design firm’s Powerpoint slide for the word “minimalist.” But while the exposed wood and lack of white tablecloths make it feel somewhat low-key, you’re actually in for a pretty serious fine dining experience here.
Copine serves fancy food that just plain tastes great, with a twist or two in every dish to keep things interesting. There’s some old-fashioned roasted chicken served with vanilla-scented parsnip puree, salsify chips, and crispy spaetzle on the side, and the risotto with black truffles has a parmesan mousse on top. Our favorite thing here is the pork belly, which, paired with maple bourbon sauce, apricot compote, and shaved celery, tastes surprisingly refreshing.
photo credit: Rafael Soldi
It’s not just the flavors and the cooking techniques that are impressive. Every dish also looks like it’s part of an art student’s final thesis installation: colorful and very precisely put together. The homemade English pea agnolotti we tried was arranged like a miniature sculpture garden with peas and mushrooms placed carefully among the pieces of pasta. The steak comes with artistic swirls of bordelaise sauce, and a chocolate cherry bombe dessert looks like it’s been garnished with tweezers. (In a good way.)
You can’t go wrong with your order here, as long as you don’t forget to order an Old Fashioned garnished with house-smoked cherries, too. Service is unpretentious as well as generous - you can expect at least one amuse bouche, and you’ll even get a smooth white stone to place underneath your steak knife, contributing to the overall impression that this place has put a lot of thought into everything.
The only drawback here is that you really are paying for the whole surprisingly upscale experience. So think of Copine as a spot for a nice date, or maybe dinner with your parents. It’s not the kind of place where your waiter will be wearing a tux or you’ll be sitting in a velvet booth, but it’s still one of the best meals you can have in Seattle right now.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Rafael Soldi
Citrus-Cured Salmon Tempura
photo credit: Rafael Soldi
Challah Roll
Slow Poached Egg
Carnaroli Risotto
House Smoked Pork Belly
photo credit: Rafael Soldi