The Room
Ethan Stowell opened Anchovies & Olives on 15th Avenue in 2009 — the third Stowell-group restaurant after Tavolata and How to Cook a Wolf, dedicated to the proposition that Capitol Hill needed a working Italian-seafood dining room with a late-night bar. The format is intentionally relaxed — a long bar at the front, communal tables along the western wall, an open kitchen.
The Seattle Times review held Anchovies & Olives among the year's best new restaurants in 2010. The format is intentionally non-fine-dining but the kitchen runs at the level the Stowell-group requires.
The Food
The seafood programme runs Italian-leaning — crudo, octopus a la plancha, the wood-grilled whole-fish — alongside a working pasta programme. The seasonal-rotating Italian-seafood plates and the late-night bar menu handle the menu's wider draws.
Wine programme runs Italian-and-natural-leaning. Cocktail bench is aperitivi-led. Service is the Stowell-group standard.
Best Occasion Fit
First Date: The bar at Anchovies & Olives is one of Capitol Hill's most-reliable casual first-date seats. The crudo programme is the natural opener, the cocktail bench is the second move.
Solo Dining: The bar at Anchovies & Olives is one of the better Capitol Hill solo-dining seats — the bar runs late and the menu fills the meal.
Birthday: Birthdays at Anchovies & Olives are warm, Italian-seafood-led, late-night-friendly affairs the room handles with sixteen years of practice.