1054 north 39th street
Seattle, WA - 98103
206.282.0942
In the gamut of dining experiences, I summarize success and failure by one simple criterion: whether I will or will not come back. The service may be lousy, the seating cramped, or the portions minuscule, but if I’m ultimately willing to return to any given establishment, then it earns a degree of credibility in my book. Come back or don’t; eating out is as simple as that…usually.
There is another classification, however, reserved for the rare and inspiring meal that transcends ordinary hopes and expectations. Such a meal does more than hook you; it scrambles your dining dogma. As with other fine things, great food makes you wonder why people bother with anything less. This was my reaction to the feast I had at Art of the Table in Wallingford, where I enjoyed not only the most outstanding cuisine I have ever tasted in Seattle, but also a nonpareil environment that challenged my ideas about food and dining.
The concept behind Art of the Table is simple enough - serve mind-blowing food at a communal table and allow the evening to follow its own organic trajectory – but the effect is remarkable. Nestled inconspicuously on a skewed block of 39th street between Aurora and Stone, a trip to Art of the Table could just as easily be a trip to a friend’s house. Instead of ordering, eating, and conversing within the bubble of my own table and comrades, I sat next to and across from other patrons – strangers who, through the grace and rapport of sharing a meal, became companions by the evening’s close.
Art of the Table is the creation of Chef Dustin Ronspies, a 33-year-old Florida native with a stout work ethic and a masterful control of flavor and presentation. Wielding a youthful energy and unmistakable enthusiasm for his work, Ronspies is utterly likeable – the kind of guy you root for in a romantic comedy or a televised game show. His attitudes toward food and cooking are demonstrative of his passion for both and the path that he has taken to get to where he is now. In 1996, while working as a delivery driver for a small family restaurant in southern Florida, Ronspies was serendipitously promoted when the kitchen manager was tossed in the clink for a DUI. The owner – bereft of culinary skills and aware of Ronspies’ own prior cooking experience – beseeched him to fill in temporarily. When the kitchen manager never showed up again, Ronspies took over full time and fell in love with being a chef. With encouragement from his father, Ronspies attended the Florida Culinary Institute. After graduating at the top of his class, Ronspies spent several years cooking in the service of the world’s richest people, in castles and hot air balloons, traveling and exploring as he nurtured his own sensibilities about food and eating.
“When I was in Europe I sat at tables and ate and ate, and people had no idea who you were, you couldn’t understand them because they didn’t speak your language, but they communicated through food,” said Ronspies. “That’s why we live. People are there to enjoy a communal dinner, to enjoy what they have around them, celebrate the bounties of what their countries or fields produced. It’s not fun to eat alone, you know?”
Since its opening in early June, Art of the Table has hosted the Weekend Supper Club, a fixed price, fixed menu dinner served on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays by reservation only. The meal is $48 per person, with an optional (and exquisitely chosen) drink flight for an extra $30. Each week, Ronspies conceives a new menu with a unique theme, which may be set around a region (such as Argentina or Northern Italy), a type of cuisine (such as ‘Bounties of the Sea’, or the upcoming ‘Four Courses in Corn’), or simply an idea (such as the recent ‘Trip to the Farmers Market’ and ‘Foraged and Found – Where the Wild Things Grow’). Aside from the food, photographs and other décor pertinent to the current theme highlight the aesthetic of the restaurant’s interior.
I was fortunate enough to partake in a menu ‘From the Spanish Table,’ which was flawless in taste and execution. From the first course (a wonderfully textured gazpacho with Dungeness crab salad), to the dessert (an impossibly delicious orange flan paired with an Alameda cream sherry), every dish was a home run. Other courses included tapas (featuring authentic Spanish meats and cheeses), and a thoughtfully crafted monkfish with clams in a burnt garlic sauce.
Ronspies does more than just cook; he presents each course with a flourish of intrigue and insight into its origins and cultural significance, and invites patrons to join him in the kitchen as he composes each dish. The atmosphere is warm and jubilant, with a hint of adventure; there is a palpable excitement of discovering new fare and new faces.
“We’ve come such a long way from being hunter-gatherers and eating something that we find on the ground and put in our mouths to live, to now, food is something that defines cultures and breaks down barriers,” said Ronspies.
In addition to the Weekend Supper Club, Art of the Table is now open for Happy Mondays, a smorgasbord of small plates and drinks (in the $5-10 range) to appease the appetite and soothe the soul starting at 5 pm (no reservation required). Changing each week, dishes such as trout and scallop sandwiches and ginger-lemongrass ice cream exhibit Ronspies’ creativity, while others, such as lamb meatballs with spicy pepper salad, showcase his proficiency with standards.
Ronspies is a firm believer that there is no singular ‘best’ recipe for any given dish. Instead, he emphasizes the individuality expressed in one’s cooking.
“It comes from the individual,” he says. “You’re experiencing someone’s personality through food.”
Indeed, Art of the Table exudes an amazing amount in personality. From the culinary artistry to the company you share it with, each meal has a character of its own. It is an experience not to be missed, which is why you can bet that I’ll be coming back.
