Seattle Mag: 7 restaurants that define Seattle dining now
The Walrus and the Carpenter - Ballard
Credit: Seattle Mag / Haley Young
Oyster chic and small plate stand-outs. If there is one thing we know is better in Seattle than anywhere else in the country, it’s oysters. And though we have long had outstanding oyster service, no one had yet created as perfect a frame for Puget Sound bivalves as Renee Erickson (along with co-owners Jeremy Price and Chad Dale) has with The Walrus and the Carpenter, where the oysters are gathered by the bushel into icy wire baskets on the bar. Light and airy, with a hint of midcentury French industry, the Walrus is a raucous gathering place, a cocktail joint par excellence and, oh yes, a place to down local oysters like you’ve never done before. Enjoy the icy shellfish, but don’t overlook the various small plates that cluster around you—spry garden greens, a perfectly appointed hunk of Vashon cheese and spicy prawns that stain your fingers brick red as you pry off the shells.
File under: Garrulous atmosphere, Francophilia, extreme local scene, chic décor, Frank Bruni.
See also: Elliott’s, Anchovies and Olives, Le Pichet, How to Cook a Wolf, Blind Pig Bistro, Ocho
