Farewell Union. Hello Staple & Fancy Mercantile.
We are bidding a fond farewell to Union after seven years in downtown Seattle to open our new restaurant in Ballard: Staple & Fancy Mercantile. Union will serve its last dinner on Saturday May 29th.
We will begin posting a lot more info here on the blog about Staple & Fancy Mercantile and what you can expect from our new Ballard home. We are planning to open our doors in mid July.
In the meantime, we encourage you to leave stories and anecdotes about your experiences at Union in the comments area below. (Keep it clean!) And thanks to all our customers for seven great years. We look forward to seeing your familiar faces in Ballard later this summer. Ciao!
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I still remember the first time we went to Union, right after it opened, for the amazing unofficial 25 for $25 tasting menu. Everyone we knew was blown away by the quality of the food, even if the service took a little while to catch up.
I couldn’t begin to count the number of times we’ve been there for dinner over the years — Union has remained a sentimental favorite even after we left Seattle to return to San Francisco.
Even though we love all of Ethan’s new restaurants, it’s hard to believe we won’t ever be able to come back to the one that started it all. I wish we’d known sooner that you were closing so we could come up to say a proper goodbye in person.
Union was the first ‘nice’ restaurant where we were treated like regulars, and it will always have a place in our hearts. Best of luck with Staple & Fancy — we’ll be up later in the year to enjoy it in person.
My husband and I had our first date at Union, in November of 2006. We’ve gone the same time every year ever since to celebrate – as well as a few visits in between:) I’m very sad to see it go and we’ll definitely be in before the 29th!
Looking forward to one last hurrah at Union and the opening of Staple and Fancy Mercantile!
I have so many tasty memories of Union. Right after it opened, I enjoyed its fancy 3-course lunch and 8-course tasting menu for dinner. After the menu was revised later, I enjoyed a variety of dishes that I didn’t find elsewhere. My mother in Japan has been a big fan of Ethan ever since she had his chilled cucumber soup and asked us to take her to Union whenever she visited us from Japan. I am sad to see Union close, but I’m looking forward to the opening of Staple & Fancy Mercantile.
Oh so many memories and amazing times! Dayne and I have had the pleasure of many meals at Union. Sometimes they saved him by finding a spot on Valentine’s day even though he called 2 days before! Other times it was amazing food served to us at the comfortable bar. It was our haven during the Windstorm of 2006 and we all watched the guys try to lasso the hanging outside sign so it wouldn’t come through the window. Cooks and Books events, Charity Sunday cook offs! And last December my amazing birthday dinner for 13 at the favorite kitchen pass table with course after course of some of the best food I’ve ever had. Union will be missed but obviously fondly remembered. And Ballard welcomes what will sure to be another fabulous ES restaurant. All our best to you and your teams!!
Bree and I had our first date at Union. We met at the Library and walked to Union for happy hour. We sat at the bar and were served by the best bartender in Seattle. We slurped beautiful oysters, drank pink bubbles, got to know eachother, ate steak tartare and started to fall in love.
We’ve been to Union a million times since then – and continued to be served by the best bartender in Seattle, eat oysters and fall in love. Thank you to Ethan, Angela and the entire crew at Union. We will miss you – but can’t wait for our first date at the new place!
I think my favorite memories of Union has to be the ‘theme’ dinners at the chef’s table in front of the pass. Standouts were the copper river salmon dinner, the mushroom dinner, and the game dinner. A lot of those flavors still live on in my tastebud’s memory cells!
Best of luck with all future ventures!
So many memories – where to begin. Obviously that first ‘Take That 25 for $25!’ dinner was where my love for Union began. Paul and I have spent so many nights at Union that it feels like home to me. I even feel the need to wipe down the restroom when I leave! In no particular order:
-Leaving the gang in the bar while running up to the Showbox to see a show. Coming back after 2 hours and being asked ‘are you back already?’
-Union TV. Specifically the drunk #$%* who picked a fight with the bouncers from the Showbox.
-Karaoke
-The Tony Bourdain dinner. Oh, and the Marco Pierre White dinner. ’nuff said.
-Ethan Evans asking Paul ‘wtf?’ after he caught him checking out the dishes.
-The best seafood in town. Hands down.
-Wow. How many cook-offs? I haven’t made chili or lasagna since the last ones!
-Food that has made me swoon. I’m looking forward to Staple & Fancy but, to paraphrase Casablanca, we’ll always have Union.
John and I had our very first date at Union on August 27th, 2007. We have always had fabulous meals and memories at Union, and as the name implies, that’s just what became of us! Almost 2 years to the day of our first date, we were married! It even made mention in our “how we met” video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8uBdTQa6Ik
Thank you Ethan and staff, for providing Seattle with such an extraordinary establishment. We are sad to see it go; however, we look forward to your next adventure in Ballard!
Susie and John Lane
I’m so sad to hear this. Danny and I had our second date at a wine tasting across the street from Union, on the first warm spring day of 2006. We talked and laughed and tasted wines, and then he kissed me.
And then we ran across the street to Union and ate dinner. Danny put his hand on my knee and the food tasted even better. He tells me that I had my first pork belly that night. I don’t remember (you know, hand on knee). But we’ve always loved Union since.
Union and all of the wonderful people who have worked there, created some of the best food and drink memories of my life. It made a love of all things good and delicious bloom. Union, more than any other place planted the seed that maybe I needed to be on the other side of the bar. Among countless fantastic meals – including one week where I went every night, great drinks, lots of late nights, and the best company, the special Sunday dinners, the cookoffs, and the opportunity to share my love of Union with so many visitors to our city no other restaurant will occupy a place in my heart like Union. It was my living room, Union TV my entertainment, and the staff my friends. I’m left to wonder where I’m going to send people on Monday nights now, it was always so easy just to point down the street and say, get thee to Union. I look forward to Fancy and Staple Mercantile, but I’ll always treasure Union.
We’ve always brought friends from out of town whom we wanted to impress, especially foodies from San Francisco, to Union. One best memory is seeing Andre Watts there after a concert. I’m sure he’s not the only celebrity who played Benaroya who will miss having Union to go to after a concert.
Please bring back the spaghetti (fresh pasta, little bits of cauliflower, and lots of anchovy) somewhere else!!
We are so sad to bid farewell to Union! It was the site of our first dates, and last year, it was where we got engaged. We had hoped to celebrate many more special occasions at Union, but I guess tonight will be our last meal there! Best of luck to Ethan and to all of the wonderful staff with whom we’ve shared so many happy moments over the last three years.
I don’t know why I didn’t know, but “I didn’t know Union was closing”. I still remember the first time I dined at Union, I still have the tasing menu that a took, without asking, sorry Angela & Ethan.
I have fond memories of dining at union with either my husband or in a group with friends…what a great time feasting!!!
I love all the Stowell restaurants. As a matter of fact I was at Tavolata last night.
Good luck with the new Stowell Baby. Can’t wait to meet Staple & Fancy Mercantile! xoxo, G
Union has been great to have as a vibrant part of the downtown scene, it will be missed.
The last happy hour food served on 5/29? That would be the tasty spaghetti I just enjoyed! Thanks for the years of amazing food and excellent cocktails.
What will happen to the great art–especially the Horse piece?
I sat at the bar with my date and we met Avel, the bartender. He said, “and if you don’t remember my name…Avel!” I’ve never forgotten his name. (We later ran into him on Bainbridge Is. at Four Swallows!)
Also, I went twice with my father before the symphony. One meal, I had braised rabbit for the first time. The second time, we were offered a taste of the soup that evening. In the bottom were the most perfectly chiffonade potatotes, so small, so square.
Thanks, Union for the great experiences!
With this closing, the best of all the excellent dining options near Benaroya Hall is gone. Ballard is all very well, but what am I going to do before a Seattle Symphony concert? A year or so back, I took a visiting German conductor to dinner at Union, and when the main dish arrived, he said, “Oh, what a pleasure to see European portions!” The sensible size of servings was only one virtue. What’s happening to Hans and all the other wonderful staff members, including the charming waiter with a sort of top-know whose name I’m ashamed to confess I can’t remember?
Ah well, I look forward to good meals at all of Chef Stowell’s other great places.
I’m extremely upset to hear that Union is closed. My boyfriend and I go out together every Friday night and Union was my favorite place. We only went there once but we were won over by the sexy atmosphere, superior service and outstanding cuisine. He is fishing in Alaska until September and we wanted to have our first date at Union when he returns. So, I’m disappointed. We will just have to try one of your other restaurants. We will not forget our date there that night!
I work at the Triple Door just up the street and Union had become one of our regular after work spots to have some delicious cocktails or wine and snacks. It was nice to be able to sit down in a very comfortable place that was so close to us after work and decompress with Ethan’s food. You will be sorely missed by the staff at Wild Ginger and the Triple Door and you can count on us making the commute to Ballard for the new spot. Cheers!
I brought my family to the “last supper” served at Union. I also wrote about that experience on my own food and wine blog and you may read about that night’s experience here:
http://www.fortheloveofport.com/roys-blog/the-end-of-a-union
I can’t wait for Staple & Fancy. I hope to see some familiar faces over there too!
Best of luck to Ethan and the gang.
Roy Hersh
http://www.fortheloveofport.com
Thank you, Union for introducing my husband to pig snout. Priceless adventure for a man of predictable and bland taste buds. That is a dinner story to be retold many times over.
My wife and I enjoyed a great last spring dinner a few years back. We’re originally from the East coast so my wife was stoked when she saw Soft Shell Crabs on the menu. I enjoyed I remember ordering the Squab w foie gras for an appetizer and loving it so much we ordered it for dessert! We’ll look forward to enjoying more fine meals at your new place in Ballard.
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