Seattle’s most exclusive new restaurant features just 4 tables, $300 price tag

Noted Seattle restaurateur Ethan Stowell has become a big deal around town with his eclectic and acclaimed eateries. But one of his newest creations could just be the smallest and most expensive restaurant in town.

Stowell tells the Morning News on KIRO Radio he plans to open a new restaurant next spring with just four tables.

“I will admit it is going to be expensive,” he says of Noyer, what he calls an “ambitious ode to the very best the Northwest can offer.”

“It’s not meant to be exclusive or to be snobby at all. It’s meant to (be) a restaurant where you can go and get every single bit of the most high end, expensive stuff from the Northwest all in one meal.”

Stowell says the ever changing menu will feature such delicacies as Oysters, geoduck, Dungeness Crab, Fois Gras and plenty of other locally-sourced food. He figures dinner will run about $300 per person with wine pairing throughout the multi-course meal.

Stowell says it’s not meant to be a place you frequent, rather a destination for special occasions. Even he admits he couldn’t afford to eat there all the time.

“It’s meant to be the place you go on your 25th wedding anniversary,” he says.

One of the challenges will be providing the ultimate dining experience in such a small space without smothering diners.

“I think we need to have professional service that’s there when they want us and not there when they don’t.”

It’s ambitious, but Stowell says there’s plenty of room for a showcase of the best of the Northwest amidst the city’s ever growing and richly diverse restaurant scene.

So what’s next, a restaurant in his own house? Probably not.

“My wife’s pushing back on that a little bit,” he laughs.