5 minute read
A SEAT AT THE TABLE
From burgers made with the best wagyu beef to twists on Italian classics made with Pacific Northwest ingredients, Tavolàta’s menu appeals to a wide audience. PHOTO COURTESY OF ESR RESTAURANTS.
Tavolàta’s Ethan Stowell
By April Neale
Ethan Stowell’s personal history is shaping his growing restaurant empire. The Seattle chef and restaurateur draws upon his childhood memories and appreciation for breaking bread with loved ones as a business model that has now touched Boise. Used to describe the gathering around a table that happens when people get together to cook, dine, and enjoy time together, the Italian word, “tavolata” encapsulates Stowell’s approach to food, hiring, and empowering a family of employees who follow his lead.
It’s something they repeat a lot within the business because, as Stowell says, the world’s a better place when people gather around the table. In his own home, he fondly remembers doing the same. “I grew up in a household where we had an organized dinner every night at the dinner table. My parents were artists, and they worked at the theater at night. But they’d come home, make dinner, go back to work, but we still had dinner as a family, with us three boys. Often, It was chaotic and sometimes very fast. But it was still a thing we did,” he explained.
It made an impact on Stowell, who emphasized the value of gathering, talking, and putting down the cell phone, a practice he says is done well in European countries, where lunch is often the main meal, followed by a lighter and later dinner. “Still, gathering at a table, enjoying conversation, and talking to each other is hugely important,” he said.
To see how Tavolàta and other Ethan Stowell Restaurants have grown is to understand that this devotion to creating a convivial dining experience is no accident. His staff is selected carefully, and his Tavolàta concept is a curated trattoria-style restaurant that hangs its hat on shared platters and plates, generous daily happy hour specials, shareable fresh pasta, and uniquely rustic Italian plates that benefit from the wealth of Pacific Northwest ingredients. That perfect storm of beautifully wrought interiors that welcome and encourage this shared table ethos with their addictive menu and generous plating and service is something Stowell knows is the key to creating neighborhood spots that are standing room only with reserved tables for weeks out a time.
If you have experienced Tavolàta, you know what he’s all about. Stowell’s path to culinary life was finding his people in the kitchen, where their energy and passion got to him, bypassing a traditional cooking school to a craft learned on the job.
“The first thing [about cooking] was the people. You have many creative, fun, energetic, and intelligent people in the restaurant industry. And maybe not everyone wanted to go to grad school, business school, or whatever it may be. But they enjoy working with their hands, the craft, the art of cooking, and the experience and joy of feeding people,” Stowell said.
For him, the variety of people he interacts with is fascinating. He explained that his home was more reserved and proper, and he went to Catholic school. When he entered the restaurant world, Stowell said he enjoyed the diversity of people, personalities, and characters. “Some of them were in it for the restaurant industry, cooking, or food and service. Some were in it because they wanted to grow their knowledge and the educational aspect of wine and make a career out of it. Some of them were in school or were actors and singers, and some of them were artists. They all had different paths, and everybody had their own story, which was very different from most people I had grown up around,” he said.
Stowell explained that this melting pot—people from different walks of life with different desires, all working toward the same goal—was the key for him, and actually, the food was pretty far down the list.
The people part of the equation can’t be learned, but a good student can master the meal, and Stowell was ready.
“I enjoyed working with my hands, and I liked the craft of cooking because you can always learn more about food products, cooking techniques, different cultures, how they interact with food, and how important it is in their lives. The when, what, and how they eat, because you can never know it all,” he said.
Stowell was effusive about the cuisine of Italy and how the breadth of that country’s culinary influences ranks the highest for his favorite cuisine to explore, citing the breadth of cultural influences, vastly different growing conditions, and—of course— the wines, which he describes as super big and juicy (southern) and reserved, tight, and elegant (northern).
“I feel very comfortable with Italian food, and it’s my favorite. I think of cooking as a craft, but the art form is combining flavors and making it uniquely your own,” Stowell explained. “There’s a wide range of avenues to go with Italian food, and for what I cook, that makes me happier.”
