Marché (Seattle)

Several months ago one of Seattle’s premier fine dining restaurants, Campagne, transformed itself into Marché, a more casual bistro and wine bar.  Ownership also changed, however, Daisley Gordon who’s been the executive chef at Campagne (and at Café Campagne, which remains unchanged) is still in charge of the kitchen and, in fact, is the new owner.

I owed a friend a birthday Happy Hour and we decided that Marché was the place for it.  I’d been hoping the weather would be nice enough to enjoy their courtyard seating but no such luck.  The day was gray and a little on the cool side so we opted to sit inside in the bar area, which is a really cozy space.  It’s so cozy it actually makes me look forward to our dreary winters and spending a little time here.  We chose one of the few tables by the window so we could watch the activity of Post Alley.

After we’d selected Marché as our meeting spot Amazon Local ran a special for wine flights and small plates, which I purchased.  We looked at all the menus and decided to go with the Amazon special which gave us each a flight of three wines and a choice of three small plates to share.  I’m not sure if you can order this combination without the Amazon special.  I didn’t see it listed anywhere, yet the menus they gave us to work from seemed like they’d be available for all.  Either way they have a nice little Happy Hour menu, as well as a moderately priced main menu.  And, because they offer many of their wines in 1 oz, 3 oz or 5 oz pours you can create your own flights at any time.

Kathie and I selected the wines for our flights and then settled in to sip them while waiting for the food to arrive.  I chose a white, a rosé and a red, while Kathie chose three reds.  It was fun to sample the wines and, as our small plates arrived, to see how they changed with the different foods. It was a lot like being at one of our recently terminated wine club gatherings.

We had one small mix-up with the food – there’d been a recent menu change that our server was not aware of and we received a substitution for one of the items we’d ordered. But I loved that our server acknowledged the issue as the order arrived (we did not have to call it to his attention) and he scurried to take our replacement order and get it out to the table quickly.

For our small plates we ordered the Salade Verte, Omelette ‘Cigar’ au Saumon, and, after discussion with our server, the Mussel Salad. Our “bonus” dish, the one we did not order, was the fried Duck Gizzards.

The Brique Agour cheese and hazelnut oil gracing the Salad Verte elevated it to a sophisticated starter. The omelette was light, perfectly cooked and complemented by the smoked salmon – which can sometimes be too rich for eggs. I’m so glad we talked to our server about the Mussel Salad – delicious! A light curry sauce and lots of vegetables made this a perfect summer salad. Even the duck gizzards were good. They were silky and cooked just until tender.

Since it was Kathie’s birthday celebration I decided we needed to finish with a dessert. Chocolate Mousse with Chantilly Cream (and a shortbread cookie) seemed to fit the bill, although we were both a little too full to fully appreciate it.

Marché is a little hidden in the courtyard of the Inn at the Market but easy to get to once you figure it out.  If you work downtown or are visiting Pike Place Market give it a try.  On a nice day the courtyard should be wonderful.  On a not-so-nice day the cozy interior will provide respite from the gray and cold.

Marché
86 Pine St
Pike Place Market
Seattle
206.728.2800