Go Eat! Art of the Table
He quietly opened a tiny restaurant in Wallingford last June - with loads of talent and passion - but absolutely no reputation. Yet somehow, Dustin Ronspies' "Art of the Table" has become a hit with Seattle diners.
"We've had people that have been in here 20 or 30 times," says Dustin.
The sliver of a dining room is located just off Stone Way and seats less than 2 dozen people, which gives it a definite "dinner party" feel.
"7:30, supper starts and everything gets plated up -- none of it's family style. So, everybody gets their individual plate."
Dustin literally docked in Seattle four years ago, working as a private chef on two different yachts before finding his restaurant (a former catering space) on Craigslist.
"I actually sat here for probably about three hours and I cried. I was like, 'this is the stupidest thing I ever did.' Like, why would I ever think that I could do this?"
His initial plan was to cater and throw private dinner parties in other peoples homes.
"When I worked on the boats I had basically 10 days where I'd have guests and they'd leave and we'd get different guests or whatever. Every night I would do a different theme, so I was like, 'Why don't we do themed dinner parties?' and that's pretty much how it started."
He offers a different themed menu every Thursday through Saturday.
"We've done Julia Childs' birthday, Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice. We've done themes on tomatoes, garlic, corn, apples."
That's four courses for $48. Leftover ingredients are used for what he calls "Happy Mondays."
"We do seven small plates between five, ten and 11 dollars, depending on the cost of what I'm doing. We do some five-dollar wines; we do a three-dollar beer. Then we have a full beer and wine list. And we're open from 5-10p."
Cooking for intimate crowds is nothing new to Dustin, whose resume includes a hot air balloon company in France.
"I would set up these buffets, these picnic-style buffets in these, like, totally amazing castle."
He also cooked for several affluent families in Florida, and a short lived reality series on TV.
"A reality show on ABC called 'The Family.'"
Now, Dustin has his own family - his customers - whether that means a full house or a four-top:
"Say it's you and your three friends, 'We're going to Art of the Table,' and you walk in here and there's a table for four set up. You're the only table that night! People love it. They're like, 'man, you probably hate this,' and I don't, because I'll come out and I can spend more time with them. That's how we've met so many of our regulars."
It's also the basis for Dustin's entire restaurant.
"Art of the Table is all about community; all about going back to, you know, love thy neighbor. What else do we have?"
Places Dustin likes to Go Eat!: Pair, Elemental, Txori, Tavolata, Ocho, La Carta de Oaxaca, Smith.
For more information: http://artofthetable.net/
"We've had people that have been in here 20 or 30 times," says Dustin.
The sliver of a dining room is located just off Stone Way and seats less than 2 dozen people, which gives it a definite "dinner party" feel.
"7:30, supper starts and everything gets plated up -- none of it's family style. So, everybody gets their individual plate."
Dustin literally docked in Seattle four years ago, working as a private chef on two different yachts before finding his restaurant (a former catering space) on Craigslist.
"I actually sat here for probably about three hours and I cried. I was like, 'this is the stupidest thing I ever did.' Like, why would I ever think that I could do this?"
His initial plan was to cater and throw private dinner parties in other peoples homes.
"When I worked on the boats I had basically 10 days where I'd have guests and they'd leave and we'd get different guests or whatever. Every night I would do a different theme, so I was like, 'Why don't we do themed dinner parties?' and that's pretty much how it started."
He offers a different themed menu every Thursday through Saturday.
"We've done Julia Childs' birthday, Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice. We've done themes on tomatoes, garlic, corn, apples."
That's four courses for $48. Leftover ingredients are used for what he calls "Happy Mondays."
"We do seven small plates between five, ten and 11 dollars, depending on the cost of what I'm doing. We do some five-dollar wines; we do a three-dollar beer. Then we have a full beer and wine list. And we're open from 5-10p."
Cooking for intimate crowds is nothing new to Dustin, whose resume includes a hot air balloon company in France.
"I would set up these buffets, these picnic-style buffets in these, like, totally amazing castle."
He also cooked for several affluent families in Florida, and a short lived reality series on TV.
"A reality show on ABC called 'The Family.'"
Now, Dustin has his own family - his customers - whether that means a full house or a four-top:
"Say it's you and your three friends, 'We're going to Art of the Table,' and you walk in here and there's a table for four set up. You're the only table that night! People love it. They're like, 'man, you probably hate this,' and I don't, because I'll come out and I can spend more time with them. That's how we've met so many of our regulars."
It's also the basis for Dustin's entire restaurant.
"Art of the Table is all about community; all about going back to, you know, love thy neighbor. What else do we have?"
Places Dustin likes to Go Eat!: Pair, Elemental, Txori, Tavolata, Ocho, La Carta de Oaxaca, Smith.
For more information: http://artofthetable.net/