Seattle Restaurant Spotlight: Off Alley
Image Credit: Reva Jean
Image Credit: Ellie Logan
At a long wooden counter up against a brick wall, you take a sip of your wine before turning back to the seared foie gras in front of you. The atmosphere is loud and fun, and you hear the chef from the kitchen talking to another diner sitting next to you at the table. No, you’re not in Paris or New York. You’re in Off Alley, Evan Leichtling & Meghna Prakash’s restaurant in Columbia City!
Off Alley’s European influence comes from the time that Evan and Meghna spent living in Paris. Evan also spent time in Spain, and the restaurant is designed to feel like a Spanish tapas bar or a Parisian cave à manger. This influence is clear from the long communal-dining style counter, the tiny size of the space, and the chalkboard menu that changes daily.
Evan also learned the importance of sourcing local and fresh ingredients from farmers markets while he was in Europe. If he wanted to get high-quality ingredients, he had no choice but to buy from farmers markets. He fell for the art of building a menu from whatever ingredients caught his eye at the markets, and brought the practice back with him when he moved back to Seattle two and a half years ago.
The fluidity of the menu is an important part of the vision for Off Alley. Evan often stumbles upon unique ingredients at the farmers markets and integrates them into his menus for the week. He says that the menus change depending on three factors; availability of product, flow of business, and his own interests.
Image Credit: Reva Jean
Unique items like a Szechuan peppercorn and sour cherry ice cream, bison hanger steak, and rabbit & foie gras stuffed peppers are just a few of the items that have been on Off Alley’s menu.
He sees the restaurant as an outlet for him to cook for himself; sharing that food with others is only one piece of the puzzle. He has made plenty of dishes that have been popular enough to make a permanent menu if he wanted to, but he loves the experimentation and doesn’t want to be stuck in a box of cooking the same dishes every day for months at a time.
Despite the frequent changes, Off Alley’s menus do have some common themes. Since the ingredients are locally-sourced, the menus are all very Pacific Northwest-centric. Evan also likes to focus on under-utilized vegetables, meats, and fish like black cod. When available, he says he will opt for fish like kinki over popular fish like halibut and salmon, because he enjoys working with unusual ingredients that people may have not had before.
Image Credit: Reva Jean
Evan works hard to support small farms because he believes in the importance of knowing where your food comes from. He expresses gratitude for the chefs who paved the way for supporting small farms and farmers markets in their sourcing. His work is not easy. Creating new menus daily means that Evan will often work 6 or 7 days a week, and often works from 10 am to 1 am. “It can be brutal, but it’s really rewarding,” he says.
Check out Off Alley, open Wednesday through Sunday at 1/2, 4903, Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118. You can check their daily menus ahead of time on their website and see photos of their delicious food @offalleyseattle.