Dining news: Big-name Seattle chefs launch intimate chef’s tables

More and more big-name Seattle chefs are jonesing for a return to the table, quite literally.

Chef’s tables – an intimate space where a chef cooks prix fixe for a dozen or so diners – are making a comeback. In the coming months, we can expect two chef’s counter concepts from Josh Henderson of Huxley Wallace Collective. At Scout, his restaurant set to open in June inside the new Thompson Hotel in downtown Seattle, former 99 Park chef Quinton Stewart will craft 13-to-18 courses for a chef’s table of less than 20. Henderson himself will finally be back in the kitchen with a sizable chef’s counter at Vestal, his new South Lake Union spot slated for July.

But, leading the charge this month is James Beard Award-winning chef Jason Wilson, who made his name at the now-shuttered Crush. He starts his new chef’s counter tonight at Miller’s Guild, his wood-fired steakhouse inside downtown’s Hotel Max.

The specialty menu of “highly-curated, limited ingredients” from the restaurant’s custom-built Infierno grill will be available Thursday through Saturday nights with only 10 seats per night. The six-course meal is available year-round for $88 per person and will change every few weeks but the focus will always be live-fire seasonal cooking inspired by local farmers and foragers. 

Take a gander at what’s on fire tonight. And remember, it’s only available at the chef’s counter not in the regular dining room.

Smoked potato parmesan, lemon, asparagus soup and ham

Turnips, cured salmon, olives and oranges

Carrots, cumin, red curry, pine nuts and mint chile buttermilk

Crushed beet, dry-aged lamb tartar, pistachios, wood sorrel

Ember-roasted ramps and spring onions, Alaskan halibut, roasted garlic nettle pistou

Fava and haricot fresh beans, dry-aged striploin, syrah bone marrow butter and trumpet puree

Strawberry shortcake, olive oil, basil and mint