The Seattle Traveler

The Harvest Vine opened in 1998, originally as a gourmet take out and wine company.  Owners Joseba Jiménez, and his wife Carolin Messier de Jiménez originally started a catering business, and its success soon became a small little restaurant.

And it was a very small restaurant to start off — about 600 square feet, and seating about 22 — barely more than a convivial kitchen with a group of friends hanging around.  A few years ago, the restaurant expanded, and created a basement wine cellar and dining room.  With stone walls, floor to ceiling wine racks, and open beam construction, it’s as close as you’ll come. . . in Seattle, that is. . . to being in a Basque bodega.

The main floor of the restaurant still retains in cozy feel, with the kitchen itself only 10 feet inside the front door.  The kitchen is open, and surrounded by a copper bar with 10 stools where guests can sit and watch the kitchen create the small Spanish plates that they’ve become known for.

The kitchen swears by genuine Basque ingredients imported from Spain and France, or grown local to very specific, and authentic, specifications.  While there are some consistent menu items, others tend to change and evolve as new sources of products are discovered.

I’ve been to Harvest Vine several times, both in small and larger groups.  My favorite way to enjoy the restaurant is with a group of 6-8 people, sitting at the larger communal table (see photo at left), with wine and a continual supply of shared plates.  The wine list has a collect of over 300 Spanish and Basque wines which complement the menu.

The service is solid, if somewhat uneven, and the staff really knows their menu and products.  It feels like you are at someone’s house, so you roll with the punches instead of being put out when the small plates come out of the kitchen in a different order than what you’d expected.

So let’s talk about the food!

It’s probably easiest if I share some of my favorites with you. 

I’d recommend starting with a couple of cheeses — the Manchego, Picos de Euro (a blue), and Taramundi are delicious — and a Plato de Chacineria (meats).  The Chorizo de Soria is also excellent.  The plates will serve two, so order more depending on the number of people, your degree of hunger, and whether or not you’ll be ordering heavier plates.

Other top choices of mine:  Pimiento de Padron (delicious peppers, fried and dusted with sea salt), Garbanzos (caramelized with a tomato sauce), Ventreska a la Vainilla (tuna with a vanilla infused olive oil), Txistorra (pork sausage with grilled bread), and — my VERY FAVORITE — Venado, a grilled venison leg with Spanish lentils and serrano ham.

My mouth is watering just writing about it!

Location:  2701 East Madison Street (at 27th Avenue East), Madison Valley (map it)

Hours:  Daily, 5 – 10 pm.  Reservations are taken for half the available seating, with the remaining half available for walk ins.

Menu & Prices:  Spanish small plates.  Dinner, including wine but excluding tax and tip, will run around $35 per person.

Harvest Vine also still provides catering services.  Additionally, the wine cellar dining room is available for private parties Sunday – Thursday evenings, as well as for daytime events.  Intimate cooking classes (maximum of 12 participants) and wine dinners are also offered, and are quite reasonably priced.

Photo credit:  Harvest Vine

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