2014 RH 25: Ethan Stowell Restaurants

Ethan Stowell

Seattle

Annual Sales: $10 million-$15 million

Units: 10

Key Personnel:
• Ethan Stowell, chef & owner
• Angela Stowell, c.f.o. & owner

SINGLE CONCEPTS:
• Tavolàta (communal Italian)
• How to Cook a Wolf (Italian small plates)
• Anchovies & Olives (Italian-inspired seafood and pasta)
• Staple & Fancy Mercantile (a la carte Italian)
• Ballard Pizza Co. (pizza shop)
• Rione XIII (Roman cusine)
• Bar Cotto (Parma-style salumeria and cocktail bar)
• Mkt. (contemporary American)
• Red Cow (French brasserie)
• Chippy’s Fish and Drink (classic fish and chips)

UPCOMING PROJECTS:
• Noyer, 2015

WHY IT’S COOL: Remember when the executive chef yelling at his cooks, smashing dishes and dropping F-bombs was cool? Ethan Stowell does. At one point in his career, he was that guy. But then his restaurant grew and so did his business. Next thing you know, there was an Ethan Stowell restaurant in nearly every neighborhood of Seattle—10 of them now, mostly modern takes on Italian dishes. And since Stowell couldn’t be in every place at once, yelling at his team members wasn’t as effective over the phone. So as Stowell evolved, his restaurants became places where chefs wanted to work, where they were taken care of, where they became part of a family and part of the community. Now, instead of managing through fear and intimidation, Stowell has an extremely positive impact on his team members. He’s as much their mentor as he is their boss. Teaming with his employees rather than berating them has allowed Stowell to instill a common message in his restaurants--everyone is on board; everyone buys in. They believe in the value proposition for the guest—that the guest is not always right but is always the guest.

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