The Corson Building

Know before you go: this place is loud. Really loud. If you are a type-​A super social person who neither has nor needs an indoor voice, you’ll be fine. The communal setting means you’ll be at the mercy of the people with whom you’re seated and your experience will therefor be something of a roll of the dice.
My wife and I had been meaning to try for a long time. To be fair, the food was quite good, very imaginative, skillfully prepared and well conceived. I had trouble enjoying it because we were seated across from each other in the middle of a long table, and conversation was pretty much impossible. I didn’t have dinner with my wife, I just had dinner. For the money spent versus the experience, I found it a poor value.

The food is avant-​garde but consistently delicious. Service, ambiance and décor make you feel like you’re in a special space.
can’t wait for a return visit!

So delicious and I’ll be back but BUT I did get a food sickness from help and it was from Corson Building. Because of my flawed human nature, I will be back but I’ll be less adventurous with the unique menu.

Delish food, beautiful Instagram-​worthy setting and keen service. We had the Friday a la carte dinner. We ordered the cod entrée which was perfectly cooked and yet charred on the outside — I loved it. The chanterelle fritters were delish and the smoked trout/​clam salad was phenomenal. The server was very polite and attentive. More like 4.5 since we had to wait despite making a reservation. But rounding up to 5.
They do change their menu very often, so excited to return for more.

This is the classic lesson of setting your expectations too high … You are bound to be left disappointed. This building is so gorgeous it hurts, the little gardens are so sweet and transporting. I have been dying to go here and I finally went with my love for my birthday. The host couldn’t find our reservation information, and it wasn’t until we brought the confirmation email up on our phone that he even entertained seating us. He goes away and comes back to tell us they seated someone else in our name. Excuses? Who knows. Anyway, our waiter came by and took our drink orders, making good suggestions for a pairing with our food choices. He was super pleasant and gave us plenty of space. Honestly though, the food was just ok and did not really impress us aside from the salmon was cooked so perfectly but is that really worthy of returning? I do NOT want to dislike this place so we will give it another shot. But our first impressions were a little bland.

Love this place, beautiful environment, food, and service. A little sanctuary in the city.

We brought friends here for dinner to celebrate an important milestone. We made reservations for the Prix Fixe Saturday dinner. They called in advance to politely ask if we had any in-​tolerances or allergies. Our favorite part of this adventure was not knowing what the meal was to be and not having to choose when we got there.
This was post Thanksgiving and was a twelve course seafood feast. It was incredible. Every dish was a culinary delight. The communal dining atmosphere is lovely. The several courses take hours to prepare and consume, this gives you a chance to wander around, check out the kitchen, and converse with people you’ve likely never met before.
The food was perfect, the ambiance was perfect, it was a lovely evening and ended up being the perfect way to celebrate.

My brother just got married here last month and it was amazing. The best food I’ve ever had at a wedding and the new (er) management is incredibly friendly and accommodating. Exceptional food, perfect wine pairings, and great atmosphere (inside and out). I look forward to returning for dinner during normal operation.

My fiancé and I came here for their Sunday night dinner — prix fixe meal for $ 75, inc. drinks (wine, then coffee). Overall, it was a delicious, unique experience! Dining was communal style, so we sat at a long table with eight other guests. Be prepared for a three hour long meal getting to know everyone at your table! It was fun but to be honest, I got kind of tired after a long day… so introverts, consider this a warning. Similarly, don’t expect quality time or conversation with whoever you’re going with — it gets loud with everyone talking to each other! The atmosphere is very intimate though, just three tables in the dining room and a kitchen that is open for you to go back to observe and see the chefs do their magic — pretty neat!
The food was spectacular — amazing flavors and the greens (no matter what dish they were in.) were so so good! I don’t think I’ve ever had such fresh tasting veggies before! All dishes come out family style, but there’s definitely enough for everyone to have one of each food item, some two. I have to admit it’s weird in that you don’t know if you’re getting a good/​fair portion of each dish if it’s just take some and pass it down though. We ended up designating one person to help serve halfway through which made it more equal I think? It wasn’t a big deal though, just different from any other sit down restaurant. Also, you kind of go into the dinner not knowing what you’ll be eating, since it’s chef’s choice and the menu isn’t posted/​always changes. We had (in this order, with minimal detail because I can’t remember everything that was just told to us once): fried oyster, lamb tartare, salad, scallops with lentils, duck and apple cake with pistachio ice cream. As mentioned earlier, each dish was prepared very well and the food and flavors were delicious. I was pleased with everything! I left stuffed and satisfied with my meal, though tired. I would say with all the variety and decently portioned food, drinks and overall experience, it’s worth the high price of the prix fixe meal and trying at least once. I think next time I’ll go for a la carte or to try brunch when they offer it. I look forward to more delicious food, Corson Building!

The building is beautiful! The concept very attractive for someone who likes to live life through the flavor of food but the actual execution of this prefix dinner event was uninspired. The theme was olive oil which meant everything was doused in tons of olive oil. The food was good, nothing I remember though and the service was fine. I guess I expect more from a $ 100 per person 3 course meal. I absolutely loved the dining area, the plates, glasses, knives and forks. Truly a feast for the eyes. What I wanted was a delicious meal that would have me running back for every special occasion. This is not the place however I would book this for an event like a wedding party or engagement gathering. If you want a true dining experience go to Herbfarm… it is the bomb. Tip, the willows lodge is amazing with a huge fireplace and tub, but ask for a quiet room, the walls are thin.

Went there on a Friday night for my birthday. It was a small setting with 3 communal style dining tables, a bit noisy for the two of us since the other party sharing the table was big and we were more on the quiet side (we had trouble hearing each other so talked even less). The service was good.
Had homemade huckleberry soda, which was great. We ordered 4 dishes, and while the dishes turned out OK, they were really just OK, nothing really wowed us. The last dish was a $ 29 sole and that dish in particular underwhelmed us, very normal with no special flavor that I could have whipped it up myself in my own kitchen. Maybe it was just a bad night, but we would not return.

How I heard of this place: Noted as the best brunch in Seattle in the January 2010 issue of Seattle Magazine.
Type of cuisine: The Corson Building runs on a system of organic processes. Built on a foundation of relationships with our community of friends and teachers, hunters and farmers, importers and foragers, wine makers, fishermen, builders, artists, and activists, we work to celebrate food and the daily nourishment it provides.
Ambiance: Very earthy. Very relaxed. Obvious that you are in a recycled building — with exposed brick — using what was in existence to tell a story and to create a space where we are invited into the history of a home. «An open, relaxed, charming place.» — Richard
What I ordered: Brunch is prepared with few options outside of what is already prepared for you fresh that day. Today, we were welcomed with a sweetened Moroccan mint tea. My dining companion enjoyed a cherry liqueur — prepared as a cocktail, garnished with a string of lemon zest in soda water. «Refreshing, dry cherry soda quality. Certainly not sweet and not over-​alcoholed but refreshing.» — Richard
We dined on a buffet with a plethora of fresh, vibrant and colorful with beautiful textures and surprising flavors! Sliced sweet oranges topped with a tapenade quality olive garnish. Sliced rustic artisan bread with a spread of pâté-​like chicken fat. Chickpea salad with chicken garnished with tarragon and dill. The beet salad comprised of both yellow and red beets in a light vinaigrette. A turnip-​tasting squash-​like dish (we forgot to ask what it was) with roasted nuts and raisins, roasted to perfection. A sweet slice of cornbread found its way onto our plates, which could be slathered in butter, but was moist enough not to be. The end of the buffet table had a bowl of fresh, home-​made yogurt. You had the option of adding a variety of roasted nuts (including pistachios, soy nuts, almonds and pecans) and an orange-​marmalade style topping made with sweetened orange rind, similar to an orange compote. Flavorful dried dates accompanied our meals. There was also a mildly sweet honey and butter which could be added to any number of buffet items.
We were also offered one of two options for our «meal». Richard enjoyed a salad of striped sea bass, apple, dill and white onion pickled with beets (possibly), topped with a light crème fraîche dressing. It was a very fresh, light and perfect dish for a summer salad. Slightly strange to enjoy at ten o’clock in the morning, but flavorful and delightful all the same. My choice was the hedgehog mushroom quiche which was its aesthetic presentation. It looked more like a quiche tart, rather than the traditional formidable sized quiche we often see. It was significantly mushroom flavored. The richness that came off of the egg mixture was the savory quality of the mushrooms and the light and fluffy flavors of the butter crust rather than the egg itself. There was a meaty, earth-​like subtleness that went with it. The quiche was accompanied by sweet pickled onions and raddicco in a vinaigrette.
What I loved: I loved that the special gift of mini donut holes from the kitchen which were deep fried and sugared with rose petals. Any gift from the kitchen is a welcome one, especially when it’s such perfect combination of flavors — hints of rose with a sweetened, fried dough. I also loved that there were so many options of foods to enjoy, savor and eat. I loved that the portions were small, light, full of flavor and variety, completely aesthetically pleasing.
My dining companion’s favorite part of the meal was the cocktail, a refreshing cherry soda. Sounding simple and child-​like but surprisingly a perfect complement to the meal. Food-​wise he enjoyed the house-​made yogurt with orange compote, closely followed by the striped seabass salad. My favorite was the raddiccio salad, closely followed by the surprisingly sweet and savory orange slices. The third of our favorites was the beet salad. But honestly, everything was smashingly beautiful, both in presentation and in flavor!
Why I loved it: It was very nice to build the comraderie with other guests in the restaurant — when people were in the mood to chat with you — as you are seated with others at tables of ten. The space holds 30 people, 20 seats for reservations and 10 saved for walk-​ins. I loved everything from the fresh grown vegetables in the raised beds outside, to the pizza oven, the ambiance of the building and quaint homey-​ness of the inside of the building. I loved that they brought you the bill in a booklet, first printed in 1919 and reprinted in 1942 originally used for addresses, weights and measures and other facts about the railroad (from Wabash). Everything was in its place and well thought out. It was perfect and felt like home.
Cost: High for brunch, but for such a unique offering of food and atmosphere it was easily done. $ 32 per person (including tax and drinks).

Rustic. Family-​style courses. Communal dining.
There were so many things going right for our evening at The Corson Building. The general manager Matt was lovely. The stroll through the property felt like a special oasis in the midst of Georgetown. The chef’s description of the menu had my mouth watering. They had set themselves up well for success. It just didn’t come through for us.
The the execution on some of the items just wasn’t there. The food was a bit hit and miss. Some items were drowning in dill or mayonnaise. The beef, while cooked well, was served with veggies I could have cooked better at home — sweet peppers and potatoes.
(As a side note, the roasted potatoes were served with eggplant. I think this was a significant misstep on the part of the restaurant. We strolled past the kitchen before the dessert, and at least half of the platters had returned uneaten. The eggplant had no significant flavor and only added a mushy texture to the potatoes.)
The ice cream on the peach crostata was great, but the crostata itself was difficult to cut into and the flavor of the fruit obliterated by the ice cream.
Feels like I’m being particularly picky, but at $ 100 per person (plus an additional $ 40 for wine), I ought to be fussy. This meal just didn’t quite add up to the price point. On our way home we both noted, though, that a couple of changes and we could have easily felt that it was magical.

Our firm enjoyed an evening to celebrate a departing member. I had heard of the Corson Building for a few years, and looked forward to the evening.
The setting, though odd, underneath a freeway off-​ramp, was nonetheless a comfortable and pleasant. I mentioned to one of the wonderful staff, the building reminded me of the French Laundry in Yountville. Since he had been there, he agreed! surprise, no! and that is where the comparison ended.
The appetizers were excellent. not particularly original, but flavorful. the cucumber slices with layered crème fraîche, topped with perfectly grilled salmon was a big hit. As were the tempura green beans with a nice dill /​fennel tartar sauce. and folks, in my view, that was the highlight of the culinary evening.
the dinner was not so good. bread with a spread. that opened the eve. the spread was what? and then came a salad. tasteless. nada flavor. followed by a ‘fish dish’ of shrimp and ‘albacore tuna poached in oil”. another, «why bother». the shrimp was fine, though again, no flavor profile to surround it; the tuna was dry and boring. no one ate it.
the final entrée course was thinly sliced pork shoulder with ‘stuff’ as a accompaniment. the pork was tender and perfectly cooked. the rest of the dish was unnecessary.
Dessert was a cardamom cake and a cream. again. i love cardamom. the cake was dry and uninteresting. too bad.
now to the biggest issue with this restaurant. It is so loud, you cannot hear anyone other than the person next to you. and i mean, like, 4″ from you.
overall, the Corson Building was a huge disappointment. it is ok to be pretentious, but you have to carry it off.
the Corson was, tonight, Big Hat, No cattle. i won’t be back.
It is so loud, one needs an ear horn to hear the person 2 feet from you.
so. why bother? food mediocre. ambience loud. if you want to talk to your date, do not come here
overall, this was not a great experience. the staff was superb. much better than the food.

I’d been wanting to try this place for years, and finally did when a friend took me for my birthday dinner. The location is a bit strange, being under a freeway off-​ramp, but you quickly forget where you are once you step inside their Secret Garden-​esque property. Behind lush greenery is a villa style building that you can tell is old, but has been well maintained. Inside it was dimly lit, in a romantic way, with mostly large communal tables. Behind the dinning area is the kitchen, which you can see into. If you get a chance to take a peek, it’s fun to watch your food being created.
We were promptly seated at a table across from another couple. Some people might not enjoy the communal seating arrangement, but it was just the right amount of interaction. A few times people sitting nearby would ask what it was we’d ordered, or we’d ask people what they’d had to get an idea of what people liked on the day’s menu. While communal dining isn’t something we are very used to, it was actually a nice refreshing change.
Service was stellar throughout the evening. The dishes came out one by one, which gave us time to really appreciate the uniqueness of each dish. We never felt rushed and enjoyed a lovely 3 hour dinner — not something you feel like you can do at many restaurants that are simply trying to turn tables.
Now for the food. To start, we ordered the grilled sourdough with ricotta, capers, pine nuts, green garlic and chili. Basically toasted (some bits were almost charred, but in a good way) bread with fancy spread. It was a good starter. Next up was the deep fried smelt with fiddlehead gribiette. I would say out of all 5 things we ordered this was my least favorite. I’ve had fried smelt done better elsewhere, and found this to be just ok. The fiddlehead gribiette, on the other hand, was deliciously complex and a good combination with the fried fish.
Next up was a small plate of marinated squid with beet thinnings, grilled onions, pistachios and mint. This one was also not one of my favorite dishes, but the beet thinnings were perfectly cooked. I wasn’t a big fan of the texture of the squid, but that was probably my error in not understanding how it was prepared. My friend really enjoyed this dish. Again, the flavors were all great, it was just more of a texture thing for me.
Our second small plate was a dish of morels, watercress, peas and a poached egg. This was probably my favorite dish of the night. Morels are always a treat, and these were so perfectly flavored, and came atop a sauce that was so good I wanted to lick the plate clean :-) Our final and main dish was braised lamb shoulder and meatballs with artichokes and fava beans. Super delicious. The lamb shoulder was so tender and the meatballs so flavorful.
Overall, a lovely dinning experience. Great ambiance, complex flavored dishes with unique ingredients, and excellent service. This is a great place for a nice meal with a date or a celebratory meal with friends. It would also make a great venue to host a rehearsal dinner or something similar.

Really interesting communal dining here!
This place was always mysterious for me. I rarely go to West Seattle, but I see amazing review at Unilocal.I was curious to try this place, and brought my friend who visited Seattle.
I made a reservation several weeks ago for Saturday prefix dinner. They kindly called us for confirming our reservation.
There are some parking place around restaurant so you can get the spot if you are lucky. When we arrived there, some people were waiting outside of the restaurant. We looked at the garden area and look through the window. Chefs were busy preparing food and they opened the door 6:30 sharp.
There were welcoming drink prepared when you enter.
You check in and they handed us welcome drink. From there, people have to wait until they assign the seat. People started looking at this small mansion, walked around, introduced each other. mingling. one of the chefs bring out some little snack bite for everyone.
When you sit down at assigned seat, chef will kindly walked around and check everyone about wine pairing. That day we went they had 5 glasses of wine for $ 40 (pairing– Good deal I think) but we just came back from Woodinville after wine tasting, so ended up have single glass ordering from separate wine menu.
It looked like the chef had a great understanding of wines they are preparing. He kindly explained about wine to people who did pairing. We might be the youngest one among our table people. Haha (Late 20’s) Most of them were couple and were here for some special occasions to celebrate. We set next to married couple who had great conversation about Seattle dining :)
Before you start meal, two chefs asked everyone’s attention. They briefly explained about history of this mansion and started explain about course of the day.
Seriously! it was a lot. Something something. something… and it wasn’t the even the start of the main course. I was really excited about this dinner.
Our dinner started with toast with chicken river. Plate placed at the end of the table, and people start to pass around dish. At first I expect portion would be small for the one who get the last dish, but it wasn’t. Everyone got great amount of portion.
Meal continues with salad. smoked salmon with avocado … shrimp dish, fried shrimp head. and for main course, we got scallop dish (per person) and lamp dish (to share) I think I must miss few more dishes since it was a lot, but that’s about what I am remembering. :P Dessert was prepare with coffee.
Food was really good. Well prepared speed was nice as well. Servers are very diligent and professional. I loved it!
Few things I would like to give feedback to them is the ‘light’ of the restaurant. When it gets dark, it was too dark inside for me. I wish there is some kind of subtle ambient light other than just candle. Also, since it’s an old mansion, I felt a bit cold inside there. My friend and I were kept talking that the inside is little bit cold.
However, seriously, it was one of my memorable and unique dinners I ever had.
I had a great conversation with one of server there. He was very passionate about his workplace and food that they serve.
I will try here for Sunday supper next time.
Maybe regular Friday as well!

Dinner for my wife’s birthday. A wonderful experience.
FOOD: 4.0. We had the Saturday night fixed menu dinner, with wine. Several courses; all pleased. Good volume — enough for everyone around the 8 seat table. Seafood and chicken this night. The cooked endives in sauce were tasty with a nice texture.
Accompanying wine was very good, especially the final 2: a deep red followed by madeira.
SERVICE: 5.0.
AMBIANCE: 4.0. Cozy old stone building. Community tables. As during our first dinner here, meeting and having conversation with the strangers around the table was excellent. The loudness dropped a star, as the hard surfaces amplify sounds and can make it hard to hear tablemates.
TIP: the seats along the wall are on a long bench. The wall acts as a backrest for most such seats, but there are one or two spots where one cannot lean back due to windows.

Have been meaning to try this place forever and am so glad we finally did. We called and made a reservation (a must) for a Sunday night dinner, which they have starting at 6pm periodically (not every Sunday). This was our «Valentine’s Dinner» which we celebrated not on the 14^th because that’s when every place doubles-​up on the number of folks they can serve and rips you off (pro tip).
Sunday is a more toned-​down version of their traditional 1000 course meal, but it felt no less special to me. From getting to mingle and even go into the kitchen before dinner (with bubbly apertifs) to passing around the mouth-​watering dishes and being able to share that experience with all the cool new people you’ve met at your family-​style farm table. At our table we met a ballerina, an NFL player and an ex Coast-​Guardian. Pretty fun conversations there.
You get served some table wine included in the prix fixe menu, but you can also order more (at a cost).
There’s really nothing else like this — the food is excellent, but it was really the atmosphere is what really sold me. I’ll definitely want to go back.

Spring is coming! And though Airport Way isn’t known for its beauty and quaint gardens, the Corson Building on the corner of Airport Way and Corson is.
My sweetie and I got a mad good deal for their Sunday dinner a while back: $ 45 for 5 courses that included a glass of rose to start your evening (me thinks the prices have since gone up). I had called in prior to let them know that I do not eat red meat — only poultry and fish — and they were happy to oblige me for their menu, which is created daily by them and depends on what is in season. The menu is not provided to us prior to arriving. Fun!
Before we walked inside this cute little house, we walked around the small garden and admired the flora and greenhouse – their herbs for cooking are picked here. I looked for the chickens that roam around the yard, but since I didn’t see any… well… Thank you, Chicken. I salute you and your tastiness.
Once inside, we glided in and out the best we could in between couples as we wandered around the two small dining rooms and kitchen. (I loved their kitchen; you could stand in the doorway and see the chefs working on the meal!) Note 1: if you’re claustrophic, this may not be the place for you. Later, we were asked to sit at the communal table we were assigned to. Note 2: if you would rather be licked on the inner eyelid by a cat rather than talk with strangers, you may not care for this arrangement. We loved it.
A dish of fiddlehead ferns, chicken in wine sauce, and a rabbit ragu came out in nicely-​timed succession (they accidentally tried to give me rabbit, but the chef whipped me up something else on the spot. Sweet.) I unfortunately do not remember the other courses they served us, the lighting was dim as evening fell, so the pictures would have been poor.
My table was (luckily) lively and fun, so this experience could be hit-​and-​miss if you’re not reserving an entire table for you and your friends. I appreciated that [they] would start each course at a different end of the table, because the portions were on the smaller side; and though I was lucky most of the time, my serving ended up being even smaller a couple of times.
I’ll be back for sure!

The Corson Building is like no other restaurant in Georgetown (and maybe Seattle). When you walk through the well-​manicured gardens and step inside the cute little European-​style building, you almost forget that you’re across the street from a soccer field. Or that there’s a freeway directly overhead. Or that the restaurant is located right next some train tracks. Indeed, once you’re under the spell of the Corson Building, watching a local raccoon scavenge for food outside the window seems charming, not gross.
We came on a Friday, when they serve dinner a la carte. They offer a very small menu (that’s handwritten!), but it’s a great way to see if you like the food before committing to the multi-​course Saturday dinner. Also, it’s much cheaper. When we arrived, they tried to seat us at a space that was just too small (all diners sit together at communal tables). When we complained, they said they would move us as soon as some other people left. While we waited, they gave us complimentary glasses of sparkling wine, which was really nice and definitely made up for the inconvenience.
We started with the rabbit + duck rillette spread on sourdough bread with pickled plums. This was my favorite dish of the night. I had to stop myself from just shoveling it down my throat. Another fun fact about the Corson Building: they bake their own bread! It was light and airy and I loved it.
I had the roasted black cod with cabbage and grapes for my main course. The portion was a little bit on the small side, but the black cod was cooked perfectly and they even managed to blacken the skin in such a way that it was crazy delicious. And I don’t even like fish skin!
For dessert we had the crepes with plums, almonds, and cream. Wow. This was so good. I love really desserty desserts (you know, chocolate souffles, etc.) but these crepes were just sweet enough without being over the top.
At the end of the night they brought us our check tucked inside a vintage railroad manual. It was a fitting nod to the Corson Building’s location, but also another example of the many little touches that make this place so special.