Those of you who follow my blog regularly or who have looked through my recipes know that I am a fan of seafood. So, when I heard that Ethan Stowell (of How to Cook a Wolf, Union and Tavolata fame) was planning to open an Italian seafood restaurant just up the street from me, my interest was piqued. When I found out that all dishes would be priced at under $20, I went from interested to enthusiastic.

Anchovies & Olives, which has been open for just under two weeks now, is located in the new Pearl condominium complex at 15th and Pine. Like the building it’s housed in, Anchovies & Olives has a very modern look to it: low lighting, high ceilings, big windows and lots of clean lines and blank spaces. In larger restaurants, this type of decor always feels a little cold and impersonal. In the small space at Anchovies & Olives it seems to work – a small room always makes things feel more intimate. The busy open kitchen right smack in the middle of the restaurant also does its part to promote a warm and inviting atmosphere.

As promised, the menu is heavy on the seafood. In fact, other than foccacia bread and fried marcona almonds, I didn’t see a single dish that wasn’t based on some form of seafood. The menu is divided between “crudo,” appetizers, pastas, and entrees. The crudo menu offers a wide variety of ultra-fresh fish and shellfish dishes, all of which are served raw and with simple seasonings. The appetizers range from basic bread with olive oil to baccala (salt cod!) salad and clams with beans. The pastas, in true Italian fashion, are made by hand and served very simply. Spaghetti with sea urchin and conchiglie with octopus, tomatoes and capers are some of pasta dishes that caught my eye. A small number of entrees round out the menu and include dishes such as sea bass with house made sauerkraut and branzino with oxtails. The wine list features Italian wines only and is 70% white. You might consider this a bold choice, but I think it’s the right one. White wine is almost always a better choice with seafood. It’s about time white wine started getting some attention.

We started off with the focaccia bread and the fluke crudo. People will likely gripe at the fact that the bread isn’t free but, for only $2, you get a healthy serving of bread, olive oil for dipping and a smattering of Arbequina olives. The fluke crudo consisted of six slices of fresh raw fluke dressed in a citrus-infused oil with hearts of palm and some kind of fancy sprouts. It was simple and utterly delicious. For his main course, Robert had the linguine aglio olio with crab. It was a bit oily, but the texture of the pasta was great and the dish had a nice kick to it. Although I was highly tempted by the sea urchin spaghetti, I ultimately chose the grilled mackerel as my entree. The mackerel was served with sautéed hedgehog mushrooms and a sunchoke puree. It was a pretty small portion, but mackerel is so rich that it ended up being the right size for me. The mushrooms were really tasty and provided competition for the mackerel and fluke as best bite of the evening. To drink, we had a delightful white wine: 2007 Quattro Mani Toh-kai. This wine was light and crisp yet had enough body to make it a good match for nearly everything on the menu.

Overall, I’m very happy to have Anchovies & Olives in the neighborhood even if it is a bit pricey (our individual meals may have been $16 each, but crudo and wine sure do add up.) We spent a little bit more than usual, but we had great customer service and the seafood dishes were all well-prepared and were different from what you typically see in other restaurants. I’m looking forward to returning. The sea urchin pasta is next on my list. Come summertime, I could easily see us stopping by for some crudo and a couple of glasses of chilled wine!